italian american foods you won’t find in italy
You’re planning your trip to Italy, you love Italian-American food, and you’ve heard amazing things about food in Italy, but you might be surprised to learn there are actually quite a few dishes that aren’t authentically Italian. If you find any of these dishes...
COVID19 update: welcome back, rome
Italy became known to have the strictest lockdown during COVID-19. During its strictest times, the only places open were the grocery store, pharmacy, and bank. Self-declaration forms were required to be carried everywhere you were going and if you weren’t going...
COVID19 update: traveling to italy during COVID19
Last August, Jaime and I booked our first trip back to California to visit our families after a year living in Italy. We flew out right as the northern area of Italy went into lockdown and three days before we were scheduled to fly back to Italy the entire...
getting around rome 101
Italy is a really beautiful country with wonderful people, but getting around the country can add a lot of frustration and stress to your trip. From our daily use of public transportation and driving up and down the country, here are our tips for public...
eating and drinking in rome 101
Italy is the land of regional cuisines. In Rome you’ll find mostly Roman restaurants, in Tuscany you’ll find mostly Tuscan restaurants, in Sicily you’ll find mostly Sicilian restaurants, etc. This means you’ll probably find the same dishes on most of the menus...
pasta making at pastificio faini
Pasta — one of the greatest joys in my life. I always enjoyed pasta in the states, but I’ve really come to love pasta even more in Italy. From the hundreds of different pasta shapes, various pasta sauces, and countless variations from region to region, it's...
a day in the life
I love reading “a day in the life” posts. I love getting a glimpse into someone’s life and routine. Different cultures, different cities, different routines — it’s basically what we’re all doing on social media anyway, right? We receive a lot of comments that...
how to avoid being pickpocketed
The first thing you might’ve learned when planning a trip to Europe is the possibility of being pickpocketed. It can happen almost anywhere you go in Europe, but it’s especially prevalent in Rome and even more so in the touristy areas (Colosseum, Trevi...
enoteca. osteria. trattoria. ristorante. what’s the difference?
We’d like to think we ate our fair share of Italian food in the states. San Diego had Italian restaurants all over the city with names like Davanti Enoteca, Osteria Panevino, Italianissimo Trattoria, and Sorrento Ristorante. We knew they were Italian...
the reality of living abroad
When I created the blog my intentions were to post honestly about our journeys, thoughts, growths, and emotions of moving and living abroad. As we get more settled in, Jaime has returned to a normal work week, and the honeymoon period starts to wear off, I find...
currently
flowers on our terrace When we received the news that we were moving, we weren't devastated, but we were definitely upset about leaving behind everything we knew and without much of a choice. Unless you’re in the military, a dependent of a service member, or in...
three months living in rome
Things are starting to fall into place and life is returning back to normal — well a new normal as Americans living in Italy. We moved into our apartment, the pups are adjusting well, but I’m sure are missing a grassy yard, and things about Rome that used to...