Here’s what I’ve been up to over the past week! I like to share my favorite activities, reads, listens and anything in general that I found interesting on a weekly basis.

Beach Days

Last weekend I finally made it down the coast to Sabaudia, a small town between Rome and Naples. I've always loved this area (including Gaeta, Terracina and Formia) for its laid-back beach vibe, lack of crazy crowds and beautiful beaches. While we've taken weekend trips here in the past, Saturday I went down for lunch and some time on the beach with my boyfriend and Italian friend who is from the area. We had lunch with his family, which was VERY cool because most of the food came directly from their farm. They're surrounded by greenhouses and fields, growing their own produce to eat and sell. Of course, lunch was delicious, but it was so nice to meet some people who are from rural Italy and hear about their life on a farm/near the sea. So often I'm surrounded by city people, while I'm missing my home in the country.

Our beach day was beautiful, but windy. We lounged, talked, got mojitos from a beach shack and my brave friend took a swim in the cold water. I love days like these where I have nothing crazy going on but I can be outside the city, hang out with friends and eat/drink all I want.

Gelato Season

I'm back to my gelato-a-day lifestyle and not mad about it. This year I plan on taste testing even more gelaterias in Rome to find the best gelato in the city, but more often than not, I grab a quick cone between lessons around my neighborhood. A couple of my favorites are La Romana, Gutilla, and Fatamorgana.

Instagram

I listen to a lot of podcasts about online marketing (like Smart Passive Income and Hashtag Authentic) which are really interesting for me. I studied communications and do a lot of work with social media in my day to day life and educating myself about it is always fun. If you haven't seen my Instagram page, check it out here or at @abbiestark in the app.