Castello di Giulio II

Another day trip today, but this time not a World Heritage one! Crazy, I know! I'd heard good things about the Roman ruins down in Ostia Antica, so we decided to head down and check them out since it seemed like the weather was going to be kind to us.

Ostia in ancient times was Rome's harbour, though due to silting the Tiber has since moved away. During the decay of the empire it was gradually abandoned and slowly buried under dirt and soil, until it was eventually rediscovered in the 19th century. There's basically a whole town under there, a similar size to Pompeii though nowhere near as well known. And happily for us - nowhere near as touristed either!

Not in a hurry, we caught the tram, metro, and train to get other there, and didn't arrive until around 11:30. Spent quite a while just wandering around the old streets - some areas are in amazingly good condition. Lots of mosaic floors, frescoed walls, houses, shops, warehouses, baths, a theatre, two large market squares, and of course a Forum with temples and civic buildings.

Maybe not quite as well preserved as Hadrian's villa, but definitely a fantastic place to visit. The site is enormous, and there couldn't have been more than a hundred people there which was fantastic for us. Grabbed a quick lunch at the on-site cafe, though it was expensive and we both regretted not having an early feed after getting off the train.

Wandered for another couple of hours until heading back to Rome around 3pm. Decided to make a quick detour to the Colosseum; even though we'd seen it a few days earlier, we wanted to get some photos of Schnitzel with it as well. Nice to keep up his series of photos in front of landmarks that he's entirely unaware of. Considered briefly taking him to St Peters as well, but it started to rain and it was getting dark anyway, so we headed for home.

Ate in, with ravioli in passata alongside grilled zucchini and tomato. Very tasty! Felt a bit off colour in the evening again, I think I'm coming down with another cold - my second of the trip. Two in a year though, I guess I can live with that!Read more