Pasta Museum/Daytime Stroll

Good evening from Roma! As promised, I have another blog entry for today. The main event of the day was a trip to the Pasta Museum in Rome. This is a little known gem in the city about 3 blocks from the Trevi Fountain in a tiny piazza. I found it in a "Top 10 Things to do in Rome" book, and figured I would give it a shot. It was well worth it; I learned a lot about the whole pasta production process, as well as where it originated, the different eras of pasta creation, and all kinds of other need-to-knows about this delicious food. The people who worked there were certainly extremists with their pasta viewpoints... they had a room in the museum devoted to proving that pasta is the only answer to solving the world's hunger problem... yeah, they were serious, and considered it not only feasible, but an obvious solution. The walk to the Pasta Museum was probably about a mile or a mile and a half, so there was plenty along the way to see. below are some pictures documenting the walk, the museum, and so on.

This is the building I live in on Via Giulia. If you count the "caged" windows, the door to my building is immediately after the 3rd window.

If you'll note the sign on this door, this restaurant is called "Hippopotamus." That's all... just "Hippopotamus." This is two doors down from my apartment on Via Giulia.

If you walk out the door to my apartment and turn right, this is what's awaiting you... not shabby, eh? This is the classic Rome that everyone dreams about.

The colors that they use on their buildings is nothing like what we use in America... a shame. I really like this picture.

A building on the corner of Via 4 Novembre and Via De Pilotta, about a half mile from the Trevi Fountain. That same building.

Just when we get the Smart Cars in the US, Italy gets a newer and way awesomer Smart Car... made by the same company, just way awesomer... though I'm sure still 14 HP and 70 MPG.

The back of said Smart Car.

A panoramic I stitched up showing the entirety of the Trevi Fountain... still haven't thrown any coins in it to date, but I will before I leave.

The outside of the Pasta Museum... that little sign is the only thing that would let a passerby know what's inside... this probably explains why I was their only customer of the day... literally.

Horizontal pasta presses, c. 1910, used for smaller pasta shapes. The vertical presses were the only ones that could handle longer shapes, such as the traditional spaghetti or vermacelli.

A breakdown of four Italian cities which were creating their own signature pastas around the same time during the 12th and 13th centuries.

The first room you see when walking into the Pasta Museum. The comparison of wheat types is in the background on the left side of this picture. The classic wheat is the style on the left, and is best for bread, but the other wheat is the special Italian wheat that they use in pastas here, such as Barilla, and is the reason why their pasta is so good. In the foreground is one of the first pasta dough kneaders ever used in Italy. As a sidenote, this museum had a room named after Pietro Barilla... guess what company he founded.

Strangely enough, after I was done at the museum, I was craving some pasta seriously. So I went back to my apartment and made this vermicelli for myself... Barilla, of course, with Bertolli sauce, and fresh bread from the market... only the best here.

That'll be it for today... I'll chime back in tomorrow. I have the Vatican on my schedule for tomorrow, and then a hot air balloon ride at sunset over Villa Borghese with Amy. I should have some awesome pictures tomorrow! Til then...