Ostia Antica

Yesterday we did another tour with our friend Penelope so Mike could see St. Peters Basilica.  Then we ate lunch and I took it easy that afternoon while Mike and Cindy went do a little shopping.  We walked back for a farewall dinner with Mike, then had another gelato.  I think I found my favorite flavor- chocolatta pepperoncina, chocolate with hot peppers!  Wow, that was really good, best yet.
Woke up kinda early to see Mike off.  His taxi picked him up at 8:15 for his flight at 11:30.  He should get to New Orleans around 9pm tonight local time.  We really enjoyed having Mike with us these last 10 days.  Safe travels Mike.
After seeing Mike off we took a bus to the Piramide train station (yes there is an actual pyramid in the middle of Rome) for a 30 minute train out to Ostia Antica west of Rome along the coast.  This is an excavated ruin that was once the major seaport to supply Rome which had a population during those times of up to a million people.  The port was originally built in the early years before Christ.  Yep, over 2000 years old, and it is amazing the condition of a lot of these structures.  Of course it was rebuilt and added to throughout the centuries but it was very impressive.  When these early Romans built something they built it to last.  Too bad their society didn't last.  Let's hope our society isn't as fleeting.
We spent almost 4 hours walking through the ruins and only covered a small portion of the structures.  It was really interesting to see the size of the houses and restaurants and other places.  There were these beautiful mosaic floors that had been uncovered and countless plaques and statues.  Totally exhausted we walked into town looking for gelato.  NONE! can't believe it.  We did find a castle in town with a tower.  Hey Ella, wonder if it was Rapunzel's tower?
We did find gelato back in Rome.
Tomorrow morning we do the Scavi tour underneath St. Peters Basilica then will see the Sistene Chapel and Vatican museum.
Life's good!

Another day in Rome

We didn't get out as early as we had planned.  So we walked a ways, took a bus to Termini Station and got a metro (wouldn't you know it, the escalators weren't working, my knee may never recover) to the Coloseum.  Very crowded, so we walked around took a few pictures and started walking towards the Trevi Fountain.  Mike went his own way and Cindy and I had lunch at a small ristorante.
After we found the Trevi, after seeing it in so many movies I thought it would be in a large open space.  Wrong, while the fountain is large the area around it is small and has buildings all around it.  We then walked to the Pantheon.
Then we started walking again, found a gelato stand and I had pesco (peach) and Cindy had rosa, yes it tasted just like you would image a rose would taste like!  Both were very good. 
We walked back to the river and walked home.  We were both exhausted from all the walking and the heat.  It's been in the 90's since we got here but does cool off into the 70's at night.  Thank goodness for air conditioning.

the view outside of our apartment

looking into the Coloseum

Cindy dreaming of coming back

for all you door lovers

Cindy enjoying her rose gelato

Roma!

We flew out of Paris yesterday around noon and arrived in Rome about 1:40pm or 13:40 as they say here in Europe.  The people we are renting our apartment from had a driver meet us at the airport.  Once settled in the apartment we walked down about 4 flights of stairs to the street below us and planned to eat a late lunch.  Surprise! they take siesta here in the mid-afternoon.  So we found a grocery and picked up some fresh tortellini, stuffed bellpepper, basil pesto, bread and pastries (of course), and other necessities.  We had a nice meal.  The internet was out but our landlord got it fixed this morning while we were out.
After dinner Cindy and Mike walked to the Vatican, our apartment is across the street from the Vatican wall and 200 meters from the Museo Vatica, then about 500 meters more to the Vatican Gate.
I hurt my knee in Paris climbing too many stairs navigating the metro so stayed in and nursed my knee. 
This morning Cindy and I walked to the Vatican.  The cue for the Vatican Museum was LONG, and this was at 8:45am.  So we continued to the Vatican.  The cue for St. Peters Basilica was pretty long also so we decided to check out the info station.  While there we found out there was an english speaking tour at 9:45.  So we waited for that and met up with about 12 other people and Penelope our guide.  She was a little old english lady who took us into the Basilica bypassing the long lines of people waiting to get in.  Once inside she pointed out all of the more important features.  One thing she emphasized was the size of the church.  It is deceiving due to the immense size of some of the statues and paintings.  The statues and paintings at ground level are big and the higher they are the larger they are.  So the scale of the building inside doesn't seem as large as it actually is.  Truly amazing paintings and statues, marble columns.  A lot of the paintings are mosaics.  Above the main altar is a huge dome with a much smaller dome in the middle.  Penny told us the smaller dome is large enough to hold the huge altar.  Very amazing and inspiring place.

Cindy couldn't wait to ask someone for directions

After spending over 2 hours in the Basilica we walked about the square then walked a little ways and found a nice cafe to enjoy lunch, with gelato after.  Cindy had coconut and I had fruitte bosco, absolutely delicioso!