Ostia Antica - Day 3

After staying up until 2:30am (our biorhythms are totally off), we woke up at 11am. Rick's ankle began hurting during the night and we noticed a big bruise on his shin from the previous evening's fall. I woke up with two giant blisters on my foot as a remembrance of the all the walking we did yesterday! But we probably will only be here once so we carried on with our plans to explore Ostia Antica.

We needed to take two trains to get there and had to switch trains at the Piramid (the Italian spelling) stop, so we went above ground to see the pyramid. It is actually a real pyramid copied by Gaius Cesius, a rich Roman magnate around 30 BC as a burial place for himself. Apparently, the Mark Antony/Cleopatra scandal brought exotic Egyptian styles into vogue in Rome at the time. It is smaller than the ones in Egypt but pretty cool.

Our next train ride was only about 30 minutes to Ostia Antica and cheap too! Only 1 Euro each way for both trains. Ostia is a town dating back to the 4th century BC. It was once a thriving seaport because it sat on the banks of the Tiber River and Tyrrhenian Sea. Unfortunately the port silted in and the Tiber changed its course and Ostia met its demise in the 5th century AD. It's been the scene of archeological exploration since the late 1700s.

I found it mind boggling that archeologists could have learned so much from so long ago. The site was huge. The restoration that was done over the year seems to have been done very respectfully in that while they made it look like the original, it was obvious what parts were restored. I'm going to attach some of the photos I took. They don't do it justice. I was particularly taken with the mosaics and the latrines! Traveling always makes me keenly aware of where the nearest "decent" bathroom is located!

We ended the day with a lovely meal at Mama Angela's restaurant which conveniently is next door to our hotel. It began with Prosecco and ended with Limoncello with fabulous pasta in between (Rick had lamb). Unlike other trips, I think it will be no problem for me finding things I like to eat in Italy!

Tomorrow we leave Rome for Lake Como!