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for all those who love italy for those inspired by the arts or for anyone that just happens to be interested 'aromazzata', a play on the Italian word for flavoured, offers a moment to indulge 'the theatre of beauty' to reflect upon the wonders of the human creation, to appreciate that life is a wonderful gift, to be savoured to the full. |
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Rome, Italy - October
2025 – 4/5 nights Mon/Tues Oct 05/06 to Sat Oct 11, 2025 Based on a 4-5 night stay for Europeans or a 5 night stay for those arriving from outside Europe. Accommodation has been reserved for 6-8 persons. We reserve / you pay. Meeting points are at the ‘Talks’ and in and around the accommodation Otherwise independent bespoke scheduling. *** |
| Talks (T) - Lunch (L) - Dinner (D) Mon Oct 06 : Arrivals : European / Intercontinental Orientate Tues Oct 07 : Arrivals : European ( am Departures ) Check in 15.00 latest. T - The Artists I - Leonardo/Michelangelo - Centro Storico - 18.00 D - Centro Storico – 20.00 Wed Oct 08 : T - Italian Food Culture I - Testaccio / Testaccio Market– 10.30 for 10.45 L - Testaccio – local Trattoria – 12.45 T - The Artists II - Raphael/Caravaggio - Centro Storico - 18.00 D - Centro Storico – 20.00 Thurs Oct 09 : T - Italian Food Culture II - Esquilino – 18.00 D – Esquilino 20.00 Fri Oct 10 : T – Movers & Shakers – Emperors, Popes, Dynasties, Donnas - Esquilino - 17.00 D - Centro Storico – 20.00 Sat Oct 11 : Departures : European / Intercontinental |
| ------------------------- The key to this schedule is that affordable accommodation has been reserved at an unassuming apartment block where two apartments have been tastefully converted to an acceptable international standard of accommodation. Testaccio – hotel prices in Rome’s Centro Storico at peak season rocketed in the late 2000s / early 2010s. Room rates of E250-E400 per night are not uncommon nowadays. Your Director therefore moved to Testaccio many years ago where, not only are room prices more reasonable, there is also the added bonus that everybody there is Italian. The caffe/pasticceria on the ground floor where one has breakfast is the heart and soul of the district with locals flocking there throughout the day. The Piazza Testaccio in the evenings is like any communal piazza anywhere in Italy. In addition, with its long historical connection with food and wine, the area is now home to a host of very good restaurants. There is space within the schedule to savour various of these establishments. Rooms : E145 per night ( 4 nts E580 – 5 nts E725 ) ( plus a minor city tax) Centro Storico – an E10-12 taxi ride from Testaccio, the talks will be held in different parts of the old city. Restaurants nearby will be reserved after the talks so that one can fully savour the overwhelming aura of Rome’s art and history. The Talks schedule begins by discussing some of Rome’s major artworks, with hand outs of the city’s major artworks and their locations. The daytime is unscheduled on the Thursday and Friday for visiting and appreciating such sites. Restaurants – to save time in researching and making restaurant reservations, for the last 10 years we have been compiling a ‘list of lists’ of non-gourmet/non Michelin star great cafes and restaurants. So we are able to make reservations for the clients, as they wish. We are confident that we have a very good selection. Just let us know your budget and preferences and we will book tables to suit. If the group wants to eat together, or if you wish to dine as couples or singles, any way can be arranged. We know enough good eating places to support such a schedule. As usual, We reserve / you pay. Gratis. Arty – Talks : Tues eve / Wed eve / Fri Eve Elyssa’s talks are designed to focus on Rome’s rich artistic heritage, with tips on how to visit the artworks and locations mentioned during the talks. They finish with roof top drinks on the Friday evening. Foodie – Talks : Wed morn / Thurs eve – Eleonora’s talks should whet the appetite for exploring the varied components of Roman & Italian cuisine over the various lunches & dinners while in Rome. Talks Fees : E200 – 5 talks ( notionally E40 per talk ) No other fees. Eating Regime – it is almost impossible not to overeat whilst in Rome, so with lunch and dinner as the priorities, we advise as follows : - there is a complementary light continental breakfast at the ground floor caffe - juice, coffee, croissant etc – day plan : starter and main for lunch - main and dessert for dinner – or vice versa – and/or pass on breakfast - or light lunch - pasta, salad or starter / dolci-caffe - an eating plan like this is also a budget plan – E60-E80 a day approx.. |
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Event Hosts : |
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| Elyssa Bernard - We are very fortunate to have with us Elyssa from the RomeWise website, who will be giving the art based talks : http://www.romewise.com/about-romewise.html Elyssa is extremely knowledgeable about Rome and its history, has a very informal, chatty, easy on the ear speaking style, and is a lovely person to be with. Presently writing a page turner on Michelangelo. Eleonora Baldwin of Casa Mia will be giving the ‘foodie’ talks : www.casamiatours.com The talks last a notional 90-120 minutes |
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| rome - with its
huge history, its magnificent architecture and its long tradition of
artistic excellence, rome is one of the world's great showpiece, where
people from all over the world gravitate for just a few days in their
lives, to play their part on the grandest of stages, the human drama
writ large, the eternal city……. against this stunning backdrop, 'aromazzata' brings the palaces, churches and piazzas to life with a series of talks on the movers and shakers in rome's great history……. the stories of the men, the women, the artists, emperors, donnas and popes that served to create the inspiring works of art and the wonderful spectacle that we are privileged to witness today and so that we may savour the flavours of rome to the full in the present moment, there is an almost sinful menu of cafes and restaurants to savour … a product of extensive, almost exhaustive research on the ground, a pizza free, snob free, trip advisor free process….. hundreds of cafes and restaurants recommended by all the main food writers and travel publications vetted, visited, tasted, selected, …… for a variety of reasons : authenticity, ambience, tranquillity, buzz…. an eclectic mix of classical, concept, earthy, showy venues array themselves ….. even teasing out one or two unheralded gems along the way …… eating more casually once or twice ….. perhaps at one of the markets…. maybe a caffe crawl, a dolci dulge….. it is italy, it is food in italy, and a high standard of italian cuisine generally applies but this is not a michelin star-gazing foodie venture. rather it is about the great joy of dining on good food in great places, the tone, grateful, celebratory….. each day wonderful, different some rather modest fees are involved to cover some of the admin, otherwise espirita is putting it together for no other reason than it's a wonderful thing to do |
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restaurant reservations – . We are quite happy to make restaurant reservations for you throughout the week. Our restaurant reservations are for a named party who receives a detailed schedule upon reservation and is requested to arrive at restaurants without unreserved third parties.
meal prices - a typical restaurant bill, excl. drinks, should be between E30-40 (light lunch) and E40-60 (2 course dinner) we have paid close attention to meal costs with some simple cost saving measures to observe dining - much as we all love to eat outside, unfortunately ‘vietato fumare’ inside restaurants means that the outdoor tables can get colonised by smokers. and, much as we all love music, with many centro storico restaurants, there is a steady stream of hawkers, hustlers and buskers intruding. It varies by location but on both these counts, or should it be too hot or too wet, there may be good reason to repair to the sanctuary of indoor tables. regime pause - the discussion of all dieting regimes should be postponed until after the return from ome…… complex diets - italian cuisine caters pretty well for vegetarians, but more specific regimes will find some of the restaurant menus rather difficult…... being dedicated to the art of pleasure, we very much hope that our clients will fully avail themselves of the fruit of the vine, whilst otherwise imbibing responsibly |
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aromazzata -
application Talks - £40 per person – subject to an upper limit of 8-10 persons. Restaurant reservations gratis |
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1. choose your time & day : - choose from the list of talks and meals above - meal reservations need to be requested by 2 pm the previous day, and made for you by 6 pm, 2. email application : - apply by email to : espiritaorguk@aol.com - the application should state the time(s) and day(s) requested - the name(s)of the main guest(s) 3. we reply by email : - confirming availability for the dates requested 4. payment / confirmation : - card payment can then take place via the paypal link on the espirita website – - or via Wise transfer type bank account to bank account in different currencies - we confirm the reservation for the named parties by email, - with full details of the location and schedule for the day(s) selected cancellations - refunds are not possible from the Monday of any Rome week |
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early may ? -
early may should normally offer pleasantly warm early summer conditions, occasionally hot during the day, occasionally cool in the evenings
october ? - early october in rome should avoid the sometimes sweltering heat of september. temperatures in the mid 20’s, maybe cool in the evenings.
early may and early october - are particularly popular times so one can expect a high turnout from the world’s population and accommodation should be reserved as soon as practicable. the endless sunshine of spain or greece cannot be assumed and occasional rain is always possible in italy. flights / transport - all clients make their own flight and accommodation reservations, as appropriate to their tastes and budgets. there are two airports serving rome - fiumicino and ciampino - from where it is a E48/ E35 fixed fare taxi ride to the city centre. there is a very good online travel planner in rome, - www.atac.roma.it - which integrates the bus, tram and subway system. the nearest subway station to centro storico is ‘spagna’ in the via del corso area, c.10 mins walk to the pantheon - taxis in rome are reasonably priced accommodation - with most of the talks and meals being in the centro storico, depending on budget, staying in the centro storico would be convenient and more or less walkable to each evening venue - if the accommodation is too pricey, it's not far to walk from trastevere and testaccio is a E10-E12 taxi ride away. all options, including commuting from nearby parts of the city should be investigated. length of stay - the aromazzata concept takes the view that 3-4 days / 4-5 nights is the optimum length for a city break….. rome is certainly interesting and enjoyable enough to merit such a visit |
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The Economist - 20 May 2017 : |
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| For general viewing, for viewing whilst in Italy……… |
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Passeggiata - a day in the Theatre of Beauty - 70 mins |
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Saint-Emilion - the Bordeaux Appelation 2013-2015 - 111 mins |
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