I've gone to visit several markets in Rome throughout my time here, but I think I can finally say that Campagna Amica is my favorite one. Located right next to Circo Massimo, it's a market dedicated to local food and enforces a 0 km rule meaning that everything sold there must be produced within the Lazio region, ensuring the upmost freshness and that nothing is imported.

My friends and I stopped by after our exploration of the Monti neighborhood this past weekend and hauled some pretty good finds. After frequenting this market several times, I have always stuck to my usual basics of spinach, prosciutto, and the occasional pork sandwich for lunch, but this time I decided to purchase the items I have sampled every time and yet never actually bought to try again at home. There are several wine stands at Campagna Amica, one of which my friends and I had bought and shared a bottle of sparkling sweet red from a few weeks ago on our expedition to the Aventine orange gardens, which we all decided to repurchase to repeat those adventures in the spring time air.

There is also a wonderful olive stand where they sell red and green olives as well as the best olive oil I've ever had. Unfortunately I don't think I can use it all up by the time I have to pack up and leave, so I  only indulge in olive oil samples when I visit the market, but I did pick up a jar of red olives which have oddly become one of my go-to snacks. I also have been holding out on buying a huge jar of honey for the same reason as the olive oil, but found a little mini jar and couldn't resist. After standing there trying every flavor twice (it's amazing how different millefiori is from acacia and agrumi), I found that acacia honey fits my tasted the best and enjoyed it with some brie on this loaf of bread that I was given for free by the nicest men at the baker's stand when I asked to buy some as they were packing up for the afternoon.

Aside from the amazing selection of goods available at Campagna Amica, what I really enjoy about going there is the fact that all of the vendors interact with me in Italian. They explain flavors and give recommendations, and many continue to feed us samples (like the super awesome jam man who gave us ricotta with pumpkin/rum jam after letting us try raspberry, peach, and strawberry chocolate) long after we've made our purchases. It's one of my favorite places to practice speaking in Italian and makes me feel really good when I've had a great interaction and learned not only a lot about the products local to Lazio, but boosted my confidence in understanding and replying in a new language I'm trying so use as much as possible.