This is third post in my series about my Italian holiday (2-11 September inclusive) – see here and here.
Ostia was the port that served Rome in ancient times. Ships bringing goods across the Mediterranean would dock there and goods would then be unloaded on to barges to go upriver to Rome. Other goods would go out from Ostia.
There is a huge amount of stuff to see there today, including most of the main street, nine metres wide and two kilometres long, bath houses, warehouse quarters, the theatre which is well enough preserved to stage live performances, the forum and other stuff.
It is served by its own train station, Ostia Antica, which is a very short walk from the entrance to the site. To get into the site you have to undergo temperature checks and to wear a mask at the gates and in any inside areas (and the Italians overall take mask wearing very seriously, although there was an anti-mask protest in Rome while we were there). My disabled persons railcard got both me and my sister as my designated companion in free, while my nephew’s student ID (he starts at Oxford this year) got him a discount.
An attempt after exploring the site to find a different way back to the exit was foiled by the fact that the site borders farmland which is under cultivation, and we eventually went back into the site by a not strictly legitimate route and headed back.
My ticket for the return journey got swallowed by an automated ticket gate and a new one had to be bought, and I was sufficiently rattled by the experience that I failed to don my mask before boarding the train back (my apologies to the passengers on that train for the minute or thereabouts that I was aboard while not masked up). While we were waiting for the bus from the train station at Rome a pick pocket targeted my sister and got away with a fifty euro note but fortunately not with her phone and wallet.
I have lots of pictures from Ostia, and end this post as is usual for this series with a waterfall video from Tivoli.
aspiblog 