Over and over, we hear visitors to Rome complaining that there’s just nothing to buy in the Eterna that you can’t find elsewhere in the world as well. We’re mostly in agreement: increasing globalization means that the Italian standards, whether Barilla pasta, Fendi bags, or balsamic vinegar, are almost as widely available in the US, Canada, Japan, or Sweden as they are in Italy themselves.
So what to bring family and friends from Rome? You can make pilgrimages to tiny alimentari and to farms in out-of-the-way places hoping to find some divine food product produced only regionally and not distributed by way of cargo ships and 747s (such a task is not so difficult as it sounds). But, should you be looking for something else – an object that’s funny and playful and as likely to appeal to a kid as to a grown-up foodie – then we think we’ve found a fabulous solution!
There’s a little store on the last block of Via dei Serpenti, just before the street intersects with Via Cavour, where you can pick up a couple of bobble-headed gladiators and a bobbing Roman Emperor that will make almost anyone giggle. Various inhabitants of the eCool Compound have reason to walk by the store regularly and these swaying and nodding figures crack us up every time. We ourselves haven’t purchased yet, but we warned that we’re going to start hoarding these babies soon. Even better is the fact that they’re on sale: 1 goes for 15 euro while you can get 2 for 25 euro.
