Ostia Antica!

Ciao tutti!

I hope you are enjoying a buon weekend!  I have had an eventful week in Roma.  My Xray equipment at work got all set up & on Thursday I took films of my first new patients!!  Yay!  This was a huge step forward in progress here in Italy.  The country where nothing is as it seems, the country of the "baroque mentality" (fooling the eye of the viewer with elaborate flourishes).  I am learning a lot about Italy!  Learning that I love the cultural richness & beauty and also learning some personal lessons.  Like how to go with the flow, relax about trying to control a situation & trust in the process.  These lessons don't come easy & it makes me really appreciate the ability I had in the USA to get things done quickly, efficiently & the way I wanted them.  Apparently I am a control freak!  Being demanding or pushy here gets you nowhere; a more successful tactic is to use the conditional verb tense.  This one is used to express a desire or an uncertainty.  Like, I would like to be able to....  if it's ok with you!

My new Xray system is digital & it is awesome!!  All I have used in the past for taking NUCCA films is a plain film system, in which you have to develop the films yourself.  With digital it is super fast & the image transfers to a computer.  It turns out extremely clear & sharp, then you are able to mess around with the contrast & magnification through a computer program to see all the structures perfectly!  It is really amazing compared to what I have used in the past, much easier.  Also, when you are developing films using chemicals there is always some troubleshooting & margin for error to be had with the processing.  With a digital system the film is generally always good unless the positioning is off.  Also, I can do my film analysis with the computer rather than having to hand draw lines on the films.  I did like drawing on the films but, seems like this will be way more precise.  In all ways it is awesome!

So, things are happening here, slowly but surely.  I'm not sure when, if ever, I'll get settled into a normal work schedule.

It was nice to have visitors from the states to hang out with, I went to the Vatican Museums for the 2nd time last week.  There were about 80% fewer people there this time & it wasn't roasting hot so, it was a great time!  Also, several exhibit wings were open that weren't the first time I went.  And then I got a sore neck from staring up at the sistene chapel.  My favorite Irish friend left Rome on Friday, I will miss  her & now need to make at least one new friend.  I won't be going regularly to any language classes so I will have to keep trying to be social to meet new people.

Yesterday I ventured to the ancient port city of Ostia Antica.  It was a busy port at the mouth of the Tiber back in the time of ancient Roma.  I believe the main export was, salt!  Important mostly for... preserving meat I guess?  Shortly after the fall of Roma, the Tiber changed it's course, Ostia was stricken with malaria & pretty much abandoned.

It is just a 30 min train ride from town & is generally overlooked by most tourists.  Yesterday being early December (off season) and rainy, the place was fairly empty.  It is a huge place & relatively well preserved.  I think it was nearly as interesting as Pompei & it was pleasant to wander around without being surrounded by loads of tourists.  I like drawing parallels between ancient methods Vs. what we use today, many things are surprisingly similar.

Here we go!

Il terme di Nettuno!  Look at this fantastic mosaic depicting Neptune riding in a sea chariot drawn by sea horses!

the detail is really amazing!

storage vessels

sycamore tree changing colors

an old mulino (mill).  here they would grind grain & bake bread to send to rome.   quite the operation!

checking out the mill (rick steve's guidebook in hand)

the theater.  look at all those nice umbrella pines!

an altar used for animal sacrifice.  they would spill out the entrails on it & use some divination to get assistance from the gods in decision making.  this altar is a replica, the original is housed in a museum in roma.  apparently in italy there is a whole division of the carabinieri (police) to protect historical artifacts!

there was a nice little museum with some excellent marbles.

here was a good looking guy. even sans nose :) 

here's the ancient tavern.  belly up to the bar!

surprisingly modern seeming considering this was like, 4th century B.C.  

a close up of the menu.  you can get a carrot, a drink of some sort & a...  turnip!

Capitolum temple in the forum, dedicated to Jupiter, Juno & Minerva (equivalent to Zeus, Hera & Athena),
the Capitoline triad.  

getting arty

here is the old timey "latrine".  can you believe this?  water was running through underneath as a "flush".  

the remains of a super large bath complex.  no one had a private bath so everyone would bathe together .  there were also steam rooms & massage rooms.  just like the olympus spa in seattle area!  apparently people used olive oil (???) rather than soap so someone would be roving around skimming oil off the water.  olive oil?

hollow bricks lining the bath house for insulation.  the roman's use of radiant heat in their building was novel & advanced.  

ciao for now, Ostia!