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Day Three of our Roman Adventure

This day we sleep in a bit since we don't have to meet our tour until 10 am. 
This is a much anticipated tour as its the Food Lovers Tour....
We head down to the Testaccio area and meet in front of a cheese and wine shop where we wait for the rest of the tour group to arrive. 
Sitting there, we realize we are near a caffe and I decide to get a Caffe Latte.... Delicious!

Our first stop on this tour is for Tiramisu cups and a crossiant.... drizzled with a sweet glaze, these delectable bites of bliss are a GREAT way to start the day! 
We then walk a few shops down to a gourmet market that sells truffles for 398 EURO/ kg....  they have unique and specialty items here... we enjoy a sample of 2 kinds of cheese and 2 kinds of meat.

We then head to a pizza place where we try the traditional Margherita Pizza... and meet the owner of the shop and the baker.
The baker (pictured below) couldn't speak English but loved sharing his food with us and hearing our enthusiasm!  A sweet man!
After this we head to the protestant cemetery... a pleasant surprise.... absolutely beautiful and also where the famous poet John Keats is buried.  This is where Non-catholic people were buried.  It is kept to perfection and nearby is the only pyramid in Rome. The Pyramid was being cleaned so almost completely covered in scaffolding, not really able to take pictures but still interesting to see all the same.
From here we headed to the New location for the Testaccio Market.  Here we sample fresh grown tomatoes made into bruschetta then combined with fresh buffalo mozzarella... so delicious!  Also at this market, we get to have authentic, made-right-in-front-of-you cannoli.... The best we have ever had.... now it will be hard to enjoy knock offs.... once you've had the real thing, its hard to go back!  We meet shop owners who are 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation. 
There isn't much English spoken but all are friendly and warm!    Highly recommend people take the time to visit this when in Rome.  This whole area is the old heart of Rome... now where Romans live.  Quieter, older, authentic. (picture below is the cannoli with pistachios)
The last stop on the Food Lovers Tour is at one of the oldest Gelateria's in Rome and one of the best!  We learned how to tell "real" gelato from the mixed stuff.... I wont tell you, you'll have to go on the tour to find out! ;) 
The shop owner was quite passionate about his gelato and full of life... again no English, but no need... able to communicate just fine with the few Italian words I knew and his expressions and animated gestures. Fun place to end our tour.
From here we meandered back to the metro and then to our hotel for a light nap before meeting up with our evening Tour.

The Dark heart of Rome.... this tour was very creepy, but interesting and fun at times.  Our tour guide was Irish-American and had a fun accent and expressive way of telling stories. 
We met at Camp De Fiori (pronounced K-ah-mpo De Fury) after dark. This is the only piazza without a church due to the executions, etc that occurred here. It is also ironically, the location of the oldest flower market... began in the 1300's and still takes place.

We learned of Bruno.... (interesting and sad.)  This entire tour took us to places not commonly included in tours, and taught us some of the horrors, corruption and ghost stories of Rome.  Below is the statue of Bruno, which is in the center of Campo De Fiori ... the very spot where he was executed. This is where our tour started. Bruno stands holding a book of all his teachings, facing the Vatican... the very people who put him to death. 
This is one of the things I love about Rome... everything held significance... the way a statue faced, what they held, how a building is built etc. 
Everything has meaning.
This Dark Heart Of Rome tour ends at the bridge leading to Castel Sant'Angelo... this is where the most horrific story is told of the night because this is the location of the horrific event.  Everything is illuminated at this time of night and beautiful.. you can see from the bridges the River and lots of Roman lights twinkling in the night.... a beautiful backdrop for a horrific tale of days of old. 
The Castel Sant'Angelo is this massive structure that has served many purposes since it was built... its been a fortress, castle, and a prison. 
Built in 123 AD, this is impressively old and was one that I thought was wonderful and awesome until I heard some of the stories on this tour and now I view it in a different light... still an incredible structure all the same. 
This is where the tour ends and we, tired from walking all day head back to our hotel.... we end up arriving back to our room around 11pm.. a long but wonderful day.

This is the bridge where our tour ends.... Castel Sant'Angelo at the end of the bridge.... This picture is fuzzy but the best we have.

I feel as though this day we experienced the Heart of Rome... starting with the food.... ending with the mystery and horrors.
 Started the day with Warm Heart of Rome, then ended with the Dark Heart of Rome.
I have to include this here:
We saw above sign in a station that sums it up.... Italy is Eataly.... its true... Americans eat on their way to an event or show... for Italians, eating IS the event. 

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