Latium, celebrated by painters and writers for its bucolic landscape, invites today’s explorers to discover areas away from the large tourist crowds. Just a few kilometers from the hustle and bustle of the metropolis, sheep herds still graze under aqueducts: Here lies the rural heart of Rome. On her countryside excursion, Veronika Eckl embarks on a grand journey with a Tiber captain, meets a truffle farmer who sells his treasures at the Roman markets, and gets a glimpse into the garden of Ninfa, one of Italy's best-kept secrets. She visits the residents of the small island of Ponza off the coast of Latium, the monks of Subiaco, and Mussolini's planned city of Latina, and speaks with Indian farmworkers who harvest zucchini for Europe. The pastoral idyll of the past has transformed, yet in Latium, one can find everything that defines Italy.