Easter Monday in Italy: Pasquetta

With the Vatican just down the road, Easter Sunday is a big deal in Rome. However, Easter Monday in Italy is also a national holiday known as Pasquetta (little Easter). The formal name for Easter Monday in Italy is actually Lunedì dell’Angelo. In the Catholic calendar, this Monday holiday recalls the meeting between the women who […]

Da Gino al Parlamento (Trattoria Dal Cavalier Gino) in Rome

Cheesey pasta at Roman restaurant Gino al Parlamento

“Kitsch” does not begin to adequately describe the design choices that are being made inside Gino Al Parlamento. The restaurant is covered in charmingly bad hand-painted vines and faux exposed brick. Luckily, even in a town as worried about la bella figura as Rome, food still counts more than decor choices when it comes to […]

Best Quotes About Naples, Italy

I like to describe Naples as chaos incarnate. It has a life of its own, that seems to head in every direction at once, but then comes together into a sort of untouchable harmony that energizes your soul. And because I would love to know more about the city, I collected together my favorite quotes […]

Gelateria dei Gracchi in Rome

Close up on gelato cup

I feel, more often than ever, like words are escaping me. I can sit and concentrate and claw around my foggy mental state, but I cannot easily summon the vocabulary that I had at my fingertips before the baby. I blame the cumulative effects of long-term sleep deprivation, but I love this kid and so […]

Italian Father’s Day: March 19 (St. Joseph’s Day)

Rather than move around the calendar to a convenient June Sunday, Italian Father’s Day is always celebrated on March 19th. This is because Father’s Day in Italy coincides with the Festa di San Giuseppe – or the Catholic feast day in honor of St. Joseph. That would be Joseph, as in Mary and Joseph – […]