Day Fifteen - Ostia Antica And Rome

We took a day trip out of Rome to the seaside village of Ostia Antica yesterday.  Ostia was the first and primary port city for the Roman civilization, founded about 400 years B.C.  The city was covered by a swamp during the middle ages, after the river changed direction and was abandoned.  It was first rediscovered in the 19th century and the archaeological digs started in earnest in the 20th century.

The trip to Ostia is an easy Metro ride of about 40 minutes.  We met Danilo there, a tour guide recommended to me by someone in the US.  It turned out that Danilo was much more than a tour guide, and he brought this ancient city to life.  We walked through each section of the city, which was much larger than we had expected.  The city is a picture of "real life" during ancient Rome.  Pompeii was the center of wealth, but Ostia was the center of commerce and regular people's way of life.  It was interesting to see not only where and how people lived, but where they worshiped the Roman gods, where they baked their bread, and where commerce was conducted.  There were stunning mosaics that are still very well preserved that told the story of life in the city.  The kids had an absolute ball, climbing all over the walls and ducking in and out of all of the housing, exploring tunnels and the theater.

We spent about four hours there, learning about not only this part of Rome but also the rule of the Caesars, the foundations of La Cosa Nostra, and also modern Italian politics.  Danilo, who is a teacher in Italy today, was fascinating and truly amazing in his depth of knowledge of the rich history of modern-day Italy.

We took the train back into Rome after eating a lunch of freshly sliced meats and cheeses in Ostia.  After some much-needed R&R, we took the bus over to Baffeto, a restaurant touted to have "the best pizza in Rome."  We heard about it from the guy who is renting us our apartment.  By the time we got there ( about 7:30 ) a small line had formed.  Given that Italians usually don't eat till at least 8, it was a good sign that there was already a line.  We got sat right beside where they actually make the pizzas, which initially I thought was a lousy seat.  However, after about five minutes we realized we had the best seats in the house.  The assembly line to crank out the pizzas was crazy fast.  There was a guy that, for the entire time we were there ( about 2 hours ), rolled out one pizza after another at a remarkable pace.  The next guy put all of the toppings on and managed the oven process.  The waiters periodically stopped by to pick up their orders and, from what we could tell, argue a lot about who got which pizzas.  The owner walked around just sort of keeping order, and the owner's wife managed the money.  It was completely insane, and a lot of fun to watch.  Oh, and the pizza was delicious.  Baffetos is an absolute must for a stop in Rome.

After dinner we went to Crematoria for gelato, which is right by the Pantheon.  They had peach gelato there ( it was the first time I had seen it on the trip ), so I got peach and banana.  Everyone else got pretty much their standard flavors.

After another short walk, we caught the bus back to our apartment and crashed.  Today is our last day in Italy.  We are headed to the coliseum and some of the other more famous landmarks right around us, then probably back to Baffetos for dinner to finish things off.

What an amazing trip it has been.  We leave Italy about 11:00 tomorrow morning and land in Charlotte around 4 in the afternoon.  We posted some pictures last night from the first few days in Rome, and will post a bunch more when we get home.

Thanks for reading along with us.  When we get back we will write in detail about what we packed, how we got around, and other things that might be interesting for anyone considering making a similar trip.