Rome - June 10

We ventured out to Roscioli (https://salumeriaroscioli.com/en) finally. Everytime we passed by was a line wrapped around the building. While we were in line, the womany in front of us had a pigeon poop on her. She was on her own, just arrived from the US, and we held her place in line while she tried to find a way to get cleaned up. Anyhoo - We ordered a few different things and a bottle of wine and took them back to our flat for a yummy lunch.

In the evenening we had a cooking class. We have done a few different cooking classes over the years, but we always enjoy them. Gia found this one on Airbnb Experiences. We were drawn to learning how to make a few different sauces and pastas - carbonera, spinach & lemon & rictotta ravioli in a brown butter sauce sage, and amatriciana which was a spicier red sauce. This pasta was handsdown the best I've head in Italy so far and it was soooo fun to make :)

There was a couple from France, a mom and daughter from Oregon, a mother and son from Alaska, and two women who were on a work trip from somewhere in the US.

Three fingers width apart...

Next we made the fettucine for the carbonera. You rolled out the dough, sliced, and then did a knife trick so that they hung from your knife. Pretty cool.

Next up, we made the spaghetti noodles for the red sauce, where we got to use this cool guitar string-like method.

Next, the sauces. For the carbonara, he whisked the eggs over hot water to pasteurize them. Made me feel much better about the carbonera. 

BELLISIMO!

I am realizing I did not even photograph the red one, so that is a pretty good indication that it did not fall in my top 2 :)

It was such a gorgeous night that we walked for a bit before calling a taxi for the 2-mile trip home. I ended up walking all the way and just soaked in Italy and scoped out places I wanted to return to, like a large park, beautiful archways, views of the city, and small paved walkways leading to bustling piazzas...

When I returned home, I noticed that people were looking at a couple of brass bricks in front of our building door. I hadn't noticed them before. I took photos and Googled them and learned that the bricks are covered in brass and are knows as "stolpersteine", which is German for stumbline stones, and are placed in front of the buildings were Jews were abducted from their homes and sent to concentration camps. The brick includes their name, their birth year, the date they were abducted, where they were sent, and their date of death if known. Further research found that on the day noted on this brick, that over 1200 Jewsih men and women were abducted, over 1,000 were deported, and only 16 survived. 

My mind often wanders to what it must have felt like for Leonello and Giancarlo as they realized in the early morning that they were being taken. Did they think they would be able to clear things up? That is was a misunderstanding? That they would be treated humanely and fairly. Just heartbreaking.

Here is an overview of what was happening during this time:

The Gold Ransom: In late September 1943, SS Commander Herbert Kappler demanded that Rome’s Jewish community hand over 50 kg of gold within 36 hours, or face mass deportation. The community scrambled, and non-Jewish Romans helped them meet the deadline. The gold was handed over on September 28. [1, 2]

A False Sense of Security: Many Jews in the historic Ghetto falsely believed that paying the ransom had bought their safety. However, German forces were secretly compiling registries and planning a massive roundup. [1, 2]

The "Black Shabbat": Just days after the ransom, on October 16, 1943, the Gestapo launched a brutal, surprise raid on the Roman Ghetto. Over 1,250 Jewish men, women, and children were detained, and over 1,000 were subsequently deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Only 16 survived. [source]

https://romanjews.com/stumbling-stones-of-rome/

We say a prayer for each name listed each time we pass a stolpersteine.