Weave a trip abroad around passion for food and you have quite an adventure on your hands. Make sure to dodge tourist traps, discover cultural experiences and taste the real foods of a country.

European travel is a food lover’s dream come true. Italian wine, French cheese, Belgian chocolate — each country promises the best of so many foods. Farmer’s markets and gourmet shops are found all over the Continent, and the world’s best restaurants crowd into these countries. A good meal — whether it’s a three-Michelin-star overload or homemade pasta made by someone’s little old grandmother — is always nearby.

Unfortunately with the finest in food comes the market for gaudy imitations and poor substitute restaurants. Trying to please visitors from all over the world, or attract plump wallets, many of Europe’s streets have become overrun with tourist restaurants and shops selling expensive and doesn’t-even-compare items. To avoid these misses, a little research goes a long way for the gourmand. Here are some suggestions for traveling abroad with food on your mind.

1. Subscribe to travel newsletters. Fill your inbox with vacay ideas and you’ll have a head start for the next trip you take. Most travel newsletters cover dining options and they tend to stray away from tourist spots. Subscribe to newsletters from Daily Candy Travel, Frommers, Smartertravel, Rick Steve’s Europe, and Travel Smart.

2. Use online guides. Chances are, where you are going, someone has traveled for food before. Reading online guides (and checking to make sure the suggestions are still around) is a good way to plan a foodie’s paradise day. The New York Times has a series of articles covering 36 hours in many of Europe’s cities, which includes off-the-beaten-path restaurants and dining spots. Bon Appetit and Gourmet have food focused guides on several cities, and the Travel and Leisure Food+Drink section is full of advice for traveling gourmands.

3. Take advice from other foodies. Forums on Chowhound and Slowtravel have comments and reviews of restaurants all over Europe. Ask questions about specific cities or search posted information for advice from other travelers. The research may take some time, but getting advice from food-minded fellows who have traveled before you will help unearth those secret great places to try.

4. Book ahead. Make reservations, especially during the high tourist seasons. Walking into the charming restaurant you’ve researched may be disappointing when you find yourself being turned away from the full house.

Many Europeans vacation during the summer, closing their restaurants for several weeks. Plan ahead to avoid disappointment.

5. Ask the locals. When dining out, ask the people around you for suggestions. Look for information at hostels and from your hotel concierge for nearby special places. Pick up a copy of the local community newspaper or stop into the tourism office for schedules of upcoming food events.

6. Look for local tips. Belgium has Useit Maps — helpful maps with tips from locals that are published every year. In Italy you can pick up a copy of Osterie d’Italia for a comprehensive listing of local, sustainable restaurants. And tourism information guides walk through the trains outside of Budapest helping travelers. Seek out local advice and you will find the true food destinations.

7. When in doubt, stay away from fast food or expensive. Local specialties shouldn’t set you back too pretty of a penny.  Wander away from the tourist areas and you will probably find the same items for less. Although sightseeing is important, these areas tend to be the touristy ones, so try and find some time to discover the more secluded area of your destination spot. It’s here that you’ll stumble upon hidden gems.

Most European city's have a farmer's market to explore where you can try fruits, vegetables and local specialties.

Back to writing….

One horrifying day a few months ago, my laptop, a five-year-old Dell who had seen more than it’s fare share of drops, dings and over use, refused to turn on. Rushing the injured equipment to my car, I drove across town as if my Honda had transformed into an ambulance. The smartly dressed Geek Squadette at Best Buy informed me moments later that my poor laptop, the source of my Internet information and the vessel into which my writing out poured, was indeed dead. Full of despair I returned home, only slightly consoled by the enormous and almost ancient Mac my other half owned. At least writing was still possible, and so my blogging posts continued. But the Mac was slow, wouldn’t fit into any size bag for a field trip to the park, came with an annoying beeping sound and many delays in processing. A few days later that beeping sound revealed itself to be a dying hard drive as the Mac refused, following suit with my poor Dell, to turn on. I began to think my fingers were laced with some sort of computer poison.

Thus almost daily trips to the local libraries ensued, presenting all sorts of new problems. The closest library to my new residence in Korea town was the Pio Pico library, populated over the holiday season with a large number of elementary, middle and high schoolers whose free time soured during winter vacation. Packed in groups around computers, laughter and shouting filled what should have been a quiet zone. Everyday these library patrons viewed each other’s MySpace pages and played fantasy computer games for hours at a time, reserving the computers I dreamed of using. Often every computer was booked, and when I finally lucked into a computer to use, the noise was too much to handle. The four limited- use computers were only available for fifteen minutes at a time, and after tackling the hoards of e-mails left unchecked everyday, the time was up. Which meant back into a deep line of patrons waiting for computer use. Sundays became a headache of a trip to the Hollywood location. Parking was almost impossible because of the farmer’s market located across from the library and patron demand was even higher for a smaller number of computers. But through perseverance, I managed to continue to check my e-mails, keep up with my bank accounts and bills and somehow update my blog. And then it seemed a black cloud was truly over my computer usage, as the public library computer system crashed. Day after day I trekked to the libraries, only to find no computer usage signs posted. All hope left my typing fingers, and I sank into a great computer depression. My blog, which I had eagerly created only a few months earlier, was left untouched, with no hope for decent posts in the near future.

And then my dark cloud was lifted, as a wonderful benefactor came in the form of my Aunt. Her spare computer was speed delivered to my door moments after this sad story reached her ears, more than three months after my poor little Dell died.

And so it’s back in the technological saddle again. The last few months have been full of experiences ready to be typed into words, recipes created and tested,ideas dreamed, books read(or at least started), and of course lots of food. So look forward to many more weeks of posts, all about La Vita Cucinare, my life of food, thanks to my wonderful Aunt and my new computer.