We started out the tour at Barberini, a pastry shop making edible works of art since 1945. There we had a cornetto (looks like a French Croissant, but is much better) and a tiramisu in an edible chocolate cup. We next went to Volpetti Piu where we had a slice of pizza marherita. We then went to Volpetti which has been Rome's #1 gourmet food shop for over 40 years. We stood outside the crowded shop and tried some Roman prosciutto (prosciutto di San Daniele) which just about melts in your mouth, some salame al Barolo (made with Barolo wine), some pecorino al tartufo cheese (with truffles) and some parmigiano reggiano cheese. We then were given some time to go into the store and shop if we wanted to because it would be closing at 12:30. We then walked over to the famous Testaccio Fresh Food Market with over 70 family-owned fresh food stands. We picked up a bowl of fresh diced tomatoes and basil from one of the vegetable stands and took it over to the bread shop where we were given fresh grilled bread and garlic to make our own bruschetta. We then went to one of the cheese shops where the owner diced up some mozzarella di buffala cheese she had just made that morning and added it to the rest of the tomatoes so we had a fresh Caprese salad! We then stopped at the Dess'Art stand where we watched Costanza fill little cannoli shells with fresh ricotta filling and then ate them. We then walked over to Flavio al Velavevodetto which is built into the side of Monte Testaccio. Monte Testaccio is a small hill that is actually a 115-foot-tall ancient trash pile made of broken testae -- earthenware jars mostly used to haul oil 2,000 years ago. For 500 years, rancid oil vessels were discarded here and slowly Rome's lowly eighth hill was built! Because the caves dug into the hill stay cool, trendy bars, clubs, and restaurants were built here, including the Restaurant Flavio al Velavevodetto where we got to sit down and which has a glass wall at the back where you can actually see the layers of jars that make up the monte. At the restaurant we were served two different kinds of wine and three pastas -- cacio e pepe, amatriciana and carbonara. By this time Mike and I were starting to feel overly full and we still had several places to go! We then walked by the huge slaughterhouse for which this neighborhood was once known which is now a site for concerts and home to a branch of the MACRO contemporary art gallery. We then walked to 00100 Pizza where we tasted a fried rice croquet (Mike and I had to split one) and then to Giolitti da 1914 which has been a gelateria for nearly a century making all of its gelato by hand and in-house -- and even though we were awfully full we DID NOT split our gelato. We were told that in Rome you are guaranteed two flavors of gelato per cup at no extra charge and the owner was quite a showman saying he would not let you mix flavors that he did not feel were good together.
Not everything on the tour had to do with eating -- the Mark Antony/Cleopatra scandal (30 B.C.) brought exotic Egyptian styles into vogue and a rich Roman magistrate, Gaius Cestius, had this pyramid built as his tomb, complete with a burial chamber inside (although he was never buried there). Made of brick covered in marble, the 90-foot structure was completed in just 330 days. While smaller than actual Egyptian pyramids, its proportions are correct. It was later incorporated into the Aurelian Wall and now stands as a marker to the entrance of Testaccio.
The Cemetary for the Burial of Non-Catholic Foreigners (Protestant Cemetary) is a tomb-filled park running along the wall just beyond the pyramid. The cemetary was established in 1732 during the peak of the Grand Tour -- an era in which many northern European and North American poets, artists, and scholars settled in Rome and has more than 4,00 graves. It is also the home to a cat sanctuary and it was fun trying to pick out the cats sleeping on the graves.
One of the most famous graves is the tomb of John Keats (1795-1821) in the oldest section of the cemetary, but there is one thing missing from the tombstone -- his name! His last request was to be placed under a tombstone bearing no name or date -- only the words:
Here lies One whose Name was writ in Water
His best friend, the artist, Joseph Severn, is buried next to him.
We had planned on going to Eataly (more on it later) which is in this neighborhood after this tour, but we were so stuffed that we couldn't stand the thought of looking at more food!
It was starting to rain pretty hard on the walk back to the apartment from Piazza Barberini and I was kind of disappointed that we were not seeing any Trick-or-Treaters like we had seen in Florence and Venice -- probably due to the rain. After resting up and cleaning up it was still raining pretty hard so we decided to just go to the La Cabana Restaurant next door. We split the veal saltimbocca, a mixed salad and the house white wine. Again, I guess the restaurant felt we were not getting enought to eat and we received a free appetiser and soup! Mike got a very good reaction from our waiter when he gave him the finger in the cheek sign while we were eating our very good veal dish! After dinner we had a nice talk with a couple from Austria who were sitting behind us.
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