Walking for Wine

Today, we had our first full day of class in the villa.  During our hour and a half lunch break, I headed to the neighborhood bakery for a slice of artichoke pizza, cut from a giant sheet with scissors.  After lunch, we started talking about Rome's city map and looked at a map from the 14th century.  One of the most prominent features of that 14th century map was the wall surrounding the city, known as the Aurelian walls.  These walls would be featured later in my day as well.

After class, I decided to head out on my first major solo excursion.  I picked a point in my guidebook, a wine shop called Trimani, and set out on foot.  I purposefully picked a point that was walking distance, because today we experienced another aspect of Italian life--a transportation strike.  I must say though, the strikes are very civilized.  They warn you ahead of time, and the buses run in the mornings and afternoons for a few hours so that people can get to and from work.  Nonetheless, I didn't want to get stuck far from home, and being out on foot on a sunny day feels fabulous.  The shop was about a 20-30 minute walk from the apartment along a busy road.  As I reached the Porta Pia, I passed through the old city walls.  The walls are still extensive, and very much intact.  As I passed through, I really did feel like I was entering into another world, slightly different than the one that I left outside the walls.  This also might have had to do with the fact that the British embassy was immediately on the other side of the walls, and intensely guarded by soldiers...  Whatever the reason, the old city walls are a true physical reminder of the city that was left behind and its boundaries.  It was a much smaller city, but no less rich.  Once inside the walls, it was about a five minute walk to the wine shop.  The shop opened in 1821, and is allegedly still owned by the same family.  The choices were quite extensive, and mostly out of my price range, but I ultimately settled on two bottles of white.  I must say, that I have no idea what I ended up with...I bought them mostly based on price and attractive labels, but I'm excited to give them a try!  Getting out into the city on my own gave me the chance to experience the sights and sounds without the distraction of another person.  I love the ability to stop to observe or photograph whatever I want without the pressure of making someone else wait.

Porta Pia

A Government Building

Inside Trimani

They wrapped the bottles so beautifully

My wines!