Isola Sacra

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The remains of ancient Rome's sea port - Ostia Antica - are pretty well known, but not so much the cemetery - Necropoli di Porto - linked with it, located on the other side of the Tiber on Isola Sacra. We'd been talking about going for months...
After doing a little research on Sean's part we followed instructions he found at http://www.ostia-antica.org/visiting.htm.
We woke up earlyish to catch the 10:30 into Rome Termini then took the Metro B as in Blue line toward Piramide stop where you catch an overground 'train' towards Ostia Antica or Ostia Centro to the beach town of the same name of Ostia. All the 'trains' go to the same place so there is no reason to worry about getting on the right or wrong trian just follow everyone else to the train leaving soonest.
Before getting on the train we decided to get lunch from the local shop mainly because we knew we'd be in the middle of no where at our final destination meaning no cafe or pizza a taglia (by the piece) would be available at pranzo (lunch) time.
We enjoy our train ride it's a beautiful sunny day! We can see the ruins of Ostia Antica as the train stops briefly to allow people on and off you need to be quick though as the doors basically open pause and close again two additional stops for us. We get off at Lido Centro after looking around we go up to the ticket agent to ask where the stop for Isola Sacra is as it isn't exactily clear - like most things in Italy they seem to be set up to make things most difficult for those who are visiting and or don't speak the language.
Spotting the timetable next to the newsagent taped on to the glass of the ticket window it's obvious that the buses are frequent. So we go outside to wait for the bus - as I'm still not sure we're at the correct stop - I go back to the ticket agent and ask again for clarification. She looks a bit annoyed and says 'avanti li' (in front there) but isn't clear ALL the buses stop out front - so I give up go back out and thankfully a bus pulls in we hop aboard and go through town.
Quick to realize the time of day and glad to have a seat! As all the school kids are getting on board with each stop the bus gets progressively crowded in Italy most students are required to attend school six days a week Saturday being a half day! The bus winds through town a bit slower than we imagined then we basically head back towards Ostia Antica on the main road and we say how maybe we could have gotten off at the Ostia Antica stop but see from the traffic that getting the bus at Ostia Centro is most likely the safer bet eventually we cross the river and you can see the yacht club marina. Now we're on the look out for the WATER TOWER as that's our known landmark to get off the bus. Based on the original instructions we think the stop is going to be further up the the road but it isn't - the bus comes to a quick halt so we get off just as quickly and stand on the 'island' between these very busy roads look around and really only have one option cross the road or die try'n.
So that's what we do! We make a run for the other side as the cross light either doesn't work or takes 10 minutes to register somebody wants to cross... we take a look around and see an enclosed field to our left and a brick wall on our right and start walking away from the main road. At this point we aren't certian of the distance it could be a block away or two miles away? When the brick wall runs out we notice a sign pointing to the left that says NECROPOLI on it and there is an Italian man picking something or other from the field who point towards the Necropoli... this is the intersection we're looking for. We take some photos and walk in on the right is an office with a nice woman who provides us with an Italian leaflet of the site.
So we made it to our destination and it's open!
We read the information boards with a site map of the area including our position with repect to Ostia Antica. While we are visiting the Necropoli we get a call from Miia who is visiting Ostia Antica (aka Our Pompei) which is an easy journey from the Centre of Rome.
As we walk around we enter the tombs to see what surprises they hold within... some have beautiful mosiacs, others have remnants of frescos and some retain great colour considering how old they are. As I exit one of the tombs I forget how low the door way is and bump my head pretty hard- Ouch. Approaching the back of the site is where the smaller tombs are and we read on the information board that these are the the burials of the poor which is visible based on size and decoration. It's like when we visited the Catacombs of Grottaferrata and our guide

then like now the wealthy have large elaborate graves and the poor have modest places

which is true if you go into any modern cemetery in Italy or else where for that matter it's very similiar to Roman times.
The sun is high in the sky and our tummies are beginning to grumble a bit. So we sit on one of the walls to have our lunch the entire place is quite I think we are the only people visiting this not so known site we try and spot Ostia Antica on the other side of the river and see airplanes flying pretty low in the near distance - Fiumicino airport is near by. Which reminds me when we first caught the train at Frascati this morning a young couple from Australia we asking in English is this the airport. We asked if they were going to Ciampino in that case they're one stop away from the airpot but eyeing the size of their suitcases lead us to ask further and sure enough they need Fuimicino International! After asking how much a taxi would cost they decided to remain on the train and get the Fuimicino Airport train hopefully they allowed plently of mis-hap time to get there. There are two airports in Rome the International and the budget one near Frascati called Ciampino which is military.
Continue walking through the rest of the site we come across a tri-level building with great mosiac of roses and doves on the floor of the upper level the way the sun falls on the place a lot of what is well preseved is due to being in the shadows and fallen roof tops have been replaced with wooden ones to protect the remains of the site. At this point we are walking on a roman road that is very straight but not so narrow...leading to the gate.
As we approach the gate we see that the car that was parked outside when we arrived seveal hours ago is gone and the gate is closed. Are we locked in? We aren't sure... we take our time and some additional photos before approaching the building on site. We look in the office only to see a big empty table, hearing music in the adjacent builing I walk over and spot three girls playing in a room and ask if they can let us out in Italian. One of the young girls gets up from her chair and leaves the room a second or two later a woman greets us and states that she'll buzz us through - at this point we thank her and exit the Necropoli.
Walking back toward the bus stop to await our bus back to the station. One shows up within 10 minutes of waiting at the bus stop. Compared to the ride out to the site the return journey is quite there are a few locals and a hand full of yacht club tourist on board with us.
Back at the station we decide to go to the beach a few blocks away. I'm accustomed to open public space at the beach in Italy most beaches seem to be private with bars and restraunts obstucting the view of the sea - we eventualy make it to the end of the pier. It's no Santa Barbara but it is beautiful clear water with the sun setting in the horizon and quite a few sail boats out on the calm sea water.
Deciding to head back to the centre, we head back getting side tracked by a bridal exhibit which is fun for the whole 10 minutes it takes to walk through. Clever marketing you have to double back to actually leave the tent! Now that we've left the bridal tent we head to grab a bite to eat and a drink and now we can get the train back to Rome. Again it's pretty quite we are both tired from the walking and train rides. So instead of going right back to Frascati we make for the Spanish steps to check out what's new at the record store on Via del Corso. We make it home by say nine p.m.

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Photos

Tombs of Isola Sacra
Part of the Necropoli Porto on Isola Sacra, adjacent to Ostia Antica. The tombs stretch along a 1.5-km-long Roman road.

niches
within a tomb

Frescoes ..
you can make out sea-horse-men on the right and left

from station get Bus
at the CAPOLINEA Cotralspa white sign stop it takes about 25 minutes to get to the water tower depending on traffic!

Water tower
once you see this from the bus -you need to press the stop button as this is your stop and you don't want to miss it

Side road across...
the very busy, fast divided road - once across the road walk down until the wall on the right runs out then make a left along the fields you can see an Italian flag up ahead and this is the entrance to the 'Necropoli'

gate entrance...
if closed ring bell to be allowed onto property

path
through remains of the site...along the path is a written guide describing each section

detail from a carving
ceremonial baptism?

Sean...
we take a break from the site seeing and enjoy a brief picnic lunch

pyramid
with water tower in the background

Bus stop
waiting for our 'ride' back to the station