"Laughter is Brightest where Food is Best"

"Laughter is brightest where food is best"
-Irish Proverb

I feel like one important part of going to a foreign country is experiencing the food, which I definitely have enjoyed doing!

Best Santa Chiara Desset: Chocolate Salami

A great part of Santa Chiara is the ladies who cook lunch and dinner for us every day. They are amazing chefs and I'm forever grateful for them! Most of the ingredients they use are local and the ending product is always delicious. Nothing feels more like home than a family style dinner. Some of the best and funniest conversations have happened in the Santa Chiara dining room sitting at the tables eating dinner with my peers/friends.

Making Bread

 Another Italian classic is gelato and pizza. I have had both numerous times and they are pretty much my staple meal. I'm ridiculously in love with stracciatella and chocolate in a cone. That is always my go to combination. I've also tried mint which was quite good. I am vowing to myself to try some fruity flavors before I go. I've been told strawberry and lemon is a good combination. Pizza wise, my go to is always just Margherita or with some Salame. The pizza here is usually thinner but fabulous and cheap. It's seems crazy to me to spend 10 dollars on a pizza back home now. One of the coolest experiences on this trip was making bread and pizza at a local Agriturismo. We got to make our bread from start to finish doing everything from adding the yeast to rolling our dough into shapes. After making bread, we got to make our own pizzas and then eat them for dinner. It was a unique and fun experience that I hope to do again someday.


Overall, I've had tons of great food here. It's all skillfully cooked and it's even better when you're eating ingredients that are known in the area like Lemon in Sorrento or Pesto in Cinque Terre. What makes it fantastic though, is being able to enjoy it with friends!

Erin Fore

Banana Nutella Crepes in Levanto

Gelato in Castiglion Fiorentino