20220507 Ostia Antica and Evening Walk: Another day when we walked about 7 miles. Started the day after breakfast when a driver picked us up and then picked up our guide, Silvia Ferrari (from the same agency), and we drove out to Ostia Antica for a four-hour tour.
This site is huge and was an ancient city as part of a bustling port area when the Tiber flowed nearby before silt changed its course. What we saw were parts of buildings from the 1st,2nd, and 3rd Centuries BC. Buildings were constructed over the ruins of earlier buildings, which explains the century differences. And what we saw covers earlier buildings under them. After going through the main town, we passed through the area where merchants lived, which would have been where Jews lived.
Then we trekked over a grassy area, which is owned privately, to the Jewish Synagogue. Silvia presented the history of the Jews in this area. And a walk back through the residential area where the well-to-do lived. And back to the car for the return to our hotel.
For lunch and gelato, we walked about a half-mile into another area, found a nice place to eat and found one of the gelato places that had been recommended. Back to the room to work on stuff from this morning.
Met Silvia again at 6:00 for a two-hour walk through the center of Rome. Started at the Spanish Steps which were jammed with people. Silvia talked as we walked along giving us the history of each square, fountain, building we passed Very informative. Lots of both Roman and Church history. Highlights included Trevi Fountain, Column of Marcus Aurelius, several obelisks, a galleria built in the early 1900s and now used as an office building … with original mosaics and stained glass, busy Campo di Fiore.
Had a nice supper at La Quercia and back to the hotel…very tired. Tomorrow is a free day and we have not plans, per se.
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