of how I ate my way through Europe

I know I am on WeightWatchers, and I know how hard I have worked to lose the weight I have lost in the past year. However, I knew going to Europe meant two things: seeing and eating. Before I left, my sister told me "don't hold back. If there's something you want to try, you need to try it. You don't go to Europe every day."
I took those words to heart, and based on how much I love food and trying things I have never eaten before... I took a leap. The leap cost me easily 5 pounds, but it was 100% worth it.
I figured in order to remind myself of all of the delicious things that I tried, I would blog about how Ms Bee ate her way through each and every country she visited... her being... well... me.

Spain:
Madrid -- In Madrid I tried Cocido. A stew made out of beef, vegetables, potatoes and peas. It was absolutely delicious and 100% worth the fact that I ate soup in one of the hottest cities in the entire trip.

Zaragoza -- In Zaragoza, we were told it was all about the Migas. Amanda and I jumped straight to the tourist office, where we were treated like queens. The girl at the front desk recommended "La Miguería," a place dedicated to this traditional Aragón dish. We were not disappointed.
Migas are a dish made up of pan-fried bread crumbs accompanied by one or many choices, anywhere from fruits like grapes to traditional things like Morcilla. Amanda and I decided to try the "mixed" migas, which had grapes, fried egg, chorizo, mushrooms and Morcilla. If you do not know what Morcilla is, it is blood sausage. Don't be grossed out, it is actually really good.
I grew up eating blood sausage in Panama, and it is impossible to find in Colorado... so I was all for it. Amanda not so much! I ate the entire morcilla by myself! haha
The Migas were absolutely delicious. We also tried an Ensalda Aragonesa, with long stems of lettuce, tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, jamón serrano on a perfectly balanced vinaigrette.

Barcelona -- I tried original Tapas in Barcelona, in a little place close to the Ramblas. We also had the best glass of sangria we had in Spain. We tried Pan Entomatado, a type of bruschetta but with a tomato-based sauce and served cold as well as Tortilla Española - an egg, onion and potato omelette. We laughed about the fact that we ate the most in Barcelona, because so many things were so popular. At the Mare Magnum mall, which is pretty much ON the ocean, we stopped to eat what is probably the single best Paella I have ever had. We also had some Croquetas, little fried balls of seafood. De-lish!

Carcassone -- Carcassone is a medieval town, where many movies have been filmed - including Robin Hood. Our tour director, Liz, recommended we tried Cassoulet. Cassoulet is a slow-cooked meat and haricot bean stew. It was ABSOLUTELY amazing. We literally licked our plates clean. It was also raining outside and kind of cold, so we enjoyed the fact that it was piping hot and very homey.

Pont du Gard -- While not an actual city, we stopped at the site of the Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct that dates to the first century AD and one of the top five tourist attractions in France. Amanda and I realized we had not had croissants and we were about to leave France! Emergency! Thank goodness, the croissants we had did not disappoint, to the point where we actually bought second ones because they were so YUMMY DELICIOUS!

Monaco -- Monaco was my first (of many) experience with crêpes in France. I had a crêpe with Nutella that was TO-DIE-FOR and super cheap! Only 2 Euros!

Florence -- In Florence, Jon, Matt, Amanda and I ate what we all were craving: Steak. Through Liz, we found out Florentine steak is very famous and traditional... so why not? I kid you not, it was one of the biggest steaks I had in my entire life, and it was worth each and every single one of the 1,000 points it was probably worth! We had the "tourist menu" at that particular place, which included Mushroom Tortellini as our antipasto and coffee afterwards. The tortellini was also one of the best dishes we had on the trip. Sooooo good!

Italy in general -- Upon my arrival to Italy, it was my mission to try as many flavors of Gelatto as possible... and I did! I managed to have Oreo, Vanilla, Nutella, Melon, Raspberry, Strawberry, Chocolate, Lime and Mango. I could still have gelatto every day.

And lastly, one more thing I discovered in Italy was chocolates called Baci (kisses) and very famous throughout the country. I managed to bring some home with me to give to friends, and also found out that they are sold on Amazon haahaha... yum-o!

And thus ends the tale of how Ms Bee ate her way through Europe! Loveeeeeeeeed it!