This week we're gearing up for the food marathon that is Easter in Rome. After a fun pizza making party with friends Saturday night, we spent Sunday at a local market buying presents, eating gelato and drinking beer at the popup bars inside the market. The entire Italian culture of hanging out with your friends or strangers when the weather is nice, not really doing anything besides chatting and eating/drinking, is something that I fully support. It's so nice to enjoy life's small moments instead of always planning for the next activity. This weekend we have Easter and Pasquetta, the Monday after that's an Italian holiday. We'll be celebrating with chocolate, lamb and hopefully some time outside the city. Here's a look at Easter events in Rome this week, Buona Pasqua a tutti!

Listening

I've been hearing all about Edoardo's trip to Luxembourg and how amazing he found the international culture there. So much that it might be time for a guest post ;) It's very interesting to hear how it compares to the Italian way of life and since he lived in London for a while, he can also compare this tiny city-country to a larger international counterpart.

On my own, I managed to finish up the entire 7 hour podcast S-Town in less than a week. It's made by the same producers of Serial (another favorite) and it's absolutely gripping.  The journalist's intuitive questions, high quality recordings of events, conversations, and interviews, and the superb editing make it a fantastic listen. Based on a small "shit town" in Alabama, the series follows the lives of several interesting characters and really probes into the deeper meanings of life. Not a light series, but definitely one that will get you thinking.

Reading

My favorite style blogger (Style Bee) is doing a fun clothes challenge right now, where she and her readers are trying to wear only ten items of clothing in 10 days. The 10x10 challenge is really interesting to me because I don't like having a lot of options anyways and it really forces you to be creative. Still to be seen whether I just give up and wear the same thing for two weeks.

I also wanted to give one of my favorite travel bloggers, C'est Christine, a quick shout out just because I'm loving her content recently. She does great weekly roundups and shares a lot about her life in NYC and travels around the world. Also her dog may just be the cutest thing ever.

Roman Neighborhoods: Rione Monti

I spent a couple of days out in Monti last week and it's seriously one of my favorite spots in the city. I always recommend it to people who are looking for a different side to the city and want great food/drinks. Urbana 47 is always a favorite, with farm-to-table food and great drink choices, while I just tried the pizzeria Alle Carrette. It had decent Roman pizza and an authentic feel to it with a huge brick oven and employees that have been there forever.