Traveling Man (and Woman)

And children. Our next day included leaving our hotel Tuscany Inn and going back on the road. This time, our last stop would be Rome, the Eternal City.

On our way, we stopped in a couple of different places.

First was the town of Siena. I think even Hubs likes this place. He's not a fan of touristy places, but Siena is so beautiful it's hard to resist.

We walked a lot (more steps!!!) to the Duomo there. Most Italian towns have a Duomo. They are all of varying size, depending on how large the town is. Since it was Sunday, we couldn't get into that one. Imagine, they were having Mass. Actually using the church! So we ended up with a little more free time to walk around and shop. Even the teenage boys found stuff they wanted. And there's a big square in Siena, where they have horse races every year. It's really cool. (I know the grammar there was bad, sorry)

Nice, yes? Our next stop was Ostia Antica.

Little history lesson. Ostia was built at the mouth of the Tiber River by the emperor Nero. Why? Rome was having trouble getting trade, because some of the larger boats could not navigate up the river. So Nero filled in some marshland, and voila! Port city to the capitol of the world!

There are so, so many ruins there. Our guide was very knowledgeable, but he talked really quickly. The kids could not keep up. So, after about 2 minutes, they just tuned out. They did sort of pretend to pay attention, but mostly they just talked amongst themselves. Elena (our travel guru) gave them a stern talking to on the bus. In their defense, they had been on a bus all afternoon. And been to many other places. I guess they were just on overload that day. Teenagers!

We did get to see some baths, complete with mosaics of Neptune on the floors. We also go to go to the theater and the Forum. I wish we could have spent more time there, but I know the children were eager to get going. Sometimes, riding in a bus can really tire you out. Bye Ostia!

In the here and now, I am finally finished with my presentation. Now all I have to do is copy a handout and map, and do the thing! Yay! I have a nifty little powerpoint that I will use for my official project. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint, I will not really have access to a computer/projector for my actual presentation. I will be on-site at the House of Menander in Pompeii. That's the day before my birthday!

Anyway, I'm having fun here in Baltimore. It seems to be a nice place. Warm, sunny. I'm about tired of dining hall food, though. Sheesh!

And I miss my boys something fierce! Wish I could get home to visit them tomorrow. Too far.