Beantown again

Mimosas at Friendly Toast

Hanging out at Legal Seafoods
with Tim & Shannon

We visited Boston, aka  'Beantown' this past weekend for Al's cousin's wedding and even though it was a whirlwind trip, we made the best of it. Boston is one of my favorite places ever and I was so happy to be there again, along with the perfect weather.

We met up with two sets of friends for breakfast at the Friendly Toast and for lunch at Legal seafood respectively. That not only allowed us to meet old friends but it also meant brunch cocktails followed by New England clam chowder and raw oysters. Yay! 



The wedding party outside the
Boston College church

The wedding itself was very nice and Al's cousin, Kristina, the bride looked beautiful! Since we moved to Austin, we don't get to see Al's family that often, so this was a great opportunity to catch up. 




We were staying in Boston's little Italy, more commonly known as the North End and a trip there would not be complete without getting some Italian food or desserts. We didn't just eat there,but we brought home cannolis from the local's favorite, Maria's Pastry Shop. Yum, yum, yum!

Pizza, pasta, and more

This post is pretty self-explanatory. It's going to take you on through our Italian food journey and probably make your mouth water! 

Our favorite way to start the day with cappuccinos and chocolate hazelnut croissants

Antipasto with salamis, prosciutto, olives and pickled artichokes

Tortellini, baked artichoke and fried fish

Thin crust pizza with sausage, mushrooms and black olives

Bruschetta with some spicy pickled pepper topping

Crab pasta and steak with fresh parmesan

Two types of ravioli with more antipasti

Cicchetti and vino in venice

Calzone with ham and onions

Mussels, and homemade sausage and potatoes

Flan and tiramisu

Seafood pasta

Casatta

Gelato.....mmm

So the one thing I was really looking forward to in Italy was gelato. Yes, I know there are many other interesting things to do, see and eat, but what can I say, gelato makes me happy :)

When we visited Florence, the hometown of Gelato, I heard that there was a Gelato Festival in town that week and I was happier than a kid on Christmas day. We HAD TO GO visit it. It was in a Church piazza (open courtyard) and tastings were only 10 euros! You received 5 tasting cups, a gelato shake, and a gelato reusable bag. We chose to have an alcoholic(of course) ginger mango gelato shake which was absolutely delicious. Then Al and I walked around and tasted all the flavours before we redeemed our 5 tickets. There were a lot more experimental flavours (see Gelato Laboratory photo) than traditional but all delicious nonetheless. We got to taste a pecorino cheese flavor, several coffee flavors, one made with the Brazilian liquor Cachaça and lots of citrusy ones too.

Forza Roma!

Visiting Europe was only one part being a tourist, eating and drinking. While we were in Rome, Al was on a mission to watch a soccer game and be a soccer fan. We both grew up watching soccer and even though, I'm not big on the Italian league, I was still quite excited to go see my first real European futbol game. Al was more than happy to learn that there was an AS Roma vs. Napoli game during the few days we were there and we even managed to get awesome tickets the day before, along with a Roma team jersey for Al :)

It was a little bit of a trek to the stadium but fortunately Rome has good public transport and it's a lot of fun to be traveling with so many fans! The game was at the Stadio Olimpico and it had these cool sports statues outside plus this amazing mosaic walkway from the road to the stadium entrance. Since we were out-of-towners, we were put in the middle ground and the section was not as packed as the section with true die-hard Roma fans. The atmosphere was still lively and there were lots of chanting, fireworks and people running with Roma flags (see picture). We had amazing seats and could see the player's faces including our own Americano, Michael Bradley.

The first half of the game was pretty blah in my opinion because there were no goals, but after I complained to Al, he told me to hang in there. And sure enough, Roma scored a goal within the first 2 minutes after half-time! Yay! Then the game got even more exciting when Rome scored the 2nd goal and we didn't really have too much hope for Naples but they managed to redeem themselves with one goal at 84th minute. All in all, super fun and Forza Roma!

Euro Trip

To those of you who know me, know that I grew up abroad and I've been travelling for as long as I can remember. Taking a 14 to 15 hour flight is a norm in my family since we're so far apart. My parents are in Mangalore, India and I'm in Texas. My husband's parents are in New York and his sister is in Melbourne, Australia. Remembering time zones and when to wish everyone for their birthdays and other occasions can be a very challenging task to say the least.

With that being said, I haven't seen my parents (in-person) since September 2011 and I'm super excited to say that Al and I have planned a trip to see them in May! YAY! We're going to cross paths in Italy and also go on a cruise trip together. I can't tell you how awesome this will be! I have never been to Italy and I love my parents and cruising! To add to all the fun, my mum's sis and hubby will be joining us on the cruise ship, Norwegian Jade. It leaves from Venice (think gondolas) and travels through Eastern Europe. We'll be visiting the beautiful ports of Croatia, Turkey and Greece. Itinerary below :

The city of angels

We recently visited Los Angeles for the very fist time and my first and last impression can be summed down to one word 'traffic'. LA has a LOT of it. If you've ever seen the SNL skit, Californians, you know that they are always talking about traffic and now I completely understand. This photo was from our first night in LA. Granted it was Friday at 5pm and around rush hour, but we saw the same on Saturday and Sunday!

We still managed to have a fun time. We stayed right in Hollywood opposite the Dolby theatre where they hold the Oscars. We went to Malibu and Santa Monica beach, saw Soundgarden live* and ate lots of delicious ethnic food that only a large city can offer. The highlight of our trip, was seeing Steven Spielberg leaving his house in his 'Expensive' car, when we were on the celebrity hill. And the best part is he waved to everyone on our tour bus. Even our tour operator was uber-excited! Here is a snapshot of our trip.



Rodeo Drive - I so wanted to start singing Rage out loud!

*Special thanks to my hubby for Soundgarden tix!

Sri Lankan goodness

 

The hollywood sign from Griffith observatory

BH 90210

Chris Cornell, I love you

Sunset at Santa Monica

Grauman Theatre on Hollywood

Fancy cocktails at the Roosevelt hotel