The Travels of Eric and Lorna

 Travel tip. Peek into places while you are visiting tourist sites. I want to be clear. Do not trespass, disturb anything, or go anywhere you are no supposed to go. What I am talking about is, if you see a gated doorway, or a storage room with a window looking in, or something like that, go peek in and see what's inside. I sometimes take pictures like this, always being careful not to drop my phone. Sometimes you see something cool. Like these. This is the 'basement' of the main Temple of the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva) at Ostia Antica. Again, this picture was taken through the gap in the door by holding my phone up close. I never even touched the door. Those pipe looking things? Those are pipes, ancient Roman lead water pipes. I guess they store extras here. Pretty awesome.  Also, that's the basement of an ancient temple! That's cool. I bet it wasn't lead pipes stored here originally. This is also Ostia Antica. A display of epigraphs (i.e. ins...

 

 This site really rewards wandering around. Be sure not to miss the big sights, such as the Theater, the Square of the Guilds, the mosaic at the Baths of Neptune, etc. but do just take some time to wander away from the main areas. Like Rome, Ostia Antica rewards aimless wandering.

 Ostia Antica is an archaeological site south of Rome that functioned as the port for the city. It is a fantastic way to get out of the hustle and bustle of Rome and see some very cool ruins. You can get there easily with a cheap 1.5 euro metro ticket, and it makes an excellent day trip from Rome. I really do think Ostia Antica is cooler than Pompeii. Pompeii is amazing, of course, but Ostia has a different feel. It's far, far less crowded, for one thing. We have been to Ostia twice now, and both time there were several groups of Italian school children obviously going on school trips. Even with that and the other tourists, it was easy to find parts of the site where you were essentially alone and it's quiet and peaceful. You have the freedom to wander around all over the place and I encourage visitors to do so. If you see something with a modern roof over it, go check it out-that roof is probably protecting something cool to see. A selection of the many, many pictures we took ...