Lucci Hotel Rome Blog

Every year it takes place into the magical Navona Square, or as they say in Rome, “Piazza Navona”, The Christmas fair.

All the “piazza” beyond the severe look out of the statues of Bernini in Rome, fills itself with hundreds of selling stands of sweets, toys, craft, nutty nougats, cotton candy, small and big nice things that you can buy as a present for yours friends or yours kids.

The square is a match sought place for kids and their daddies and mommies and everyone who would like to visit the “presepe”(manger) . The manger is another of Rome’s Cristmas tradition and in Navona it is located in the middle of the square, right next the fountain of the “rivers”. You can eat one fabulous ciambella (doughnut) or take a stroll down to one of the many bars or tea rooms to sit and take a nice cappuccino or even better a beautiful glass of red wine which along with the view and compelling atmosphere of all the rest accomplishes the very essence of Rome.

Walking all around the square you can see as well the Zampognari, Italian bagpipers dressed with typical clothed made with sheepskin and long dark cloaks and meanwhile the children are visiting Santa Claus, you can admire the works of the painter who sell their picture or do your portrait in an amazing holiday atmosphere.
This Christmas Rome market in fact brings you back the time when you were child with is colour and goodies smell.

6 January is the last day for the Rome Christmas market . It is the day o of the epiphany the festivity dedicated to smallest. According to the tradition the epiphany feast, coming down through the fireplace, door coal to the sweet children who have been bad to you and give sweeties to who have been good. As Italian people say: epiphany comes, all the festivities go.
Christmas market in Piazza Navona is every day from 6° th December to 6° th January.

 I have to go to the market soon, to buy some stuff, particularly lemons which I use to make my limoncello. I usually go to Esquilino market (named after the hill it stands on) because it is just a 5 minute walk from my house and its really cheap too.

The market is also very near Termini station which is also conveniently located near our Nice Hotel Rome. The market has a variety of goods on offer but particularly fresh produce is in abundance. All sorts of fruit and vegetables are on offer. Both the regular and seasonal stuff. The quality is quite good and there is plenty of it. There is also lots of variety too. There are also lots of fresh spices and herbs which you can buy whole.

There are also several stalls in the outer court which sell fresh meat and other different internal organs like liver, kidneys, heart and tripe, hmmmmmmm yummy. In fact its so fresh you see the butchers hacking off or cutting up your specified choice right infront of your eyes. How is that for guranteed freshness. Jokes aside, this is one of the cheapest places you will buy meat and I have checked it all out pretty closely and I have not seen anything wrong with the quality at all.

Now if you walk nearer to the inner courtyard, yes you smelled right, fish fish fish. There is lots of it too. This is also really fresh too infact its so fresh I saw one flapping around on the floor like mad. I love sea food and they have it all here. From fresh tuna to prawns and lobster. They have all sorts of other weird and wonderfull stuff too.

Another part of the market has stalls which sell dried fruit like apricot, raisins,apple and banana. You can also buy mixed chocolates by the kilo. There are even places to buy everyday personal items like toileteries and then others that sell kitchen ware like pots pans knives and the usual stuff. This market has been really useful to me in the past couple of months. Yet in another part you can but freshly baked bread and really nice pastries, sweet and savoury.

You don’t have to worry about taking any bags with you as all the stalls have plastic bags available. The market is open from 7 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon and is closed on Sundays.

 

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