Holiday may get longer ….

Not only did our plans for today change but listening to the news, we may get a “bonus holiday” of three days in Calgary while we quarantine and wait to pass an Omicron/Covid test. And that test just two days after the other Covid test in Amsterdam required  before boarding the KLM plane for Canada. Think of it as a chance to adjust for jet lag or to catch up on the news we missed or books we still have time to read??

Our plan for today was to take the Metro and a suburban train just south of Rome to Ostia Antica. It is located at the mouth of the Tiber where you can see ruins of a town that served 60,000 people. It is like Pompeii but less busy or touristy. However the Metro line was “down”. There are only two lines in Rome. And one wasn’t working. 

So off to a different adventure. First stop a church.

Built in 1561 it was partially designed by Michelangelo. 

Norman lit a candle for all Catholics (Lucy take note).

An interesting feature in the church is a meridian line that when the sun shines on it from a tiny hole 65 feet away it tells you the date. 

We had hoped to see the Baths of Diocletian but they didn’t open till 2 pm so off we headed to the Museum of Rome for an exhibit. 
Near the Piazza Navona we took in the Gustav Klimt exhibit plus some other artists of that time. Included was the famous painting that had been missing for 23 years, Portrait of a Lady. 

Some other pieces by Klimt 

Many of his pieces included women usually naked. 

His sketches were simple but so realistic. 

Klimt and his cat! He was probably ahead of his time.

Time for a tea and dessert in the museum’s cafeteria. A little espresso for Norman, but a really delicious chocolate cake.

I loved this tea cozy. 

Off again to see the largest baths of Rome. They were built in 300AD by Emperor Diocletian and could accommodate 3,000 bathers. 

But first we found ourselves in rooms with historical artifacts from Rome’s past. We learned about the first alphabet.

This was a brooch with these “letters” inscribed on it.

There was even a bowl with graffiti! 

More history than we could take in. Outside we came across a group using a drone to photograph the hallway and columns. Look closely and you can see the drone as a black line against the columns. The past meets the future. 

We finally found a friendly Roman cat walking along the statues.

There were a lot of statues and sarcophagi.

“Would you like some grapes dear?”

Finally we got to the baths, and what remains today. 

Massive walls

And giant bathtubs.

Yellow Bunny up close with the lion on the tub.

Time to head home to relax before our evening dinner. 

I just have  to include this I discovered at the baths…..who knew the washrooms came with rectangular toilets. 

We headed off for pizza but instead had pasta at Pasta Urbana. First bruschetta with fresh ricotta 

Norm had spaghetti carbonara 

I had penne with calamari. Both delicious 

Well fed and glad to be back in our hotel out of the downpour. Ciao