Testaccio or "Tombs and Thumbs"

Dale and Don returned from their brief visit to the Amalfi coast last night, so today, once the kids had gone to school, we decided to visit the Testaccio neighborhood together. This area used to be full of slaughterhouses....now it's full of restaurants and galleries. It's the equivalent of the "meat-packing district" in NYC; once upon a time just warehouses and now a hip and trendy neighborhood.

Testaccio is also home to Chechino dal 1887, a fabulous restaurant in which Josh and I dined during our honeymoon in 1996. It comes as no surprise that the restaurant is well known for it's preparations of...meat, and tripe. We didn't eat here today, but it was nice to take a trip down memory lane.

This area of Rome is also known for it's landmark Pyramid. The Pyramid stands 118 feet tall and was actually erected as a tomb for Caius Cestius who died in 12BC. Haven't heard of him? Not many have. His claim to fame was he was wealthy so he could afford to build himself a pyramid on the Aurelian Wall. The Pyramid is seen from the surrounding busy streets, but around the corner, tucked away on a side street is the entrance to the actual grounds where the Pyramid is built: "The Non-Catholic Cemetery." Read: where pagans rest! We are in Italy, afterall.

The four of us spent quite a bit of time strolling the grounds of this beautiful cemetery where we found the graves of the poets Shelly and Keats as well as Storey, the sculptor among others. Resting here are many citizens of U.K. origin who chose to spend their time in Rome. While largely a cemetery for Protestants, we did find a handful of Jews that are buried here -- but only one with a Jewish star on the tombstone. Set on a hillside, the graves and their adornments really made for a lovely and setting, and the ancient walls around the cemetery made it seem like we were in another world and not in the center of a hectic city.

The other interesting thing about this cemetery is that it is a home for stray cats. Apparently, cats have been living on these grounds since the first tombstone was erected in 1738. They keep the souls company.

Once we departed from the Non-Catholic Cemetery, we found the covered market in Testaccio. All kinds of fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, fish, nuts, etc. were on offer. We arrived around lunch time as the market was getting ready to close for the day. You have to get there early to get the "good stuff" but it was still interesting to walk around.

Now sufficiently hungry, we chose a local Osteria -- Degli Amici --for lunch before hitting the road and heading back to Parioli. We had to get back for an important appointment.

This afternoon, the tuner finally came to tune the piano. Although we've only had the piano for little more than a week, listening to the kids practice on a piano that probably hasn't been tuned in a decade made it feel like we'd had it a year. "Be careful what you wish for" we kept telling ourselves. It was tuned just in time as the girls each had a lesson later in the day.

Having a piano here does make me want to get one once we return to the States. Even untuned, it has made a real difference -- in just a week-- in how the girls can play. Perhaps all the practicing is just a novelty at this stage; we'll see by the end of our stay if their interest is as fervent.

Tonight, Dale and Don wanted to see Charlotte in action at the pool so everybody headed over to AquAniene to watch her swim, and to have a bite to eat. Olivia and Avery were running laps around the bleachers, as usual, working up a real sweat. But suddenly, we heard a wail. Avery somehow managed to slam a door on his thumb. Now we had blood, sweat and tears! As a result of this episode, we discovered that there is a first aid doctor on site at AquAniene. We all tried to get Avery to ice his thumb, but he refused. The only thing that seemed to make him feel better was the licorice he was awarded in the cafeteria. Poor little guy is definitely going to lose his fingernail. But somehow I doubt that is going to slow him down.