When in Rome in October, take the family on "Gite fuori porta"
Chestnuts call as Rome’s “gite fuori porta” kick into full swing each October. |
Have you hear of the “Gite fuori porta”? If you have the good fortune to visit Rome in October – with children OR without – you won’t want to miss out on this savory, local tradition. Explaining the finer points of these “Day Trips Out of the Roman Gate” known as the “Gite fuori porta” that are the highlight of every family living in Rome at this time of year, is Roman native since birth Valeria Spizzichino, who founded Baby Riders IT, the first Baby Gear Rental Agency in all of Italy.
Maybe it is not a well-known fact, but Rome is the greenest European capital. The several parks, gardens, and ville belong to the life of Romans. To have a ride in Villa Pamphili or watch a concert in Villa Borghese is like reading the newspaper in the Jardin de Luxembourg for the Parisians or going to jogging in the Central Park for the New Yorkers. But in this period of October, the woods just outside the town steal the show to those inside. In fact in this period a lot of families use to spend their weekends in search of chestnuts in the autumnal woods close to Rome.
Chestnuts at a Roman market. |
After having chosen the location, the menu of the picnic has to be decided. Obviously there’s not a rule, but usually panini (sandwiches) and torte rustiche (savory pies) boss the show. There’s something to suit everybody’s fancy: sandwiches with frittata (potatoes, zucchini, artichokes) or with fresh cheese and prosciutto cotto (cooked ham) will be very appreciated by the youngest kids. For their parents, sandwiches with sausages and broccoli, green vegetables or the evergreen prosciutto crudo (row ham) and mozzarella cheese. For everybody crudités (small tomatoes, carrots, fennels), dried salami and biscuits.
Homemade chestnut jam. |
This post is part of the new Travels with Baby Traditions series, where we’ll be exploring the favorite activities, sights and traditions of families in destinations across worldwide. Thanks so much to Ms. Spizzichino, our guest blogger today, who contributed this post and the fun pictures found here. If you would like to contribute a guest post to this series, please email a short summary and bio to contact at Travels with Baby (dot) com for consideration.
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