Friday: The British School in Rome launches Return to the Archaeological Site: Rome Re-Examined and Re-Defined with an opening lecture tonight at 6pm by Francesco Cellini and Paolo Desideri of the Architechture Faculty at Roma Tre. The exhibit is open Monday-Saturday from 5-7:30pm until December 1st, and is part of the series Three Cities in Flux – Urban Regeneration in London, Milan and Rome. But if you’re more of the “out with the old, in with the new” then go to DeGusto in Pigneto to celebrate the 2011 release of vino novello, the light, fruity red wine with a short fermentation period and an even shorter shelf life released at the beginning of each November from the year’s grape harvest. Word on the street is they’re serving chestnuts too. Score.
Saturday: Saturday night Bob Dylan rolls into town (like a stone?) with his Band. The show starts at 9 at the Palalottomattica in EUR, and ticket resellers still have seats available for around 80 euro. Pricey, but hard to put a price on Dylan. If you’re looking for something a little lighter on the wallet but heavier on the tastebuds, take the COTRAL bus from Stazione Tiburtina out to Fonte Nuova for the Festa di Olio e Vino Novello. Buses leave several times an hour to take you to this small comune 15km outside of Rome which is throwing its fifth annual celebration of the olive harvest and first wines of the year. Festivities start at 3pm when the food stands open, followed by free tastings of olive oil, wine and bruschetta, and music in the main piazza. The party continues on Sunday if you can’t make it out there tomorrow.
Sunday: The Roma Jazz Festival continues Sunday night with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny bringing his Trio into town. Metheny has recorded with everyone from Chick Corea to David Bowie (based on a quick perusal of my iTunes), and is known for incorporating elements of progressive and contemporary jazz, post-bop, latin jazz and jazz fusion. Tickets are 35-55 euro and available on LisTicket.
If you’re looking for a little taste of home, and for you, home is somewhere in the nebulous border regions of the American Southwest, then check out the Tex Mex Aperitivo at 6pm at Fluid on Via del Governo Vecchio. Mini hamburgers and fried chicken are promised, but no word on if sombreros will be used as tortilla chip serving bowls. We can only hope.