Catacombs

Trip Start Mar 27, 2008

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Italy Rome, Italy
Sunday, September 28, 2008

So today was fabulous!!! My friend and I decided to go to the catacombs at Via Appia Antica for the afternoon. The Catacombs were very cool. We started out at 2:00 at Piazza san Giovanni, in front of Coin department store. Then we took the regular city bus 218 to Appia Antica. It seems like you are far out in the countryside but in reality you are well within the city limits. The catacombs are something I have always wanted to see, and I have been intrigued about for some time. Burrowed beneath the ground are 5 miles of tunnels filled with the remains of thousands of Romans from centuries past. Actually the bodies have been moved. Anyway, in addition to the fascinating tunnels are the myriad relics found throughout. The first tourguide was Australian and I could understand about 50% but the second guide had such a thick accent of a nature unkown, I couldn't understand anything. It was interesting though.

All I can say is...WOW!

Appia antica

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Today happened to be a free day for all cultural areas so admission was gratis making the day even more fabulous. In addition to enjoying the guided tour through the underground caverns that have served as graves, hiding places from invading armies and also places of worship and celebration, we decided to stroll along the appian way and take in the fresh air and sunshine.

Also Nearby is a site where nazis killed hundereds of people for a punishment. Apparantly some nazi soldiers were killed in an ambush and were taking revenge on this site. They lined people up and shot them with machine guns. We didn't stop to visit this site although I find it oddly intriguing. I am somewhat amazed at the amount of remnants there are from the various horrors commited by humans against humans and yet we learn nothing.

So, we spent so much time taking everything in that we lost track and got locked on the grounds. I started to get a little worried but we were rescued by 2 workers who were leaving for the day and happened by that same gate. Indeed we were lucky.

In this case, i will let the pictures do the talking.

Next weekend I will be heading off to Bologna for a Sunday afternoon to visit another friend. My housemate, Linda came with me to get my train ticket as it was my first time. For helping me out, she got a free ticket to Milan. (someone had left it in the machine)

DF