Italy in Boston

There are a lot of places I love in Boston: Fenway Park, Newbury Street, Faneuil Hall etc. However, I think if someone told me I could only go to one part of Boston for the rest of my life, I would pick The North End. There is nothing quite so wonderful as the crowded streets, yummy Italian food and yummy gelato and canoli desserts. Last night Eric, Tiff, Ronnie and I headed into the North End and after running my first 5k I was feeling like I deserved a yummy meal. I have a couple of restaurants I want to try in the North End, but we decided on one for last night called Trattoria il Panino. I almost never stray off Hanover street for restaurants, but this one was on a nice side street right off of Hanover and had a beautiful garden area (that I will definitely be eating in next time!). I am pretty boring and almost always get some kind of pasta with regular tomato sauce, but let me tell you the quality and taste of even this simple meal can vary depending on the place. At Trattoria il Panino, it was definitely Italy quality. Tiff and Eric both got a special that was Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Ravioli. I tried it and it was delicious too.

We also ordered this wonderful bottle of wine called La Aristocratico. It's a Pino Grigio (my all time favorite) that I have never tried before and it was so good! I got to be the lucky one to taste it for the table and make sure it was good (anyone else feel like a total idiot when you do this?) and I was so happy about how great it tasted I didn't even have to fake the usual "yup tastes fine" haha. We finished up with some dessert from where else but Mike's Pastry. After, we came home to watch the Celtics. And don't worry, I did manage to get up this morning and go for my training swim. Although it did take me suspiciously long to finish the 23 laps...maybe I shouldn't have skipped my swim last Thursday. The good news (swimming wise, horrible news for every other aspect of my life) is that it is supposed to rain a lot this week so I will probably get a lot of swimming in. I leave you with a picture of Eric with the dog version of him (haha aka Tiff's dog Bruschi). Don't forget to enter to win the GIVEAWAY!