I had already been in Italy for about a week when our professor took us on a little field trip last Thursday with another college group from Miami. So far in Italy my food expectations weren’t being met. This was mostly due to the fact that I’d been eating at the cafeteria here at the university to try and save money. Our professor let us pay a flat fee and we got to eat lunch in a little town called San Leo. It took us three hours to get there, but once we drove uphill and came upon the town I realized it was truly beautiful.

We went into the Castello Bar for lunch, which had a dining area setup for us when we got there with wine glasses and a breathtaking view of the hilltops. Immediately when I sat down I realized that we were fine dining for lunch. The tables were set with white linen and there was bread and fresh olive oil at every table. I was giddy as a little girl because there I was after eating cafeteria food and I was finally going to get a special meal.

The flavors of each course didn’t prove me wrong. Italians eat their courses very differently from Americans. We usually have appetizers with bread and a salad, followed by the main course. In Italy the first course is a pasta dish followed by a smaller portioned entrée. At first I snacked on bread with olive oil adorned with salt and pepper. The olive oil was from the region and enhanced the flavors of the fresh baked bread. The first pasta dish was pasta Bolognese. It was a tomato based pasta dish with al dente cooked noodles. Everything about the dish was fresh and the seasoning was well proportioned. After this we received spinach ravioli, which wasn’t my favorite and finally the crown jewel of the meal came.

My eyes lit up when the waiter brought us a platter of pork loins, Yukon potatoes and sautéed spinach. It was a smaller portion than the pasta, but definitely my favorite of everything. The pork loin was extremely tender and marinated with an almost sweet glaze. It complimented the Yukon potatoes which had a nutty flavor. I finally felt like I had an authentic Italian meal.

For dessert we were served espresso ice cream which really was the cherry on top of this brilliant meal. The rest of the day I was glowing from the experience. I can’t wait to see what other flavors Italy has to offer.

Jessica Carr is a rising junior in journalism and electronic media. She aspires to be a professional food blogger and food magazine editor. She can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Twitter at @jcarr_94.