From Rome to the countryside in north of Italy

Pizza rossa: a classic from Rome
(and vegan)

From time to time I go to Italy.

Last week we went first to Rome cause Matteo had to record the songs for the upcoming album of his band, Purification, a vegan straight edge band. I spent two days walking around the city and had the best time. There's something about Rome that makes me love that place.







After we went to Soresina to see Matteo's family and relax. It was warm and really good and I also made a two hours walk in the real countryside.


On Saturday night we headed Monza to meet a friend and it was great too cause I didn't know the city. It's really beautiful.



More about the food to come.

More vegan products in Italy

Last week we had to go to Italy to a short trip. The reasons weren't amazing but it was great to be there for a couple of days. Me and Matteo could relax a little bit and enjoy all the homemade vegan food and love that are always waiting for us there.

It's funny how countries have different vegan products. Italy doesn't have vegan cheese, but it has lots of biscuits and ice cream. Ireland has a lot of vegan cheese options, but not amazing biscuits and just a few (and expensive) ice cream options. Italy has vegan pizza everywhere. Ireland has potato wedges. I could keep going, but this was just to make a point: no place (that I know) is perfect, so I always try to enjoy the best food each place has.

We didn't go out too much but I could take pictures at home and in the supermarket of some great products that we had tried there this time:





This was how we left north of Italy:


This was Dublin last Saturday morning:

And this was Dublin after 5 days of heavy snow (nobody was ready for it, but it was amazing and the city looks even more beautiful!):

Italy, (not too much) vegan, Italy

My husband is Italian, so for the last 5 years and a half I've been learning a lot about Italy and I go there often. Most of the times is just to visit family and to have amazing vegan foods at home. But this time I did a week as a tourist cause my mom came to Europe for the very first time and one of her dreams was to go to Venice. So, to Italy we went. Me, Matteo, mom and a friend of her. 7 days, 4 cities.

The first stop was Matteo's city, Soresina. It's a small city part of Cremona and very close to Milan. We spent the day there and had a early birthday lunch to celebrate my 35 years old. On the second day we went to Milan. After that it were three days in Venice and three days in Rome.

Lunch time at Matteo's house - Soresina

My lovely vegan b-day cake, made by my sister-in-law

Vegan fruit ice cream

Vegan biscuits that you can find in the supermarkets

Vegan biscuits that you can find in the supermarkets

I don't have too much about vegan food to share with you this time cause we went - most of the time - to regular restaurants. But there are some things that I think it's important to know: some cities in Italy doesn't have too many vegan or vegetarian restaurants. Check Vegan Cow to good tips, but it's really hard to find specific places. But, no vegan will starve in that beautiful country cause some typical food are naturally vegan! You will always find spaghetti al pomodoro or spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino. If you go to a restaurant that is also a pizzeria, you will have the marinara pizza and the best thing about it is that you can ask for a marinara with any vegetables you want (Matteo's favorite is with artichoke and mine is with black olives). Most of the places serve ciabatta bread free (you can ask for the oil to eat with the bread, it's too good) and it's vegan.

Marinara pizza

Spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino

Fresh cherries in Venice

And when in Rome... Try two typical Roman food: pizza bianca and pizza rossa. They're perfect for an amazing breakfast. And there are (at least) two places in Rome that you should go: Mondo Arancina (they have one vegan option of this snack called arancina ant it's made with rice and tomato sauce) and, at the same block, Gelarmony Arte Del Gelato Siciliano (they have many vegan ice cream options - soya and rice - and an awesome homemade whipping cream! And I don't need to say that it is my favorite place in Rome too, do I?).



That's it for now. I hope I can go to visit some other cities in Italy this year to make more useful posts for vegan people traveling in Italy.

Mondo Arancina
Via Marcantonio Colonna, 38

Gelarmony Arte Del Gelato Siciliano
Via Marcantonio Colonna, 34

Summer, hot Summer, in Rome

Choose to walk or to go by bicycle

I don't like to do some things, as everybody. And one thing that I don't like and wasn't used do to is to walk when I have to go out. I was used to take how many bus it was necessary to go everywhere and after I got a car, just use it. But I know it is not the best choice when you think about the planet, about live in a better world. And as I always try to remind here, being vegan is also to care about a better world.

So I decided to try to reduce the use of my car when I was still living in Belo Horizonte. It's not easy because it's a city in the middle of the mountains, so it's not that good to go to some places walking. But I started with small distances. And after coming to Europe I am doing it more often. In Italy, Matteo's family lives in a small town, so everybody is used to walk or use the bike. And there I started to ride a bike too. It works to me just because it is a small city, I'm afraid to ride a bike in big cities (even knowing that it's safe here because everybody respects pedestrians and cyclists). Well, I'll try it here in Dublin some day in the future because I really enjoyed to ride a bike again after so many years.


After moving to Dublin, I started to walk again. Dublin is a flat city and our house is close to the city centre. Fifteen, twenty minutes walking. I have to confess that to me it is still a long distance. But it's worth it. Now we know that there is a bus with a stop close to here that take us to the city centre too, but we try to keep walking. And as I can see, most of the people here do the same every day. We can see a lot of people walking or riding a bike to go to and come back from work. It's something cultural too. In many cities of Europe people do that. And the most important, drivers respect them. Regardless of laws, is also a matter of education.


It's awesome to see this habit here. It is healthy and environmentally sustainable. And it is easy to do. Everybody can try it. If not riding a bike, walking. Good for you, better for the planet.