Italian Adventure

To continue our fantastic day, we decided to embark on an adventure to an Italian restaurant close to the heart of Moscow. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was at the idea of eating Italian food. Granted my perception of true cuisine is slightly incorrect (Olive Garden isn’t authentic? What?), regardless I was thrilled. Now do not get me wrong, the Russian food we have been consuming has been delicious and I truly have no complaints about any of my culinary experiences thus far. However, Russian food has a tendency to be maybe more savory than the food I am typically used to. The texture is consistent and the flavoring isn’t quite as spicy as my palate is accustomed to. It’s not a fault at all, just a difference. Thus, we figured Italian was the best way to *spice* things up.
After inviting the entire group, our dinner party was narrowed to Karlie, Katie and I. The three of us have actually been consistent travel buddies for the past week and it’s fitting because we all have very similar demeanors when it comes to adventuring. We are very spontaneous and hold time as a relative concept. Our attitudes definitely came in handy that night because our guidebook was misleading. That sneaky little sucker of a book did not include very detailed instructions on how to locate the restaurant. Katie and Karlie, being more daring adventurers than I, took the reigns and bravely navigated the streets. Granted we were a little lost at first, but had I been navigating, we would have ended up in Mongolia!
We ended up wandering the streets of Moscow for about 90 minutes looking for this restaurant! Luckily we were able to maintain positive mindset, particularly because we're all Sound of Music fanatics so we sing all the time on the sidewalks. The three of us decided it was time for several verses of "My Favorite Things" because when the dog bites, and the bee stings, you just remember you favorite things and then you don't feel so bad- right? :)
I couldn’t have been happier exploring though, because we were in the very affluent section of Moscow’s neighborhoods! The streets were adorable, lined with unique boutiques and little, ornate cafes. Because we were completely famished, we stopped in a quaint, French pastry shop. I got a little piece of cheesecake for 60 rubles (only about $1.30!). It was fabulous and provided much needed glucose.
Fortunately, Katie was determined to find this restaurant and used her mapping skills to ascertain our bearings and locate the right direction. When we finally found the Italian restaurant, the hostess saw our distress and immediate sat us. I ordered the margherita pizza and enjoyed every bite of it (yes, I ate a whole pizza- we hadn't eaten all day... minus the tiny cheesecake). All in all, the night was perfect. I feel like when you’re not looking for it, you’re most likely to find something great. Upon reflecting on the night, I was reminded of a quote from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: “ Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”. Fortunately, that night we didn’t miss anything.