Pompei, Naples, Amalfi Coast and Ostia
Trip Start
Nov 28, 2010
1
95
121
Trip End
Sep 29, 2011
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Ostia Antica, Latium, Italy
Thursday, May 26, 2011
From Pompei we drove down to Sorrento which was our base for the next two days. The first day we saw Sorrento itself and the next we took a boat to the isle of Capri. Sorrento was nice enough, but it was the drive along the Amalfi Coast that was the real star. A beautiful, occasionally precarious coastal road with fantastic views to seaside towns and cliffs below. Our day in Capri was nice too, though already in May it was overrun with tourists which spoiled it a little. A taxi driver informed us that between three and five thousand tourists were arriving each day, but in summer that number would get up to fifteen thousand a day. I can’t picture where they would put them all.
The next day we drove back towards Rome, to the town of Ostia, which was the port of Ancient Rome. We stayed at a nearby campsite and the following morning we visited the ruins of Ostia Antica, and like Pompei we loved it. And despite our guess that we would be there only a couple of hours, once again we managed to stay a little over four hours. The boys loved Ostia as well and want to talk about it when they write about Pompei below.
After Ostia we will head up to Tuscany, stopping first in Siena before moving on to Florence. Now a little from Leonardo and Stefano.
L – Pompei was pretty cool because I saw my first volcano there. I liked it because you could go inside all the houses which were all still mostly in tact because the ash from the volcano had dried around it and preserved it. There were even some old fast food places that people who came out of the baths went to if they were hungry. There were also these stepping stones in the middle of the roads for people to walk across, because they would put water on the streets and people needed to cross without getting their shoes or sandals wet. And also there were marks in the cobblestone streets that were from chariot wheels. Pompei was amazing and I really liked it.
A few days later we went to Ostia. I liked Ostia because you didn’t just have to go on the path that they made for you, you could go through narrow alleyways and see all the things that you wouldn’t get to see if you just went on the road. There were a few little markets on the side of the road and outside them were mosaics showing the kind of things that they sold. Later Fo and I went exploring and we found a little hole. We went into it and we were underground! So we decided to go further into it and see what we could find. When we got to the end of it there was a staircase leading up and we went to get our dad to come down and see it too. At first he didn’t want to because he didn’t think he would fit but then we persuaded him to come. After that we headed back to the van. I liked Ostia a lot.
S – I really liked Pompei. They are ruins of a city from Roman times that got covered in ash when a volcano called Vesuvius erupted. We spent four hours wandering around. My favourite thing was the amphitheatre and there are two, and I like the big one. They are some of my favourite ruins that we’ve seen on this trip. There were lots of stepping stones all over the streets because sometimes they flooded the streets to clean them. But the chariots could still go by through the stepping stones.
Ostia Antica was once the port of Rome though it is not connected to Rome. It had lots of mosaics and cool Roman houses and there was a very, very big amphitheatre. Next to the amphitheatre there was a pathway lined with ruins of shops and in front of each shop there was a mosaic of what they sold there, like a mosaic of an animal to show that they sold pets. A couple of hours later Leo and I found a hole which led into a long passageway which was very interesting and we kept looking for new side passages. I enjoyed Ostia Antica a lot.
Comments
Was very nice family.The boys are having a very educational trip.And I enjoyed reading their postings also.They are sure entertaining.Tell them I think they did a wonderful job.And thank you Heather and the family for the card.Was so happy to hear grom ya'll.Again thank you for your sweet thoughts. love you