Ciao,
Auntie Leslie's stay continues and the daily "adventures" (as we are still trying to call them) continue. On Sunday I got to go to a soccer game with my son...after some coaxing (promised him a plastic centurion costume upon return - ugh). It was Roma vs. Palermo at 15:00. We got our Roma gear on and headed out just fine. Security is weird at Stadio Olimpico. They didn't check my bag at all for the derby match (Roma vs. Lazio) but did so twice here. They also are supposed to check you ID (since in Rome they print your name on your ticket). They only checked Hadden's ID (his passport - he's 14 months old in the photo) and then waived us through. So, if you want to bring in a flare or other illegal device, ask your 4-year old son to carry it. Hey, if you're caught, you can say "I've never met this guy before in my life."
Game ended 1-0 and Hadden was a trooper. Only played with his batman/spiderman/star wars toys for about 20 minutes. I think he could identify the keeper by the end of the game and that those two guys could use their hands. Also was interested in whistling being the international form of booing.
 |
| The astute blog reader will note that Hadden is not, in fact, watching the game. |
 |
| Not here either. |
 |
| How did he miss an open goal! |
 |
The time honored Serie A tradition of diving.
Oh! My leg fell off...
Well, it's severely broken in three places...
Perhaps only a bad sprain...
My knee's skinned...
I'm fine. |
On Monday we went back to Villa Borghese for the 4th time so we could show Auntie Leslie the 4-person bicycle we rented with Nona a couple of weeks ago (Pinci bici). First, of course, the mandatory Bar Giulia stop in the morning for macchiatto (mandatory for Yvonne) and pastry (mandatory for kids) - see map below. A person I met in who works near Campo dei Fiori says this is the best coffee in Rome. High praise. I wouldn't know; I don't like coffee. Got a hot chocolate there the other day and the barista thought it was for the bambinos.
View Larger Map
Anyway, got to the park and raced up to the bike rental stand. Rented a 4-person bike for 20 Euros/hr and we were off. There are a lot of hills in Villa Borghese (not huge hills but you'd notice them on a bike) so it's nice that the bici (pronounced "bee-chee") had an electric motor assist. As with all rental things, this too was built for a guy who's about 5' 8" tall. It was like pedaling a childrens' bici. I did not crash once and we saw most of the park. The brakes are extremely loud and squeeky so I'm sure we destroyed whatever tranquility there was in the park. Hey, we have 2 kids - the tranquility was gone already.
 |
| The gang on their "bici". What a contraption! |
 |
Steve sticking his head WAY out of the bici. Please, do not try this at home.
Done on a closed course with a professional driver. |
 |
| "I driving daddy!" (she drives like a two-year old - always turning) |
 |
| Went to Piazza Navona that night to run off some energy. It's pretty at night. |
Ostia Antica
On Tuesday, we planned to head out early to see Ostia Antica, a port town of about 75,000 (in it's heyday) about 18 km from Rome. At 6am we awoke to Hadden screaming downstairs. He fell out of bed and bumped his head and sprained his thumb. As he'd never had a sprain before, he was mortified. That, of course, woke up Clara and we only recovered by watching Toy Story 3 in the mom/dad bed all together. After all that, we had breakfast and were off to Ostia Antica by bus/train combo. Total one-way price: 1 Euro. Not bad.
Got there and had to stand in line to buy tickets behind about 50 people, which took forever since they only had one ticket seller and she wasn't lightening quick. You get a discount if you are and EU citizen. The guy in front of me was. I counted: it took her 9 stamps to properly stamp his ticket and whatever else she was stamping. We're not dealing with the Swiss here. Ostia Antica was wonderful. A full Roman town (actually taken over by the Romans around 400 BC) still there. Or mostly still there. The kids enjoyed climbing on and around the ruins and we enjoyed looking at them. Highlights were the mostly-there teatro (theater...if you couldn't guess), the 2-story apartment buildings (insulae), the tavern, the forum and the forum baths - including potties.
Spent most of the day there then slogged back via train/bus. Clara went to sleep within 1 minute of the train leaving and Hadden dozed off too for the 30 minute ride. Upon returning home Yvonne took a nap too. This was your standard "full day" for the Muench family. Steve took lots of pictures of the roads, masonry, concrete, arches and even tried to photograph the sewer. Leslie took pictures of mosaics, brick patterns, colors and other frilly artsy things. Everyone took pictures of the potties. I'm not sure why we tell kids "no potty talk" since it's clear we still enjoy the snickering silliness of potties later in life. Instead of "poop" or "pee" we now say "I have to take (or "go see") a Piazza del Poopalo (or Peealo)" after the very famous Piazza del Popolo. Before you groan at me, I think Yvonne came up with that one.
 |
| The slow line to get in. Most of the day there was no line. |
 |
| Entering the site with the necropolis on the left. |
 |
| More or less, a "welcome to Ostia" sign. Steve liked it as sort of a highway sign. |
 |
Auntie Leslie thought it was cool because of the font. "If you see a 'C' let me know I need a picture of one for Cole."
Karl, please, show that boy some more construction equipment, sports, dinosaurs, etc. |
 |
| Baths of Neptune. Floor mosaic is nearly in tact. That's 'Tune riding his chariot and 4 horses. |
 |
| The theater. Hadden ditched us outside, sneaked inside, climbed up to the very top and sat down to enjoy the view and his perch. We found him. |
 |
| Insulae in Ostia. Apartments were quite small back then. |
 |
| Something both I and Leslie can appreciate - arches (lined up artistically). |
 |
The kids and Yvonne play in a tavern. The bar is still there along with the menu on the wall.
The kids were serving all sorts of food. |
 |
| The town stretches out for quite a distance in all directions. We did not see the whole thing. After a while a busted building is a busted building (I must cite Mike McClurkan for the "busted building" reference). |
 |
| "Take a picture of ME daddy!" |
 |
| Still some marble left on these steps. If it's buried under a bunch of silt it's a little harder to plunder. |
 |
| Playing on the Roman potties. |
 |
| More potties. They didn't want to get off. Only later did I learn that there was a "keep out" sign outside the toilet area of the Forum Baths. Oh well, we're Americans. |
 |
| Steve takes a picture with...a road (groan). |
 |
| The train to Ostia Antica was brightly decorated with graffiti. |
San Clemente and Ristorante Ulpia
Today it rained quite hard in the early morning hours (got some of my laundry drying on the rack wet again - yes, there are no dryers here). We had a late breakfast and went to do a quick tour of San Clemente Basilica (near the Colosseum). It's a church built on top of a church on top of a Roman house. So you descend deeper and deeper into the church until you end up in a room with an underground spring flowing into a channel. Clara loved going down with me looking for the water. Hadden, on the other hand, wanted water and Yvonne had to take him outside to get some. They didn't allow pictures so you don't get any here.
After this we took the bus back to Trajan's market area, got lost for a bit, then found Ristorante Ulpia. It overlooks Trajan's market, so from that point it can't be beat. HOWEVER, being in that position allows it to serve sucky food for high prices. I asked not to be shown the final bill because it was insulting. The cheese plate (13 Euros) consisted of cheese you could find in your local Safeway - and not even smoked Gouda! That's bad anywhere for a cheese plate, but in Italy? There are literally thousands of fantastic cheese within four blocks of anywhere in Rome. In Rome you have to try harder to find shit cheese than good cheese (except cheddar, which nobody has). I imagine they scoured the city looking for the crappiest cheese possible. "Would you like dessert?" Nope. You took all our money and I'd rather each the diesel exhaust stuck to Trajan's column. I think Clara made out - she slept through lunch.
Related photos at:
Buenosera,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment