Rome the Third

I had such a great time in Rome this weekend! Friday we arrived and went to Ostia, this ancient port city situated on the mouth of the Tiber. When the harbor silted up after centuries of use, the city was abandoned, leaving it to become an archaeological paradise in our own day. Pompeii is to Fairfield as Ostia is to New Haven--less affluent and more commercial, but also more of a slice of how real people lived. The greatest thing is that you could climb in, out and around of these houses and buildings, for the most part--they wouldnt let you into the baths, for example, because of the fabulous mosaics which are best viewed from above. In one building we found the equivalent of a secret garden, as ivy and leaves had made a complete roof for the structure. In another, we climbed underneath a three foot high arch and found ourselves in something resembling a bunker, I'm not sure what it was, and then we hopped over that wall and continued the exploration. The city has a perfectly preserved theater with wonderful acoustics, as Sara demonstrated for us, as well as a commercial marketplace with mosaics tellig what each stall was for.

On Saturday we went to the Borghese at the crack of dawn, which was amazing--so amazing I think I will describe it later because I have to meet Meredith to catch the bus to the soccer game in half an hour. After this we tried to go see the Ara Pacis, which had JUST OPENED THAT DAY, but th line was long, and Carla was sick and wanted to go home, so we had lunch and then split up. I went back to St Peter's to see it one last time, but since the line there stretched all around the enormous piazza, I decided to enjoy its external pleasures only. Then I went back to the Colosseum and the Forum, bid farewell to my Augustus statue, and visited St Pietro in Vincoli where the original Moses statue is. On buying a ticket in the Termini, I mistakenly bought one for 430, not 630, which eliminated the possbibility of going to the Cornaro chapel, but by then I was pretty exhausted so I decided to take it as a sign. One of the best parts of travelining to and from Rome is the route the express train takes--green fields and rivers and beautiful sights. Never again will I suffer those 3.5 hr train rides on bumpy piece of crap train cars!

Now I'm off to watch Viola (our soccer team, which wears purple, Italy's unluckiest color) lose again, yay!