When I am traveling like this, I find that I usually write more than normal because there is lots of down-time in getting from here to there. I’ve also become more comfortable using my iPhone to compose stories. That and waiting around while Kim shops all give me rime for reflection and composition. Yesterday was such a day. We had very little to do other than cover the distance from Orvieto to the Hilton Fiumicino and the Europcar Rental return. So we went about a leisurely start from our hotel Pietra Campana and worked their way through to Viterbo to the coast at Chivittavechia. This portion of the Italian coastline suffers from a history of being a working coast with ports for Rome. In fact, in Chivittavechia we saw perhaps 10 cruise ships queued up for whatever stage of their Mediterranean tours they were in. We thought we would stop in Santa Marinella for a quiet moment at a coffee bar overlooking the ocean, but between the beach clubs and the condos there wasn’t such an obvious pleasant spot to be found. So, we headed to the hotel a bit earlier than expected and found that we were able to check in early and drop our bags off. That was convenient for us for any reasons, but it also freed us up to take one last joint in the rental car to the nearby Ostia Antica, the mouth of the Tiber river as it finds its way into the Mediterranean Sea.
I’m reasonably familiar with Ostia Antica because my high school friend Bob Asselbergs lived in a village called Casal Paloco, which is adjacent to the old ruins of the Port city of Rome. Nevertheless, Kim had never been there and we had time to kill so we found a local Trattoria, had a modest lunch and went into the ruins for a tour. The ruins at Ostia Antica I like so many others in Rome. There is a map of the city with its main streets and buildings, which are usually focused around some combination of a forum or amphitheater. In this case, Ostia Antica has both. There are also the ruins of lots of buildings specific to the towns function as a port city, like warehouses and docks. But still the look of the Roman Plains border by lofty Roman Pines and define by dusty dirt paths certainly hasn’t changed in the 55 years since I was last year and probably is no different than it was 2000 years ago. That historical perspective and reality is always top of mind as one wanders through these sorts of antiquities.
I always feel compelled to write about all aspects of my travels even though I understand, the travel logs are somewhat less interesting to many readers. Actually, during this trip, I’ve already received two messages from readers, asking for more stories about my travels in Italy because they too seem to enjoy this part of the world, and I guess like the opportunity to vicariously relive their own travels here. In any case, today was a bit of a filler day that represented the end of phase 2 of our travels (Tuscany and then Umbria) in preparation for our starting phase 3 in Malta today.
Neither Kim or I have a particular need for another fancy dinner, so we just ordered room service, stayed in the room, and watch the movie to settle ourselves before our morning flight. We only have a 90 minute flight to get to Malta and then we will have the afternoon to explore the part of Valetta where we will be spending the next week as our base of operation. We we will meet up with Teri and Paula and Bruce and Sandy for dinner at 7:30 in hopes that they all have smooth enough travel arrangements to get them there by that time. We will use the evening to both catch up with one another (we are already reasonably caught up with Terry and Paula by virtue of their meeting us in Orvieto yesterday) had to plan out our week of touring and dining. The one thing we know for sure based on yesterday‘s text from Bruce is that he has a very important soccer game that he must watch on Saturday evening so I’m sure that will guide the selection of our dining venue (can you say sports bar?).
Fiumicino airport has gone through plenty of changes in the 57 years since I first landed here in 1968. Actually, I arrived in Rome via car service from Naples since we had come across (as one did most often in those days) by ocean liner (the Italian Line Michelangelo). But the airport was always an important stop for us since my mother was always flying here and there and it became my job to ferry her whenever possible. One of the first conveniences I discovered on arrival in Rome was that my mother, by virtue of her position as a Director of FAO, had diplomatic status. Besides giving her a Laissez Passé, it gave all of us CD (Cotpo Diplomatico) cards. These were particularly useful at Fiumicino since you could park wherever you wanted. I can still see the spots where I flagrantly abused my mother’s diplomatic status, much to her displeasure (whenever she caught me).
I now feel like I have caught up on our travels in my writing, so I will sign off in difference to the airport gods so as to get my luggage checked in and my body through the multilayered security system here at Leonardo da Vinci airport. As we take off, I’m sure we will get one last look (and perhaps for me, indeed, a very last look) at Ostia Antica and all the memories that surround me whenever I come to Rome..