covid-19 update: life in rome
During a pandemic, nowhere is what it used to be. Italy went through an extremely intense lockdown in the Spring to fight against COVID-19. Read about us getting stuck in California for almost three months here and when the country started to reopen and what...
italian summers at the beach
I truly never loved spending time at the beach until experiencing beaches in Italy. Italy has over 4,5000 feet of coastline and a common sight are the beach resorts or bagni. So what are bagno (or bagni for plural)? Bagni are usually small, family-owned...
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...
COVID19 update: when can we go home?
my hometown First things first, we and our families are safe and healthy. We’re currently stuck in California without a definite date on when we can return home. Jaime and I returned to California in late February for our first visit since moving to Italy in...
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...
currently
It’s still surreal sitting here in our apartment in Italy. The things that were so hard, different, and strange to us our first couple months have normalized. Sometimes Jaime and I have to remind ourselves that wow, we’re actually living in Rome. It’s not...
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...