Venice at $486 RT

What's the rarest food you've ever eaten? Saffron? Caviar?

How about a rose petal jam made from flowers hand-massaged by Armenian monks on a Venetian island?

Now there's something you won't find at Trader Joe's.

The isle of San Lazzaro is home to a Mekhitarist monastery, and every May, their rose gardens explode with blooms. In a matter of weeks, the monks make about 5,000 jars of dark red rose petal jam. Most are eaten with their daily breakfast and the rest are sold in the monastery gift shop.

Between the multi-layered history of the island, and the gorgeous grounds of the monastery itself, it's well-worth a visit with or without the jam.

But snag one of those 5,000 jars and you won't regret it — we hear it's sweet, fragrant, and goes excellently with goat cheese :-)