Food and socializing tour of Civitavecchia Italy

Instead of the Rome excursion, we opted to stay in the charming little port town of Civitavecchia and do a walking food tasting tour.  What a great experience to learn about local food, customs, history and architecture from a young local who organized the tour based on his personal experiences. 

Six tour stops mirrored food experiences from throughout a typical day (although we experienced the whole day of food in about three hours). Our guide, Matteo, explained life in this bustling port city revolves around food and socializing. He promised us plenty of both during our time with him.

First we stopped for biscottini in a small pastry shop. These miniature versions of biscotti are what a local would munch on first thing in the morning.

Next was a stop for cappuccino and a croissant-type pastry filled with chocolate (for me) and marmalade (for David). Matteo said a typical morning may involve a quick stop in a shop like this for a cappuccino and pastry to visit with friends.

It was then on to the city's only farmer's market where locals would pick out their food for the day. Matteo explained about how grandmothers play an important role often food shopping and cooking for several generations of their family. Matteo was indeed correct in how he described the demographic of people we'd see at the market and the quality of the food - vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, cheese. We even sampled shrimp roe. All the seafood was fresh off the boat that morning and didn't even require ice.

As we left the market, we picked up pizza from the oldest pizzeria in the city. Our slices were folded into a cone-like wrapper to allow the shopper to easily eat the pizza with one hand while carrying bags of food from the market with the other.

Before heading to our next food stop, we made our way to the beach where we learned about a massive piece of public art depicting the American soldier kissing a nurse at the end of WWII. It seems this art moves from place to place among various European ports.

A late afternoon tradition is gathering with friends after work for what we'd call happy hour with a shared charcuterie board. Considering it was only 11:15 by the time we got to this stop, we still enjoyed a delicious sampling of meats, cheese, sweet condiments and breads along with a glass of red and white wine.

Our final stop satisfied my "daily gelato" at one of the city's oldest gelaterias. It was off the track of tourists and frequented by locals.

Matteo gave us a real sense of this city, and his pride in local customs, his city, his family and its food traditions was a highlight of our trip!