2015 ROME
We knew that a three day visit to Rome wasn't going to be enough to see everything, and so a second visit was planned. We gave ourselves an extra day, saw some of the sites from our previous visit (the Forum, Coliseum, etc.) and lots of new places we had just ran out of time for last time.
Our pace was more leisurely this time, and our first day involved checking out all of the sites around the Termini station, including the aqueducts, arches and sections of wall from the very first Roman wall, the tomb of the baker and other minor sites. Day two saw a revisit to the Coliseum and Forum, the heat was incredible, Rome had been hit be a heatwave that hovered around 38-39 degrees C. Hot. The Baths of Caracalla were on our list too, a vast building that includes some lovely mosaics and a great feeling of the majesty of Rome. We were most looking forward the next day to a full-day long trip to Ostia Antica, a port city on the coast that was abandoned after the attacks of pirates in the Late Roman period. What a place. We have visited Pompeii four times and Herculaneum twice, but Ostia has everything in complete detail, the whole city is there to be explored, as if people had just gout up and left. A real gem. And empty - there were few visitors about. |
Back in the Forum, in the background the Arch of Severus.
The empty streets of Ostia Antica, a fabulous ancient city as great as Pompeii.
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Jamie in the awe-inspiring hugeness of the Baths of Caracalla.
The Pantheon, built by emperor Hadrian.
A well preserved street bar at Ostia. Jamie acts as bartender and serves me with a cup of red wine.
The Third Century walls of Rome, here incorporating the incredible aqueducts that still ring the city. You can see the water channels at the topmost part of the marble section.