Ostia Antica

So, after our trip to Rome, my teacher basically drops our entire class off at same camping ground on the coast of Italy in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain for the weekend, tells us to meet him in the morning and leaves us all alone ... okay, not exactly, but almost.

Our next group project involves investigating possible solutions to renovating a wetland preservation on the outskirts of Rome near the area Ostia. So, we needed to go to the place in order to investigate. Hence the dropping us off. He paid for our lodging, so obviously we had to camp in cabins for the weekend... of course, he didn't stay with us, but went back to Rome. ...lovely. ... and it did rain all weekend. -_-

Aside from less than great lodgings and being stranded by our teacher with little idea where we were, the weekend wasn't so bad. When we finally met back up with our teacher the next morning, he took us to tour Ostia Antica, a place that holds ruins of an ancient Roman coastal city, which borders our project site. The background of the ruins is actually quite interesting. It used to be a port city, but it'd be hard to believe it now, since it's a good 30 minute drive from the actual coast. The city was built on the mouth of the Tiber River. Several centuries ago, the rulers of the area actually changed the route of the river in order to make it more direct and faster flowing, in order to fight malaria that had been coming from mosquitos in the stagnant river waters. As the river changed course, the silt built up the coast land, and after some time, completed buried the once thriving city. In more recent times, the city was discovered and dug up to reveal many ruins still intact under the soil.

... there were many intricate mosaics all throughout the town that survived. They used long skinny pieces of rock hammered into the ground to create them so that the flat part that was showing was still small enough to make detailed mosaics but they were more structurally sound to be floors.

... the original bricks from the outside wall of the ampitheater.

... the class dutifully taking notes as we get a chance to sit.

... just a few of the dozens of different tile patterns in the many rooms.

... Patrick doesn't look like he knows what to write in his notes... ... looking down from some of the two-story apartment buildings.
After touring Ostia Antica, we went on a boat ride on the Tiber River to see the perimeter boundaries of our site.

... the town where we stayed... in the pouring rain. (and the McDonald's, can't miss that)
... but the sunset was really beautiful across the Mediterranean Sea. I bet this little beach front town we stayed in would have been gorgeous had the weather been nice.