Buongiorno Italy readers!

This month's batch of events in Italy is a little different than usual. Since we are staying home, online events are available in abundance, and whether you have a taste for cooking, art or music, there should be enough to keep you occupied in April. 

Here are tips from a mom in the trenches for how to make it through your social distancing, shelter in place, lockdown, or full-out quarantine and come out the other side safe, sane, and serene.

Our recipe of the week is a pizza rustica. Don’t let the word ‘pizza’ fool you. This is not tomato - and cheese-topped saucer of dough baked in a hot oven. This dish is more like a torte, brimming with a rich filling of cheeses, diced cured meats, and hard-boiled eggs, all enclosed in a flaky golden pastry crust. It is the dish with which millions of Italians and Italian-Americans break the Lenten fast (even if actual fasting hasn’t taken place). 

Museums and palaces may be closed, but the online world is more open than ever. Many cultural institutions in Italy are coping with the nationwide lockdown by opening their virtual doors to the public, offering alternative ways to see their art and architecture and to savor the culture through online tools. Here’s what to see in Rome. 

Being the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, the northern region of Lombardy has been the worst affected and strained by the emergency, with the highest number of cases and deaths, and health facilities on the verge of collapse. We do encourage you to visit one day when things calm down around the world. In the meantime, tour some of its cultural institutions virtually here. 

Spring is officially here! That beautiful time of year when the flowers bloom, the birds sing and the evenings are lighter. Let’s look at how we can talk about springtime or "primavera" in Italian.

Shop Italy - This superb brown genuine leather wallet is made by artisan Andrea Cardone. It features a double compartment for credit cards. Handmade, 100% made in Italy. 

Santa Maria delle Grazie is a church and Dominican convent in Milan. The refectory of the convent contains the world-famous mural of The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, “whose work was to herald a new era in the history of art,” says Unesco. Make sure to use our audio player to listen to Italian version. 

Our #propertyoftheweek is this lovely farmhouse on the outskirts of a tranquil village near the historic city of Sulmona (Abruzzo) which enjoys spectacular views across the Peligna valley to the hilltop villages of the Maiella massif, with 5,000 mq of land. 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend from Georgette, your editor, and the Italy Magazine team.