Sunday trip to Ostia Antica

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We had a lazy Sunday morning...weather was iffy with rain predicted for midday. Deb wasn't feeling all that great...still recovering from the flu, so it was Craig, Freddie and I that went to Ostia Antica...about a 30 minute drive. It's an ancient port built early 3rd century B.C. and almost completely rebuilt in 2nd century A.D. The ruins have been partially excavated and cover a huge area. for more info visit:

http://www.ostia-antica.org/touristguide.pdf

We spent the whole afternoon there...so much to see.

We stayed in that night..I had huge blisters on my feet from the all the walking we did in Rome...it felt good to just sit and chill. Deb cooked a yummy beef roast, Lizzie had her favorite mashed potatoes and Freddie actually ate salad...WOW! After dinner we watched the movie "Ghost Town" and had gelato...doesn't get any better than that.

We had a nasty thunderstorm roll through about 1 am that night. We had some very close lightening strikes that caused the main power breaker in the house to trip which made the house alarm siren go off...three times and Freddie slept through all of them. It's a two person procedure to reset the house alarm which means somebody has to go down two flights of stairs to reset the breaker. Once power is restored, the house alarm has to be reset...so glad I brought my head lamp....Fred's glad he brought his ear plugs!

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Photos

Map
map of all the ruins at Ostia Antica

Necropoli
frescos in front of the tombs

Tombs
The columbarium...urns would have been placed in the niches

Minverva-Victory
Freddie groping the statue of Minerva...he was so disappointed to find she's a fake...the real one has been moved to the museum

statue in front of Forum baths
oh yeah...he's got buns of steel

Theatre
the theatre which held about 3,000 people. There was a complete wall on the right side of the floor which allowed it to be flooded about 5' deep for nautical displays

Public latrines
the public toilets across the street from the Forum bath complex. Guys...use your imagination!!!

Palaestra
the palaestra used for sports

Fish mosaic
one of the mosaics in the floor of the fish mongers market.

fish mosaic
this was in the floor of the fish mongers market. the white circle with the 3 holes is the ancient floor drain.

Venus Anadiomene
Venus emerging from the water...a fresco in The Baths of the Seven Sages.

Forum baths
as seen from the outside.

Capitolium
a temple to the main Roman deities built by Hadrian

Baths of Neptune
mosaic of Neptune's wife Amphitrite. This room is part of a large bath complex adjacent to the palaestra or sports field.

Baths of Neptune
Neptune driving the chariot. This room is adjacent to the one housing the mosaic of his wife and the sports field

Comments

[Auntie Leesa]

I'm soooo jealous!!!!!!!
This was so much fun reading your blog -- good job Auntie Leenda!!! I laughed out loud (sorry) about you being left behind at the train station -- one of my biggest fears when David and I are in Italy -- we hold hands -- soooo hold Uncle Freddy's hand next time!!!!! Love the pics too. Oh and by the way, you had my FAVORITE meal -- Fettucine with Porcini!!! Yummo! Did you have vino de la casa -- golden yellow color --- perfect with the fettucine!~ Miss you!

[Leenda]

Glad you enjoyed the blog
Uncle Freddie insists he nearly broke his arm trying to hold the door for me....ah well maybe he did....maybe he didn't???? It's hard to hold his hand when he's running way ahead of me with the only thing on his mind being making the train...he needs rear view mirrors! No sorry I didn't have the house wine....I didn't want to drink alone so passed. Will do that for lunch for sure! Miss you and wish you were here....we could get left behind on the train platform together...see how long it would take the men to miss us!!!

[Donna]

Love all the pictures, look forward to getting your blog everyday. Looks like your having a great time. Say hi to the Morrows for us.

[emily]

it appears you guys are having a really good time of it. My daughter, Faith, was in Italy and loved it. Have a glass or 2 for me. Fun reading this blog and the pics are great. Em

[Jean sims]

Wow
Looks like so much fun! Thanks for sharing! Miss and love ya'll! Ramma Jamma!!!