Exploring Rome’s Testaccio from food to grave with Eating Italy Food Tours

Yesterday I had the pleasure of exploring Testaccio, a lesser-visited-yet-incredibly-beautiful neighborhood in Rome just southwest of the Colosseo and east of Trastevere, with Eating Italy Food Rome Tours.

Led by guides Kenny and Domenico, the tour took us from the historic stands in the Mercato Testaccio (including a seafood shop run by the family members of renowned Italian cinema star Marcello Mastroianni) to famous spots like Volpetti and Giolitti. The group sampled various kinds of Italian cheeses, expensive meats, balsamic vinegar that made my eyes roll back, supplì and of course the three most famous Roman pasta dishes: Amatriciana, Carbonara and Cacio e Pepe. Two members of the group were filming a segment for Viator, and I may have found myself caught on tape saying something ridiculously silly.

Wait for it.

We also spent some time in the Cimitero Acattolico di Roma (The Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome), which I found particularly beautiful. It’s here that poet John Keats, Percy Shelley (the husband of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley) and famous jeweler Bulgari were buried. Keats, ever the romantic, had inscribed on his tombstone, “Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water.” Indeed, his grave doesn’t even include his name. (So emo.)

I highly recommend this tour for anyone visiting Rome for the first time. It’s a great introduction to an incredibly vast and beautiful city. When asked what my favorite part of the tour was, I responded, “It’s a toss-up between the pasta and the dead people.”

Thanks, guys!

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Lina of Lina & Enzo Lazzerini in Mercato Testaccio

Tomatoes in Mercato Testaccio

Eating Italy Food Tours - Tomato stand in Mercato Testaccio

Eating Italy Food Tours - Sampling tomatoes in Mercato Testaccio

Love Graffiti in Mercato Testaccio

Seafood stand owned by relatives of Marcello Mastroianni in Mercato Testaccio

Eating Italy Food Tours - Sampling cheese and meats outside Volpeti

Volpetti - Trying some of the best balsamic vinegar I've ever tasted

Volpetti - An expensive cut of meat that we tried (melts in your mouth)

Asha and Ryan film for Viatours inside Volpetti

Eating Italy Food Tours - Domenico fills us in on the benefits of the cornetto and cappuccino breakfast

Cimitero Accatolico di Roma - Grave of Bulgari

Cimitero Accatolico - Grave of John Keats

Eating Italy Food Tours - Lunch of pasta and wine at Flavio al Velavevodetto

Eating Italy Food Tours - Lunch of pasta and wine at Flavio al Velavevodetto (cin cin!)

DISCLAIMER: I was offered a complimentary tour through a friend. All opinions are my own because I am a slave to no one. NO ONE!