Palombara Sabina is a small village just outside Rome, Italy. It’s about an hour driving from Rome, located between the capital of Italy and Monte Zappi. Despite being close to Rome, Vatican City, the Colosseum, and many other national treasures and parks in Italy, it had never really been a hit tourist destination until a few years ago.
But then three years ago, tourists began to visit Palombara Sabina – with the sole purpose of learning how to make homemade pasta from a true Italian grandma.
How the Idea Came to Be
This started as an Airbnb Experience and business that Chiara Nicolanti’s and her Italian grandmother (or Nonna Nerina) decided to begin. It is a way to learn how to make fresh homemade pasta, the real Italian way.
Chiara eventually came across an ad from Airbnb about the new Experiences feature they had. She decided to submit some photos of her grandmother making pasta and the idea of welcoming people and teaching them how to make traditional pasta.
A Tasty Italian Experience
The itinerary for the Airbnb Experience includes a trip from Rome to the village of Palombara Sabina, a walk through the village and an introduction to its history, which goes back to medieval times.
Once visitors get to Chiara and Nonna’s home, they will snack on some bruschetta and wine while learning the various techniques for preparing three different kinds of pasta. Everyone will eat together and head back to Rome at the end of the Experience.
How does Nonna Nerina feel about welcoming strangers into her home and working with her granddaughter? She says it is an excellent way of making people feel as if they were in their own homes and learning from their family members.
After the success of this Experience, many other Italian grandmas started offering similar experiences throughout the country.