Another Evening with Anna: Testaccio
Friday night we explored the neighborhood of Testaccio, which is in southern Rome. Anna took us to a restaurant called “Aqua & Farina” (water and flour), which had all sorts of items made from pizza dough with various toppings and fillings—like little rolled things, pocket things, bruschetta, as well as pizza, and crepes. We started with a ton of mixed appetizers, which included plates of bruschetta with different toppings, and then some of the rolled and pocket dough items, which were all delicious! Then we all ordered main dishes. I got an eggplant and cheese filled flaky dough pocket. And for dessert, I got a nutella filled crepe. I liked the place because it was different than your typical restaurant, and had interesting and creative items that all similarly involved pizza dough bases, but done up in different ways.
After dinner, we headed to a club, closer to Termini station part of town. Apparently the club was just newly opened, and Anna knew one of the owners. Even though there was a line to get into the club, which opened at midnight, we got to go in ahead of the crowd because of Anna’s connection! We headed down the stairs into the place, where it was dimly lit with little candles all on low tables with cushions around them. The set-up and decor was nice and new and very chic. It wasn’t what we were expecting, but it was quite cute, and we loved it! There was a bar in the room to the right and straight ahead were the DJ and the dancing room.
We were some of the first people to arrive, so we claimed one of the larger tables for our group and sat on the cushions of the floor. Some of us ordered drinks, and we talked around the table for awhile as more and more people arrived. The crowd was very Italian punk, so there were a lot of interesting outfits and some good people-watching to be done. The music started to get louder and we joined the dance room at one point. After awhile, we were getting tired, and most of us headed to Termini station and then caught night buses home. I was glad Anna had shown us this cute club, and I know a lot of us are wanting to return other weekends, although Anna told us that we probably only want to go Friday nights because they play weird dark music Saturday nights that we probably wouldn’t enjoy. That was another funny thing—the club’s music this night was all English and American stuff. I don’t think we heard one song in Italian. Most of it we didn’t recognize, but there were the occasional American pop hits from like 8 years ago that we all enjoyed, and had to laugh at as the Italians danced along and sang every word.
|
|
Hi! Lisa here.
As it happens, I did pick up a business card at Aqua e Farina. Their phone number is 065741382.
I don't think it would be big enough for 96 people though. One place you might try is near La Piazza da Spagna (up the stairs and towards Villa Borghese) and is called Caffe Ciampini. We had our first dinner with our whole program there.
Good luck and have an awesome time!
--JYA's Lisa
|
