italyMONDO! LLC

07/10/2023

As we begin traveling home, we wanted to share some travel tips from our experience in Rome to you!

07/09/2023

Day 7: Today we were up bright and early to get in line for the Basilica (definitely the way to go to avoid buying tickets, free and through security in 20 minutes!). To take in enough took me two long laps, and I would’ve stayed longer. It’s impossible to explain the feeling of being in there so I’ll just advise you make the trip sometime in your lifetime. This was special for us as my grandmother and mom went to the Vatican together almost 29 years ago.

After heading back to the apartment, we stopped by McDonald’s - but hear me out! Fast food is a treat for us anyway, but we were curious to see what an Italian McDonald’s was like, and let me tell you it’s pretty different (my international business professor would’ve been proud). Two floors, digital ordering, espresso, AND alcohol. I tried the red pesto chicken sandwich, and my mom got a pistachio McFlurry. Definitely a change from all the pasta! (until…)

On the way back we walked through the Piazza Novana to appreciate the fountains. For dinner, we ate our last big pasta meal at Giordi - tomato, burrata, pistachio, and shrimp for me, and the pasta was DEFINITELY homemade 🤤. And of course, gelato at Mamma Mia Gelaterie. Early morning tomorrow!

07/07/2023

Day 6: Today was a hot one in Roma! We started with breakfast at Taba Cafè • Campo dé Fiori (another client recommendation!), avocado toast and giant cappuccinos for me and my sister. We then headed toward Colosseo where we met our guide Alessandra from Rutas Romanas. We saw the Forum and the Colosseum. Did you know many fighters in these battles were volunteers, or rather, employed? (If you survived, that is 💰) My dad and the other husbands on our tour were recruited to do some reenacting (my dad had to play Nero). For a 90°F + day, Alessandra kept us all moving, entertained, and informed for 3 HOURS. Although I got a pretty brutal sunburn, it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

After some water, aloe, and a nap, we actually headed back to Taba for empanadas, pizza, and pesto potatoes. Yum!

07/06/2023

Day 5: This morning started off with breakfast at DAR CONTE, including caffe freddo in an martini glass. We then headed back toward Vatican City for the Rome Leonardo Da Vinci Museum (a lot like the Van Gogh Expo in Schenectady!). This interactive (!!!) exhibit highlighted not only his art, but also his inventions, and was so worth the trip. After that we taxied to Enoteca Trastevere, actually recommended to me by an italyMONDO client! The tris de bruschette was the perfect shared lunch.

After a rest, we headed to Elle Effe Restaurant Cocktail Wine Bar for some Sicilian food - pasta alla norma and cannoli. The food reminded my mom of her mom and grandparents! We then enjoyed a beautiful night people watching with our new friend from Dallas.

07/05/2023

Day 4: Today we started with a nice breakfast at our nearby Baccanale then headed over toward the Trevi Fountain. One of the most fascinating things about Rome is how these massive monuments are just built into the city. We were actually able to meet our friends Emily, Melissa, and Olivia who were on their own trip! We had our Lizzie McGuire moment then shared lunch at Hostaria Pantheon.

Once we split ways, the Frankos got in line for the The Pantheon, formerly a Greek temple and now a Christian chapel and tomb for Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I. We walked in right at the right time and we actually able to stay for a quadrilingual mass! On the way back to our apartment I had to take a picture at the Piazza de San Ignazio (phins up @ Le Moyne College) before getting some more gelato.

En route to gelato, we came upon @
LION Cocktail Bar, which was abuzz for karaoke night! My new friends from Australia pulled us up to sing some ABBA, of course!

07/04/2023

Day 3: As a lifelong Catholic, it was important for us to make it to the Vatican. We wandered around St. Peter's Square and soaked in the size and detail of the Holy See. While we didn’t go into the Basilica today, we did see the Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Benjamin, our tour guide from Vivico, provided so much history on the miles worth of art throughout the Vatican Museums - Musei Vaticani complex. We ended the tour taking in the magnificence of the Sistene Chapel (no pictures!!), then a late pizza at People (another Campo de' Fiori restaurant).

07/03/2023

Let’s talk food: a late breakfast this morning entailed Irish coffee and a ricotta and spinach omelette at Mercato Hosteria Campo Di Fiori in Campo de Fiori (I was sleepy). We had snacks throughout the day, but had appetizers (suppli and zucchini flowers) and aperol spritzes at DAR CONTE. After walking that off, we got dinner at Ai Balestrari, where I finally got cacio de pepe of my own. Thanks to some Instagram accounts about Italy I follow, I knew these were some Roman standards I had to try.

07/02/2023

Day 2: Today we trekked to the Jewish Ghetto, which we learned about during our trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in December. This thriving community of Jewish Italians also houses ruins of the physical walls built to separate them from the rest of the world, and later from N**i oppression. We also tried a Jewish pizza: a sweet bread with nuts. A must try!

We then wandered to the VIVE - Vittoriano e Palazzo Venezia. This was home base for Mussolini in the early 20th century, and now houses a museum, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and a pretty phenomenal view of Rome. If you can make it up the steps, you can see the Piazza Venezia, the Forum, the Colosseum, and even the Vatican in the distance. The amount of marble and stone is breathtaking. Safe to say we hit our 10,000 steps this day!

07/01/2023

After Pompeii, Luigi drove us to the Amalfi Coast, specifically Positano. Charlotte took us to her favorite restaurant, Ristorante La Pergola- where I got the ravioli with eggplant and a view of the bustling seaside. After lunch, we tasted limoncello at Positano Art and Taste and picked up a little candy for my coworkers 🤫

We had the best day with Charlotte and Luigi from Welcome Italy and our new friends from Scotland, and we’d highly recommend booking a day tour like this!

06/30/2023

Our first full day was just that - full! We booked a trip with Welcome Italy to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Charlotte and Luigi picked us up at our Vrbo, then we and our new friends from Scotland drove down to Pompeii. It was fascinating to walk the roads the people of Pompeii walked before Mt. Vesuvius erupted and stopped life in its tracks. Salvatore, our Pompeii - Parco Archeologico guide, was a wealth of knowledge with 42 years of tours under his belt. In the words of Charlotte, stone is the way to go when building, as these ruins have stood the test of time. Such an interesting piece of history we immersed ourselves in!

Next stop: Amalfi Coast 🍋

06/29/2023

Our adventure began with travel. We drove from the Capital Region to Boston Logan International Airport, then flew overnight to land in Fiumicino Airport bright and early CET. We found our Vrbo then relaxed and got dinner nearby at Baccanale, with a view of Campo de Fiori. I got a simple aglio olio, my parents got cacio e pepe, and my sister got gnocchi. After a long 24+ hours of travel, we had to end the day with gelato at Fatamorgana Gelato- cheesecake with forest fruits for me. Many more adventures to come in our full days ahead!

06/29/2023

As we begin our journey together, you should know this is not my first trip to Europe, or even Italy. Back in 2010, my family took a Heritage Tour with italyMONDO ourselves to Graniti (ME) to visit my maternal grandmother’s ancestral hometown (my grandfather was born in Maenza (LT)). We had a fantastic trip, and 11 years later I got hired by that same company to help clients get in touch with their own Italian roots. Now we’re back in my mother’s ancestral home country to see what the capital has to offer! 🇮🇹

06/28/2023

Ciao! My name is Mia, and I’m a Case Manager/Delivery Specialist in the italyMONDO! US office. However, for the next week or so, my family and I will be in Rome, and I’m going to share our journey with you! We’re excited to see the sights and eat all the delicious food. Andiamo!

04/14/2023

We are excited to announce that italyMONDO!’s founder, Peter Farina, is the Executive Producer of Bryan Mazzarello’s new film, Make Me Italian! 🇮🇹 🇺🇸

Years ago, we “made” Bryan Italian (at least we made his Italian-ness official with an Italian Passport) – and we are now proud to support his new short film about one man’s hilarious quest for Dual Italian Citizenship. 🤌🤌🤌

(And for anyone who has dealt with Italians or Italian bureaucracy, you know that you sometimes need a good laugh to make sense of it all!) 😅

Click on the link to learn more about Make Me Italian! 👇
https://seedandspark.com/fund/make-me-italian

Inspired by a "true-ish" story, we follow David on his mission to get his Italian citizenship recognized by the Consulate. Can he prove his knowledge and passion for all things Italian while undergoing a comedic interrogation? He just may, with the help of some fantastical inspiration along the way.

04/13/2023

Vuoi lavorare in Molise?

Our Italian office is hiring multiple additional full-time employees! 🇮🇹 🇺🇸

jobs.italymondo.com

Peter Farina, pioniere del Turismo di Ritorno in Italia e fondatore della italyMONDO!, lancia la campagna di assunzioni 2023 Mentre il COVID portava alla chiusura di molte aziende, la italyMONDO! di Peter Farina ha continuato a crescere. “Non è stato semplice portare avanti un’attività durante...

01/06/2023

Buona Befana from the US Office!

11/08/2022

Happy to have helped the Brunetti Family reconnect with their Italian roots here in Molise (and meet their long-lost family in the process!)

Riconnettersi con il passato e rinsaldare il legame con le proprie radici: questi i motivi che hanno spinto Wayne e Andrew Brunetti ad attraversare l’oceano alla scoperta del borgo di Oratino, paese che ha dato i natali ai propri antenati. Ad accoglierli ieri mattina in Municipio, il sindaco Rober...

10/28/2022

Our client’s grandfather among the “Schede Anagrafiche degli Eliminati”

Like so many, he left Oratino (Campobasso) for Cleveland, Ohio.

Now his grandson is coming back to walk in his footsteps and to keep his history alive. 😌 🇮🇹