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How to choose pesto.
How to Choose Pesto: What I Actually Look For After 12 Years in Italy. The first time I made pesto in my own kitchen in Ancona, I didn’t have a food processor. I had a mortar, borrowed from my landlady, and a bunch of basil from the Wednesday market. And no idea I was about to ruin my wrist for the next two hours. I remember standing there, pounding basil leaves against pine nuts and garlic, wondering why every Italian recipe insisted on doing this the hard way. Then I tasted it. Bright, sharp, a little peppery from the basil oils that only come out when you crush the leaves…
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What to buy in Italy?
What to Buy in Italy: 13 Gifts, Supermarket Finds and Pharmacy Must-Haves. Ciao! There is always one last space in the suitcase. Maybe you have already bought pasta for your mother, a little something for a friend, and a magnet you did not need but could not leave behind. Now you want to find the things that are genuinely worth bringing home. I moved to Italy in 2013, and this is what I have learned: the best Italian gifts are often ordinary things Italians buy every day. A good coffee. A packet of biscuits from the supermarket. A soap from an erboristeria. A toothpaste that makes brushing your teeth feel unexpectedly…
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Monte San Vito (Marche, Italy) Beer Festival.
The Beer Festival That Started With One German Guy Walking Into a Bar. In 2002, a German guy walked into a bar in Monte San Vito… Nobody remembers exactly what he ordered or why he ended up in a small hilltop town in the Marche instead of anywhere else in Italy. What people do remember is that he started talking about beer, real beer, the kind they didn’t really serve in a normal Italian bar back then. Someone behind the counter got an idea. A few months later, that idea had a name, a date, and a handful of tables set up outside. Twenty-four years later, that same idea is…
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Master’s degree in Italy.
How to Get Into a Master’s Degree in Italy (The Real Version). Ciao! Come state? Five years before I ever wrote a single word on this blog, I was sitting in a student apartment in Ancona, refreshing the UNIVPM enrollment page for the tenth time, convinced I had filled in the wrong field somewhere. Applying for my laurea magistrale felt like assembling furniture without instructions. In Italian. Under a deadline. So if you’re standing where I stood, trying to figure out how to get into a master’s degree in Italy, ti capisco, I’ve done this twice, once for my triennale and once for my magistrale, both in Economics at UNIVPM,…
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Italian healthcare system for international students.
The Italian Healthcare System for International Students: What You Actually Pay (And When). When I moved to Ancona in 2013 to start my degree at UNIVPM, healthcare was the last thing on my mind. I was busy figuring out how to enroll, where to live, and how to order a coffee without sounding like a tourist. Then, three months in, I needed a doctor. That’s when I found out the Italian healthcare system is nothing like what I expected, and nothing like what most guides tell you either. So let’s clear this up properly. Not the tourist version. The version you actually need if you’re studying in Italy for a…
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Studying at an Italian University.
What It’s Really Like to Study at an Italian University (Nobody Warns You). My first oral exam in Italy lasted four minutes. The professor asked a question, I froze for maybe two seconds too long, and he moved on to the next student. No do-overs, no time to collect my thoughts on paper first. Just a question, a number between 18 and 30, and my libretto one entry heavier. Twelve years later, I still remember that exact feeling, because nothing in my economics textbook back in Belarus had prepared me for it. If you are thinking about university in Italy, or you are already enrolled and wondering why everything feels slightly different…
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Italian Easter Cheese Bread Recipe.
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Summer Panettone in Italy.
Summer Panettone in Italy: Yes, It’s a Thing (And I Found It at the Bar). I ordered my espresso, sat down, looked left… A panettone. At the bar. In June. Not a forgotten box from Christmas tucked behind the counter. A proper panettone estivo, its packaging all summery blues and yellows, right there next to the cornetti. It was a Galup, that Piedmontese brand born in 1922, the one Italians trust the way they trust their nonna’s recipe. I genuinely did a double-take. Ma stai scherzando? After 12 years living in Italy, you’d think nothing surprises me anymore. And yet. Summer panettone is one of those things that reveals how deep Italian food culture…
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The Most Famous Donkey Race in Italy.
The Most Famous Donkey Race in Italy: The Donkey Palio in Alba. Ciao! Come state? Let me tell you something. The first time I heard “donkey race” and “Italy” in the same sentence, I laughed. Then I looked it up. Then I laughed again, but differently. The kind of laugh that says: “…of course, Italy has this, and of course it’s perfect”. Allora — the Palio degli Asini in Alba, Piedmont, is the most famous donkey race in Italy. And it’s not a quirky little local thing you stumble upon by accident. It draws thousands of visitors every year, it has roots going back to the 14th century, and it happens…
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“Permesso di Soggiorno” for Students in Italy.
Permesso di Soggiorno for Students in Italy: What Nobody Tells You in the First 8 Days. Ciao! Come state? You just landed in Italy. Your suitcase is still half-unpacked. You’re running on excitement and maybe a little jet lag. And then someone says: “Hai già fatto il permesso di soggiorno?” …No. You haven’t. You didn’t even know where to start. I remember that feeling very well. My first week in Ancona in 2013, I had a visa, a university registration, and absolutely no idea what to do next. Nobody handed me a checklist at the airport. Nobody explained that the clock was already ticking. So let me be that person…
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Easter in Italy.
Easter in Italy: Traditions, Colomba & Pasquetta Picnic Ideas. Whether you’re planning to visit Italy during Easter or want to recreate that authentic Italian vibe at home, this guide will walk you through everything: traditions, iconic foods like Colomba cake, and the best ideas for a perfect Pasquetta picnic. Easter in Italy is not just a holiday, it’s a full sensory experience made of tradition, seasonal ingredients, and long meals that turn into lasting memories. As spring begins to bloom, Italians gather around the table to celebrate with dishes that reflect both heritage and simplicity. In Italy, Easter (Pasqua) blends deep rooted religious customs with a more universal ritual: sharing food. The…
