Feelings of Today: I cannot regress in time to when I was very young, but I imagine that my mature mind today is better able to handle these new experiences. There is still a simple childlike joy in trying out new things, though, if you let it. It lightens your step as it broadens your mind.
Full Day’s Events: Today was another day at the market, but not because any food spoiled or was bad. It was because we had another Devour food tour in Testaccio! A port town in ancient Rome, when the city grew so did a requirement to bring in more oils, wine, and other items. They were mostly brought in huge amphoras (think large vases with pointed bottoms) the contents were put into smaller amphoras and sent away. The problem was the original large amphoras as they could not be reused because old liquids seemed into the first bit of clay. The solution was to break them up and stack the pieces nicely on top of one another. The result was an artificial addition of a hill to Rome’s seven hills. Our guide for the day, Chiara again, said there has been some analysis of the amphora to determine what items came in, what varieties, and where they likely came from, but work is still ongoing.
We liked this area because it had the same vibe of locals as modern Ostia Antica did. Although the district is not touristly it has a great market with lots of interesting sellers. Chiara took us to get a fat husband (brioche style with a cut in the top and stuffed with fresh whipped cream), Mardi & Vai (long braised meat sitting in its broth until cut for the sandwich and more broth put on top with braised chicory), meat and cheese seller (three kinds of cured pork slices and three kinds of cheese), baker with bruschetta (fresh yummy bread with their olive oil on top), the old slaughterhouse (cut up meat industrially and sent to most of Italy on refrigerated trains. It is now an art school with in & out of house exhibitions), a restaurant (La Fraschetta Mastro Giorgio, for three kinds of excellent Roman pasta dishes with wine), and finally a gelateria run by an active senior who uses the best ingredients and mixes it herself (best gelato yet on this trip). Whew! Glad Chirara said not to have a big breakfast.
There were things we planned to see nearby so with calories awaiting use we set off to the old Aurelian city walls, built in 271 to 275 CE. They were…well…walls. Still impressive for their age, but not pretty like Avila. Beside the walls was something special. A cemetery for non-Catholics, otherwise known as the protestant cemetery. The first person buried here was in 1716, but others followed like poets Keats and Shelly. Many of the markers are unique and some are very artfully done. Folks from other faiths than protestant are buried here still today. There is also a large cat population that likes to rest on the sun-soaked stones. We were here for feeding time and it was nice to get in our dose of feline observations. At one end of the cemetery, and used as a defensive barrier in the Aurelian walls, was a pyramid!
Cestius had the pyramid tomb built between 18-12 BCE and during the great Egyptomania craze of the Roman Empire. It is conjectured that he was in the army of Rome when it attacked the Nubian kingdom of Meroe (just South of Egypt) and wanted a tomb resembling that nation's pyramids. Finished in 330 days, and as impressive it is, the structure still abided by strict rules at the time on money spent for tomb building in ancient Rome.
On our walk back to our place the sun was getting lower and with the slow bend of the Tiber made for great memories of the day. For supper we cooked some homemade raviolis we got at the Testaccio market with manicotti and lemon inside. We added the fresh peas from yesterday and accompanied it with a simple salad. Double yum! 10.5 km and 10 flights of stairs walked.
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