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Literally translated from the Veneto dialect  it means “bones of the pig,  this  is what’s  left  of  the  bones  of  a pig  after  everything  has  been taken to make  steaks, salami, and  everything else.  The  bones  ( including  head, feet and tail)  are all boiled  and a special meal is organized for a big group of people.

I’d  often heard of it  but never had the pleasure to attend one, so when I found myself invited to a dinner, I was quite curious and excited.

The  food  comes  out on big platters  and is served with  horseradish, pickled vegetables, mashed potatoes and lots of red wine, and  the meat is  eaten without  the  help of silverware, all the  better to get the small pieces of meat off the bone.

The meat was incredibly tender, of course there was much more bone than meat, but  it’s all about  the fun of eating together .. like pigs. 

Carla Cassano

The  graceful wooden machine is a true  work of art and  the stirrups for arms and legs feel a bit kinky, but once Ferdi shows me how to use it, I'm hooked.  Gyrotonic  was the brainshild of Julio Horvath, an injured dancer and  since then it has developed a cult following.  The  machines  use a pulley system to gently work  only targeted muscles. Not to be confused with Pilates, this  is different– and refreshingly non-commercial.  I  was  given a one-hour  lesson by Ferdi, an ex-dancer himself, whose twin brother has a studio in Rome.  Due  to the stringent qualifications  for instructors (all approved directly by Horvath in the USA), growth is slow-flowing, just  like Gyrotonic's  philosophy.  Ferdi’s  zen-like studio is owned by Hotel Flora right next door, and of course  guests get privy to the place.