When in Rome

We've had quite the November with visitors coming through. Adrian and the Savage three just parted ways in Istanbul on Sunday. The city was unbelievable! We all ended up being great travel partners as well. There's too much to show and tell for one blog post so I'll tell our travel tale in two parts: the western and eastern empires respectively.

First, a photo tour of the western capital...


We started touring immediately upon Adrian's arrival. She was a trooper having arrived after a red eye flight. Ostia Antica, an ancient Rome city comparable to Pompeii, is just minutes from the airport so we stopped there for a morning stroll. The site is less traveled than Pompeii so they let you climb all over the ruins and do as you will. This first pic is taken from the top of an ancient staircase that's still intact.


Those of you that know Eli know that he's quite the orator. He had a bit of stage fright on this occasion however. Here he is trying to escape center stage at the ancient theater.
Chillin' out in the Roman baths...
Saturday night we ended the day by eating some huge and glorious pizzas at a"pizza farm" or agritourismo in Viterbo.

The next day we drove into Rome to tour the Roman Forum and the Collosseum. Sam gave us a great tour and filled us in on the history of the Roman Republic and Empire - all in one afternoon.

We lunched in the Jewish Quarter at a restaurant that was touted as having the "most authentic" Roman-Jewish food in the city. Perhaps, but both pork and shellfish were spotted on the menu. The food was great though and we decided to sample a bit of the pork "when in Rome..." since Romans seem to have discovered a loophole to the rule. This was taken after lunch at a nearby temple... it's no longer in use.


The next day, Monday, Adrian ventured into Rome on her own since I had class. On Tuesday we went to Baniaia and the Villa Lante for the morning. Here are a few shots from our impromptu jaunt through the gardens.


Wednesday we set off for Istanbul...