Absinthe milk shakes, really?

That's what I said, when I first heard of Latte Piu, which means 'more than milk' in Italian. The milk bar situated outside the heart of Rome, is the type of place you take friends from out of town. It's a 'locals only' place, which makes it, my kind of place.

The bars concept is largely based on the film "A Clockwork Orange"where the film's characters drink large glasses of milk spiked with special ingredients, the film is set in the 1940's, a time when milk bars were social venues and on the verge of being replaced by fast food chains across the U.S. But the unlike the original milk bar, this modern day milk bar, Latte Piu, offers yummy cocktails, yummy treats and an atmosphere to match.

The purple menu includes four pages worth of milk shakes, the most popular kind are the ones with Absinthe. It's hard to imagine what a chocolate shake, with gelato, amaretto and absinthe tastes like, you would think the rich think ice creme and the gelato would hide the taste of alcohol. You're wrong! While the absinthe does take the back seat to the chocolate, you still feel the burning sensation down your throat and you're left with bitter licorice after taste. That's why my favorite milk shake on the menu is 'La Verita Interiore'. It's a blend of chocolate gelato, nutella, rum and whip creme. They also serve milk shakes with vodka and non-alcoholic shakes. Nonetheless, the absinthe shakes are a must try, it's not often two popular food groups like ice-creme and absinthe come together.

The chic interior design is just as impressive as its menu. The white walls and sleek purple panels, make you feel like you stepped into an up scale lounge in a big city. Statues of naked white male and female bodies line the perimeter, the tables lay low and a white couch shaped like a penis is the center piece. The background music adds to the ambiance and if you time it out right, you'll be sipping on your vitamin D by the time the fire show at the bar lights up the venue.

The only down side to this bar is the location. It's far from the city center, hard to find and unless you have a car in Rome, you'll have to call it an early night to take the metro home. I've been there twice, and I've always left wanting 'more milk'.

Pastry Pandemonium in Portogallo

January marked the peak of our addiction with pastries. It started off slow. We went from sharing a yummy, warm, chocolate croissant every morning-to getting our own. But, it wasn't long before our almighty sweet tooth (it runs in the family) was craving something sweet at the end of every meal. But, when we landed in Portugal, we were skipping entrees and reaching straight for the Pastéis de Nata and devowering, I won't mention how many, in a single sitting.

These tiny tart cakes are considered one of the top 5 main attractions in Lisbon. In fact, if you opted to stay true to your diet (boo) instead of taking a bite of pure 'deliciousness' then you didn't really experience Lisbon. Natas have a sweet history that dates back to the 17th century. They're made fresh from scratch daily and are a staple at Portugese celebrations. Like many Portugese pastries, Natas are made out of egg yolks. They are also called Pastéis de Belem, after the town that first started selling the popular pastry.

But even after centuries, we found tradition beat the competition. The best tarts were hands-down at The Casa Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon.

Lisbon was our first stop, by the time we got to Porto, Natas were only the appetizer of our dessert buffet.