To market, to market.

After the past few days in Rome visiting palaces, galleries and museums, we needed a little break and as always try to see normal Roman life at least once.

A great way to do this is catching bus #83 to the Testaccio region just south of Circus Maximus.

Before this journey into suburbia, it was time for a final holiday laundering session.

 

We discovered this area on a food tour on a previous trip and were able to revisit some of the places.

The first was Trapizzino, a place that cuts square bread, rolls diagonally and then props them upon one end and fills the cut end like a pocket.  The filling is normally a saucy type, we had a meatball and tomato sauce.  They also make the best arancini balls in town.

Sorry for no photos, but when we're in a place like this we often just dive in and forget until we're out the door.

Next, we passed through the neighbourhood to the Testaccio Market which has been recently (about 5 or 10 years ago) moved here.  It is a new, fresh and vibrant place to sample some local roman foods.

 

 

After some lunch at the market, we headed back on bus #83 and spent a little time relaxing in our hotel along with packing our bags in preparation for tomorrows departure.

After a restful afternoon we then went for a passeggiata, a walk many Italians do before the evening meal. We walked up Via del Due Macelli toward the Spanish Steps and then continued along Via Del Babuino admiring some of Italy's finest creations. 

We then made it to Piazza del Popolo where we found a seat and watched the people passing through the square. 

Then it was a return via Via del Corso to one of our favourite Roman restaurants Piccolo Arancio, where we experienced amazing food as we have done on four previous visits over the years.

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It's raining culture and immigration is not all bad

This morning started being a little wet underfoot and continued thanks to occasional showers.  Thankfully we didn't throw our umbrellas out as we were going to back in Florence. We left after a filling breakfast and passed by the Fountain of the Bees (Fontana delle Api) on Piazza Barberini.

 

Today was a return visit to one of our favourite galleries, the Borghese Gallery.

When we visited in Summer it was hot and there were huge crowds. Thankfully this time it was heated inside and the crowds were less.

We had pre-purchased tickets, and when I collected them from reception did hear two ladies ask for tickets, they had not prepurchased like us.  To my astonishment, they still had some available but personally, I wouldn't take this risk, it is a long way to come, then miss out on entry.

Katie tried to drop her bag at the cloakroom and was told it is too small to be checked, we then joined the queue at our allocated entry time and when we presented our tickets Katie was told she would have to go to the cloakroom and check her bag. No point arguing, she went and checked the bag where they said it is too small for checking, she explained the ticket checker and thankfully with a sigh they took her bag.

 We toured the gallery and were once again astounded by the skill and craftsmanship.  These statues are just amazing.

After the gallery, we walked the park

and made our way back to the centre via the Spanish steps where once at the bottom we treated ourselves to tea with scones jam and cream at Babington's Tea Room.

The tea was an afternoon blend and the scones were just lovely, in fact so lovely we forgot to photograph them for you.

We then walked to Piazza del Popolo via the little back street of Via Margutta.  This little back street provided us with the opportunity to view many different artists.

This was created by thousands of paper butterflies being pinned to the board 

Then not to take it easy, as there are not enough hours in the day to see all of Rome, we walked back the long way to our accommodation along Via di Ripetta and then stopped by Fontana di Trevi for some freshly roasted chestnuts.

There is one point I would like to make before I close today's blog.

Italy is in the grip of immigration and boom, particularly with refugees from Africa.  It is a very sad state for these people who often have to cross seas, often on very risky boats with many losing their lives.  Katie and I have noticed since we have been visiting Italy (2012, 2014, 2016 and now 2018) an increase of African immigrants, particularly in country areas.

We have discussed this with local Italians and overall most aren't happy with the situation. Apparently, the refugees are provided with clothing, mobile phones, money, accommodation and many other perks. I can't say if this is true or false and as a guest in this country I am by no means an expert in the situation.

Ourselves we have been approached by these refugees many times some just holding a cup and asking for money, others trying to sell LED lights that shoot up to the sky at night and others selling folding wooden bowls. These sellers are all very annoying and really do make our experience and the locals daily life frustrating.

There is one happy end to this story and it was today, as we were walking from the Borghese Gardens to the Spanish steps.  We passed an African man who was sweeping up leaves and cleaning the path from rubbish.  At first, I thought he was a council employee but realised he wasn't when he had no uniform.  Council employees working on roads and streets in Rome are always wearing HiVis clothing.  This man had taken it upon himself to try and help the community. He was cleaning the streets without being asked and all he asked for by the way of a sign next to a tin, was the opportunity to integrate into the community by cleaning the streets. 

This was the first and only African man we have seen doing work of his own choice, it was this man who I provided my donation to, only a small gesture of 2 euro but I am happy to help those who help themselves.

His sign said,
"CERCO DI INTEGRAMI NELLA VOSTRA SOCIETA PULENDO LE VOSTRE STRADE"

with a loose translation to English;

"I look for integration into your community by cleaning your streets"

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