Once a thriving Roman city covering many acres, it seems that an earthquake during those times changed the route of the Tiber River and the town was eventually abandoned for that and other reasons and left to be covered in silt. Many of the ruins are fairly intact and have been uncovered by hand over many years, often by volunteers from various universities, and according to satellite information, there's a lot left to go.
The city had several temples, several thermal baths, a fire department, a theater, big houses, little houses, condominiums, bakeries, and a cemetery. Alas, no acropolis, but then again, we're talking Rome, not Greece. Check out their website: http://www.ostia-antica.org/
At the amphitheater:
So many ruins!
An inlaid floor:
The shopping street:
Yup. It's the public toilets:
Next stop was Monaco. I think we've posted enough pictures of Monaco. We arrived close to noon and there was a front passing through, wind howling, so we had to wait for a while before we could get on to the dock (it's a narrow approach). Finally, the intrepid Captain called for a tugboat or two and we made it in. The wind let up, it warmed up, and we went to our usual shopping spots to stock up on toothpaste, duck pate, etc. No trip to Monaco is complete without surprising our friend Franco at his Caves & Gourmandises shop near the port.
There was an event that night for the world cruisers. It was listed as dinner at Cafe de Paris and a visit to the famous Monte-Carlo casino. That turned out not to be the case...they did have dinner at Cafe de, but the casino wasn't included in the deal, plus we were told at one time that we'd be at anchor! We decided not to board a tender wearing our best attire, so we backed out of the event. Good thing, because as we arrived back at the ship after wandering around, it threatened rain (no surprise in Monaco). Just as the event-goers walked off the ship, the skies opened up. Don't know what happened after that, but we heard about rubber chicken, only one-half hour for the casino and one had to pay to get in, more rain, and the cruise director fell flat on his duff on the slippery steps. We had a lovely dinner in Compass Rose.
OK, we were headed for Marseille.
