September's Monthly Newsletter

There’s a “back to school” vibe in the air, shops and restaurants have reopened refreshed, the breeze is crisp first thing in the morning, and the listless torpor of Roman streets in August has given way once again to the relentless bustle of human endeavour.

Corso Vittorio Emmanuele II, 18 August, 2023.

I rather love the somnolence of Rome in August. Pockets of activity buzz around the Trevi or the Pantheon but, even in the very centre of town, elsewhere sun-baked streets exude weary languor. Even after over twenty years I still find it all wonderfully, exotically, atmospheric.

The crisp geometry of a heat wave in the week of Ferragosto. Testaccio Market on 17 August 2023, one fruit and veg stand was open.

But the traffic and the sirens are back and, pencils sharpened, normal service resumes. To that end a bit of self-promotion: on Friday 29th September, Rachel Roddy and I shall be reprising our Ostia Antica jaunt. We shall be looking at Rome’s ancient port through a gastronomic prism, and as ever there will be delicious nibbles along and a jovial slap-up lunch to conclude.

A Roman snack bar at Ostia Antica. 27 July, 2023

We’ll talk about the imported foods from across the Roman Empire which first arrived in Italy here, visit an ancient gastropub, and we shall discuss and taste some of the snacks Romans would have nibbled in the city’s bars and in its grand theatre. We’ll also see where Ostia’s olive oil merchants would have brokered their deals before the amphorae were taken upriver to be offloaded at Rome’s river port, and the pots disposed of at what we now know as Monte Testaccio.

Pomegranate at the house of (probably) a Roman grain merchant. Ostia Antica, 27 July 2023.

Appetites suitably whetted, we’ll follow their route (though by train rather than river barge) back to Testaccio and discuss how ancient Ostia influenced twentieth century Testaccio’s public housing before repairing to the excellent Piatto Romano for an abundant and varied lunch of seasonal ingredients a stone’s throw from all those amphorae which once came across the Mediterranean full of olive oil and docked at Ostia.

Scene from a jovial lunch. Taken at Piatto Romano following our Ostia jaunt in March.

The jaunt will begin at 9am on 29 September and finish at roughly 4pm, the group will be of maximum twelve people, and the cost including entry fee to the archeological site, public transport, and all food and drink is €160 per person (dormice not included). Dietary restrictions can be accommodated, just let us know when booking.

All best from Rome,

Agnes