Eating Vegan in North Italy, Part I

So far, I have not had much free time to explore much on my own. The conference has been providing food, and they have made a point, which is awesome, to prepare me something specifically vegan (I'm the vegano, according to the waitress). The best dish they have given me was a mushroom risotto, but unlike any risotto I have ever seen, it was made with long-grain rice. Last night, I got a fairly bland spanakopita because it was basically the same as everyone else's, expect that it was made without the cheese. I was also given a big bowl of plain beans, fava I think, and those were quite tasty. I have been getting salads at lunch and dinner, too. Most of those have had in-season tomatoes, which are fantastic, and olive oil as the only dressing, which is a little weird. The one I had the day before yesterday was really good because the dressing included balsamic vinegar, and it had this tasty corn. Breakfast has been really simple, bread and jam, but I prefer a light meal first in the morning. For dessert at lunch yesterday, they gave a big bowl of fresh fruit. The peaches were awesome, even better than the peaches we have been getting at this point in the year from Fredericksburg, but hopefully, those will get better soon. The first night in Gargnano, I had a mushroom pizza, senza mozzarella, and it was really good, too, but the crust was a little too thin, in my opinion, so it did not exceed the pizza I got in the JFK airport. The only dish I really had on my own was in the travel from the Milano-Malpensa International Airport to here. Outside of the main train station in Milan, I had a superb falafel sandwich, one of the best I have had. What really separated it was the bread, which is the same as the bread used in donar kebabs in Berlin. It is something like a cross between focaccia and ciabatta. Everything inside it was really fresh, and they were not afraid to put chili in it. The fries were so good. I just don't understand why fries are not made like this more, at least in the United States. I'm attaching a picture of that meal here and of the typical breakfast I would have.