Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed last week’s Renée’s Reads. This week I wanted to write about one of my favorite things when I backpacked through Europe. The food! If you would like to read all about my backpacking trip read part 1 here and find part 2 and an in-depth post about Athens under the travel tab on my home page. For a little context, I backpacked through Europe with one of my good friends back in 2019. Throughout the trip, we tried and ate so many delicious foods and I’m excited to share them with you!
Food Throughout Greece
Athens
Our first stop on the trip was Athens, Greece. We arrived late at night and then the next day we went on a tour of the city, but I do not remember what we had for breakfast. After our tour finished up we walked back to a section we had toured to get lunch. We stopped at a cute cafe and had a greek salad with delicious bread! I did try an olive since we were in Greece, but they are just not my favorite food. After our busy day of touring the city and visiting the Acropolis museum, we were pretty tired, so we ate dinner at the restaurant, Zampano which was attached to our hostel. We ended up splitting a salmon meal and this cheesy pasta dish, which I don’t have the name of, and for some reason, I didn’t write about it in my journal.
The next morning I woke up starting to get a cold, so I desperately wanted some fruit or a smoothie. We found this cute little gelato shop called Mattonella that also served breakfast that luckily had a smoothie and cereal bar. The only thing I remember about this meal was how great the smoothie felt on my sore throat. We spent the rest of the morning touring the Acropolis and then stopped at this little sandwich shop on our way back to the hostel. The place was called Tupaki and I had a chicken ranch sandwich. It is probably a top 10 meal from this trip! After we picked up our bags from the hostel we took the subway to Piraeus for the night.
Piraeus
For dinner, we wanted to find an authentic Greek restaurant and ended up finding one close to the hotel that we were staying at, called OTaknc We had Soutzouki and it was so much food that I couldn’t finish! I wish I could have taken the leftovers with me because it was really good. We decided to explore for a little bit before heading back to our hotel and went to the grocery store. I think by far the most interesting thing I found at a grocery store was bagged octopus.
We also found a bakery and decided to get a couple of desserts to share, as well as some candy. We had breakfast at the hotel and then we headed on a long ferry ride to Santorini. I don’t even remember what we did for lunch, but all I know was that I wasn’t feeling well so I didn’t eat much.
Santorini
Once we made it to Santorini it was a long bus ride to our hostel. A great thing about our hostel was that there was a restaurant not even a minute’s walk from us and it had the most amazing food! Since we didn’t have a normal day of eating we decided to get dinner there. The restaurant was called Tranquilo. We shared a gyro with fries and the house pie. Oh my goodness, I can not wait until I can go back to eat the house pie. It was so good! We then walked the strip and found some gelato.
In the morning we woke up and realized that there was no power/water at the hostel and then found out that it was out on the whole strip. So we decided to sit on the beach for a little bit and then went to get breakfast where I had a veggie omelet and tea. This was the worst day of my cold and even sitting on the beach wasn’t helping, so I wasn’t eating much. We did have our leftovers for the previous dinner for lunch though. We then spent the evening in Oia and had a late dinner back at Tranquilo where I had a smoothie. Then another smoothie for breakfast because they were so good! We spent the morning relaxing and then flew to Rome, Italy.
Food throughout Italy
Rome
We had a rough first night in Rome and didn’t really eat much. The next morning we woke up to get a good breakfast and come up with a new plan. We had our go-to cappuccinos that become an underlying theme of our trip. After we moved to a new place to stay we decided to walk around and find some lunch. We found this nice authentic pasta shop and had delicious spaghetti with meat sauce. We spent the day relaxing and exploring the neighborhood that we were staying in. Then we found a super good pizza shop where we split a margarita pizza and cheesecake and I tried Italian peach tea. It was all super delicious and we knew it was a good place because it was very busy and everyone was speaking Italian.
The next morning we decided to try and visit all of the places that we were originally going to visit over 2 days, now into one. We found this nice breakfast place right near our hotel that had a deal for I think 8 euros you could get a cream croissant, cappuccino, and blood orange juice. We got lemon-filled croissants and oh my gosh I will dream of those and the juice forever. Another top 10 food of mine!
We spent the morning at The Vatican and decided to take a guided tour, but while we were waiting for the tour to start we decided to grab pizza for a quick lunch. Then we had snicker and stracciatella flavored gelato. We had a busy afternoon, so we had a late dinner where I was craving a hearty healthy meal because I was feeling better. We stopped at this restaurant near the Treivi Fountain and I had grilled chicken, potatoes, and spinach.
On our last morning in Rome, we went right back to that breakfast place and ordered the same exact thing! We were sad that we wouldn’t be able to eat there anymore, but I can’t wait until I can go back. We then headed to the train station to catch our train to Florence.
Florence
We made it to Florence and when we booked our hostel we thought it was just outside of the city, but it ended up being about an hour bus ride away. There was the con of transportation, but seeing the countryside was an absolutely beautiful pro. Since we ended up staying in a small village we got food from the co-op for dinner. I can’t quite remember what we had, but it was a nice picnic.
For breakfast the next morning we had the breakfast provided by the hostel. We made our way back into Florence for our one day in the city. After exploring a bit we stopped for lunch where I got a Caprese sandwich and a tea. We then stopped for gelato near the Duomo, but the mint gelato was super green, which I have now learned is a sign of a tourist spot. After more exploring, we stopped for dinner before heading back to our hostel. We stopped for pasta, but mine came out cold and this I also believe was a tourist trap restaurant, but the Fanta was good! There is something about European Fanta that just tastes better! The next morning we ate more of our co-op food and then headed back to Florence to take the train to Venice.
Venice
We were not staying in Venice, but in the town right outside. Our hostel was super modern and had a party scene, which was not our vibe, so we spent a lot of time outside on the patio. The great thing about this hostel though was that down the street was the train station and a good grocery store. From there we picked up salads for dinner and some delicious coconut cookies! These cookies are another top 10!
On our first day in Venice, we picked up some breakfast and lunch from the grocery store and then took a ferry to Burano, the island with colorful buildings. We explored the island, ate our salads, and then found this bakery. They sold Essi cookies, which are the best cookies I have ever had! They are cookies that are rich in eggs and butter. I have tried to recreate them and nothing I do gets even close to the original. After exploring, we headed back to the hostel where they were having pizza night, so we had some pizza and more cookies from the grocery store.
We again bought breakfast and lunch from the grocery store and then headed to explore Venice for the day. Near the Bridge of Sighs, we stopped to eat our salads and enjoyed watching the gondolas. We spent the day getting lost and wandering all over Venice. Honestly, this is the best place to get lost because one way or another you will find water and be able to walk where you need to go. For dinner, we decided to go to a restaurant near our hostel, and usually, we had been trying to eat later because Europeans eat later, but we were tired and needed to get up early. We went to the restaurant and I had the best pasta I have ever had. It was Busiata with Trapanese pesto sauce. I really enjoyed that the menu told you where the pasta is from. Another Top 10!
The grocery store was closed the next morning, so we weren’t able to get breakfast there but found a cafe at the train station. We bought some drinks and croissants on our way out of Venice and our next stop was Budapest.
Food throughout Hungary
Budapest
When we made it to Budapest we found a burger place near our hostel. It was pretty good and it reminded me of home. We went to bed early because we were getting up early to go on a tour. In the morning, we found breakfast at a place near where we were meeting for the tour. I bought a simple danish. Then after the tour, we stopped at a place for lunch and I wanted to get goulash. I was not too impressed with this meal and it was extremely salty. For dinner, we explored the Jewish district and went to the main strip, and found a small cafe. After that salty lunch, I desperately wanted something healthy, so I had a salad with grilled chicken. Then on our way back to our hostel, we stopped at this really cute ice cream shop.
The next morning we stopped at a cute cafe to have pastries and I had a smoothie. After our morning at the House of Terror, we found lunch at a vegan food truck place, where I had quesadillas. While we were eating, a short rainstorm passed through, luckily the umbrellas were up! On the tour the day before, our tour guide had recommended trying Flodni at Cafe Noe where it was created. We headed there to have Rachel’s Flodni, and it was super interesting. Flodni is a traditional Hungarian Jewish cake, with plum jam, walnuts, apples, and poppy seeds. Again, another top 10.
Then for dinner, we stopped at a nice restaurant and I ordered goulash again, hoping it would be better, and it was! It was served in a mini pot and it was incredible! We also shared a traditional sponge cake with custard. On our way out of Budapest, I grabbed a pain au chocolat for breakfast, my favorite pastry!
That’s where I’m going to stop this blog post! Next Friday you will be able to read all about the food I ate in Prague, Germany, Switzerland, France, and London. Thank you so much for your support and I hope you enjoyed reading about the food I ate throughout Europe! You can check out this week’s podcast episode where I talked about my day in Disneyland USA here. Also, feel free to follow me on Instagram and Facebook. Thank you so much for your support!
Take care and stay safe,
Renée