June 10, 2011 - my birthday in Rome

We head to Ostia Antica for a day trip today.  It is a simple and cheap metro ride for about 30 minutes.  We get there and while I was waiting to pay the 6.5 euros per person, I noticed that elderly, children, disabled and birthday people get in free!  Thanks for the birthday present!  We walked around listening to a Rick Steves audio guide on the iPad, and saw this amazing city in remarkable condition still.  There was a bar, with shelving behind it and a wash basin below for washing dishes.  You could see the grooves in the floor for the sliding wooden door.  The amphitheater was also neat to see and they still use it today!  After that, we head home to the hotel.  We rest up a little and check Facebook and email, before heading to an 'early' dinner at 7:00.  We head to a cafe in the travestere neighborhood.  We get seated outside at a cramped 4 top.  After we get our pitcher of wine and appetizer, they seat a woman from Canada next to us.  She was a professor on a trip to a conference.  It was fun talking with her and suggesting what she should see.  Our food was great and so was the wine.  We then walked around the area near the cafe.  There were some outdoor performers about to start.  Laura told them it was my birthday and they told me happy birthday.  They proceeded to juggle and say some Italian jokes we didn't get.  Then they called me in to the middle to hold fire lit juggling sticks.  The one guy climbed on the the other guys shoulders, standing on them.  Then had me toss them one by one to him - fortunately, no one got burnt!  After that we head home to the hotel.