Where Work and Passions overlap

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Cinque Terre Stayed a little longer than expected with a strike from the train operators, so we spent a bit of time in Levanto as well, which is just outside the 5 villages. Lots of pizza and focaccia here. With a full day of hiking, which was really neat to hike through all five villages in a day. Total distance for the day was about 14 miles, with 10 of those miles being between the towns and lots of elevation. The local wine here was very affordable and amazing, with bottles ranging from $5-20 even at restaurants. One dinner was at a really nice restaurant above Verannza and I had spaghetti with tuna tartare and buratta, which was a bit of a unique combo but really good. (Just have to hike 200 stairs to get there) I also has a “tuna salad” which was this really thin sliced smoked tuna, almost the same texture as prosciutto served over sliced tomatoes, capers, croutons and with a hard boiled egg. My pro tip for Italy, if you order drinks, but do NOT order food you get bar snacks! Ranging from olives to chips, peanuts to pistachios. We did finally make it to Milan,again, train strike, but had to stay overnight there missing our first night in Venice. A last minute extra hotel purchase is no fun, but hopefully the Chase Sapphire Reserve card kicks in and helps with coverage. Now on to Venice for a day!

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Some of the food from Florence Florence food and food from Rome are very different. Though some things remain a constant. Like the volume of gelto shops and plazzas with amazing people watching, wine and cocktails. The pizza in Rome was better. The photo here is lovely but the dough just wasn’t as good. The burrata over spinach was a highlight and I would pay for the chef to teach me how they made this spinach so creamy and smoothe with no mineral mouth feel. I had three filets in three days. And was told a filet is not a steak and to small to be steak, but a 1.5 kilo t bone was the real steak and to much for me after all day eating every day. Florence only cooks steaks rare so I captured this inside because it’s massively overcooked by their standard but how I cook mine at home. Our most expensive bottle of wine was 30 euro which was a real splurge and while amazing not significantly different from the 15 euro house Chianti at most places. The Bellini is on our private roof deck with a 12 euro champagne and peach liquor from rome, it’s all about the view though. Wine tasting in Chinti was amazing and the food and cheese at the wineries was a win. Finally the last night dinner in Florence and my hotel breakfast and cappuccino. Dinner was one of the filets; and a burrata over pear and honey, with some salad and potatoes. Breakfast was tomato, burrata. Prosciutto and other meats and cheeses. Espresso and cappuccino throughout the day every day are a must. #florenceitaly #foodofflorence #eatingmywaythroughitaly

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This sandwich deserves its own reel. Found in the central market in Florence Italy, this thing was loaded! Porchetta, potatoes, two different sauces, I believe some spinach as well. All on focaccia bread. I would guess about 1.5-2lbs total, so good! It held together well, wrapped tightly in paper. I would tag the place but there was no store name to be found, it was all about the food! All that for $10 euro.

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This sandwich deserves its own reel. Found in the central market in Florence Italy, this thing was loaded! Porchetta, potatoes, two different sauces, I believe some spinach as well. All on focaccia bread. I would guess about 1.5-2lbs total, so good! It held together well, wrapped tightly in paper. I would tag the place but …

Rome! Stop one on the Italy adventure is Rome. Amazing food, history and architecture. The scale and age of the buildings is unimaginable. St. Peters basically is unfathomably large. The Pantheon is so impressive and to think much of the city is thousands of years old, not hundreds is hard to imagine. The food and wine was fantastic and I did keep track of what I ordered and where so we can help others In the future! I learned that there is a huge difference in quality of pastas but all of them better than what we have in the US. Espresso is a constant and much more affordable than Starbucks coffee in the US. The collection of artifacts at the Vatican would take months to see and appreciate, so trying to walk through a crowd on a 2 hour tour is a heck of a challenge. The pasta making class was fantastic and something we will now make at home. Something I really loved was many of the better restaurants identify any ingredients that were previously frozen or premade. So you know what they prepare in house! Between pasta and pizza meals, the Panini was a winner at any little cafe, the prosciutto and mozzarella are my favorite, but so many were amazing. Average step count was around 18,000 but most of the day was standing when not eating. The most expensive wine I had was $15 a glass and the cheapest was $3. There was a difference but both were very good. Dinner really does take 2-3 hours at a minimum. What questions do you have about visiting Rome?

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Lemon pepper wings and roasted Carrots Look at that color! Perfectly crispy @bearmountainbbq bold blend smoked wings. I tossed these in olive oil and @neilsarap gourmet lemon pepper and smoked them at 200 degrees till they hit 164 internal then I moved them inside and crisped them up at 425 convention till they were nice and crispy. About 10 minutes per side. The carrots were seasoned simply with salt and pepper and cooked alongside the wings as they crisped. #chickenwings #bearmountainbbq #lemonpepper #lemonpepperdry

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Protein and recovery Trying to keep protein high and helping my back recover, about 95% there which is good considering a 12+ hour flight on Saturday. Lunch is a chicken and egg breakfast sandwich on sourdough. Dinner was chipotle chicken tacos and a salad, both from Costco. Breakfast is black coffee and a @questnutrition protein bar. Snacks were jerky sticks and a built bar. Probably a little higher than I would have aimed for on total calories but mostly protein focused helps. Current weight is 168.5lbs.

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BBQ chicken sandwich, cottage cheese and snacks Dinner was a pulled chicken sandwich with a Greek yogurt coleslaw and @cabotcreamery Vermont cheddar cheese on a sesame bun, served with a side of @questnutrition chips and some extra cheese. Lunch was a container of cottage cheese. Followed by some beef sticks. The snack was a protein bar from sprouts. The texture was very hard. Not ideal, I appreciated the clean ingredients but wouldn’t recommend these based on this one.

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Quick check in update It’s been a bit busy recently, haven’t been to the gym. Haven’t been getting in steps and eating was off slightly. The scale has not changed much so I’ll give myself some grace. This time next week I’ll be in Italy and hope to be able to share that adventure with you, mostly via stories. Alas. Yesterday was a great eats day. Dinner was smoked chicken breast using @bearmountainbbq bold blend with a lemon juice, tarragon and oregano seasoning. Served over lemon rice, with cucumber, bell pepper, lettuce and tzatziki. Lunch was a chicken salad with Greek yogurt, rotisserie chicken,celery and a shallot and herb seasoning. Breakfast was Greek yogurt with keto granola. And a latte.

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Pocket egg. Toad in the hole, or any number of names. That was breakfast, Andrea slice of sourdough, one egg in a slice and the other on the side for extra protein. A @questnutrition protein bar to wrap up breakfast. Lunch was a buffalo chicken wrap from sprouts. Snack was some @dotspretzels pretzels,. Dinner was a tamale topped with a slice of cheese and some mini chicken tacos. I hope to be back on track next week with the gym and walking, missing my routine for sure. Stress and being outside my routine has me eating different and I’m not loving it. Not enough protein, to many carbs, especially without the walking and the gym.

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