Looking back, I didn't put (m)any pictures of Ephesus up on my blog when we visited Turkey in 2004 on a "Geek Cruise". But that was a very timing week, with places to see, lectures to attend on Perl, PHP and MySQL, notes to write up, and a business to run from the Wifi connection in the ship's bar. I was reminded on the Turkey trip yesterday when I saw the "Costa Medditeranea" again - this time in Civitavecchia, the port of Rome.
And I was reminded of Ephesus when we visited Ostia Antica - a side trip from the normal fayre that's on offer, arranged by Lisa's brother Phil who has seen Rome on more occasions than we have, and like us didn't fancy the long drive to avoid (or in his case last time,
not avoid) the pickpockets. A mosaic ... and another echo of "The Horse's mouth" theme. Horse were an important animal in Italy 2000 years ago!
Ephesus, and the sites in Rome itself, are all busy and overrun with tourists, but our boat didn't even offer a side trip to Ostia - we had to arrange in for ourselves. In Ephesus, I would have been lucky to get this picture with less than 200 people but here in Ostia, I could have chosen a completely geometric canvas without a single person - I chose to wait and take a picture with a pretty young lady to give you an idea of scale (well - that's my excuse, anyway!).
Ostia is et over a huge, huge site. The road from Rome leads though a gate into the ancient port, now sadly well away from the coast and the Tiber, which has changed its course over the last two millenia. There are homes and shop, streets and temples, columns aand graveyards, trees and evena laundry as far as the eyes can see. A guide was arrange for us, and we were enthralled ... and once again we took only pictures and memories away with us, and I'm left wondering what to do with the pictures.
The Necropolis of the Banditaccia at Cerveteri has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. Tombs date from the 9th century BC (Villanovan culture) to the late Etruscan age (3rd century BC). Yet we had that site even more to ourselves - a guide in the form of a sheet of paper in a protective plastic shade, and a cafe at which we were the only customers, with the owners / operators playing cards and reading the paper to pass the time.
I'm reminded of the great potential we have in Wiltshire too for making the very most of some interesting tourist spots which are not quite the main ones. Much smaller that the magnificent ruins at Ostia and Cervertini, but never the less worth encouraging people to see. There are times that I feel that Wiltshire could do with a bit more marketing; theses places are great, but I admit that I'll be glad to be back on home soil soon.
(written 2011-07-10)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
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[70] Red Luas - early life and times - (2004-10-02)
[92] Hard work, Hard sell - (2004-10-18)
[186] Lull - (2005-01-22)
[218] Golden Nugget - (2005-02-17)
[403] Full circle - made it back to an old haunt - (2005-08-05)
[670] Architectural Heritage - Devizes - (2006-04-04)
[685] A couple of days away - (2006-04-15)
[713] Pictures from my travels - (2006-05-07)
[727] A journey, an arrival, a people - (2006-05-21)
[730] Reading the newspaper and working with other restrictions - (2006-05-23)
[740] Finishing up in Dhahran - (2006-06-01)
[778] Weekend in Ireland - (2006-06-26)
[886] Signs of Leek - (2006-10-04)
[1147] A picture (mostly in words) of Helsinki - (2007-04-14)
[1204] Spot the difference - (2007-05-25)
[1229] Where am I? - (2007-06-11)
[1244] FolksFest Bristol - German beer, Bratwurst and music - (2007-06-24)
[1298] From Leeds - (2007-08-10)
[1307] Troy, up state New York - (2007-08-17)
[1425] Melksham v Ely - (2007-11-09)
[1456] Right up to the top of the City - (2007-12-03)
[1457] A day in Ljubljana - (2007-12-04)
[1460] Christmas fare in Ljubljana - (2007-12-05)
[1524] Nottingham - just text! - (2008-01-30)
[1536] A Weekend in Liverpool - (2008-02-10)
[1537] To Wales - where theres still a toll on the bridge - (2008-02-11)
[1590] All Change, Portsmouth Harbour - (2008-03-23)
[1617] Steam Engines at Bressingham - (2008-04-20)
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[1652] Old Sarum airfield brings back fond memories - (2008-05-24)
[1714] Hillier Gardens, Hampshire - (2008-07-20)
[1715] Pictures from South Hampshire - (2008-07-21)
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[1755] Istanbul - (2008-08-15)
[1804] Colvin and Carlisle - (2008-09-20)
[1807] A sad town in the sunlight - (2008-09-22)
[1837] Alfred the Great - (2008-10-13)
[2205] An evening walk in Carrickfergus - (2009-05-29)
[2207] North Antrim Coast - a jewel thats well worth a visit - (2009-05-29)
[2316] Guadalajara - a special tour of a lovely city - (2009-08-01)
[2387] to Clifton Down and Avonmouth - (2009-08-30)
[2392] Lymington, New Forest - some pictures - (2009-09-03)
[2411] Further North - long summer days and lovely countryside - (2009-09-19)
[2624] Skyline and looking up in London - (2010-02-04)
[2733] Travel Troubles and Jesus again - (2010-04-21)
[2754] At Arlington and the Pentagon - (2010-05-07)
[2799] Nuremberg - some pictures - (2010-06-08)
[2802] After the Perl course in Nurnberg - (2010-06-11)
[2808] From home to Nurnberg - journey pictures - (2010-06-13)
[2809] Frankfurt in 90 minutes - (2010-06-13)
[2897] The Land of the Black Labrador - (2010-08-01)
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[2985] Right place, right season - (2010-10-04)
[3064] On the way to the course this week - (2010-11-22)
[3070] Belfast, on a cold November evening - (2010-11-25)
[3175] The Rhine in winter - (2011-02-19)
[3185] Day Trip to Hereford, in pictures - (2011-02-26)
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[3393] Rodwell Trail, Weymouth - (2011-08-15)
[3529] Sharpness, Gloucestershire - a place in transport history - (2011-11-25)
[3595] Looking up - (2012-01-27)
[3603] Another cold night - (2012-02-03)
[3631] Getting around Dublin by public transport - some observations - (2012-03-01)
[3654] On a sunny afternoon in London - (2012-03-15)
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[4182] Welcome to Salford and Oldham - (2013-09-30)
[4184] A fond memory - (2013-10-02)
[4203] A weekend away - Four in a Bed returns to Happy Donkey Hill - (2013-11-09)
[4214] A busy week, and a long flight - (2013-11-24)
[4220] Thun, Switzerland - (2013-12-14)
[4331] Musings on a Welsh town - (2014-11-28)
[4348] Taking my life in my hands in Swansea - (2014-12-11)
[4411] Location, location location. And a chance of a giggle! - (2015-02-01)
[4477] Yesterday - off on leg one of our holiday - (2015-04-29)
[4479] Pictures from around Rekjavik - (2015-04-29)
[4480] Crossing between continents - (2015-04-30)
[4486] Newark to New York - the PATH suburban railway - (2015-05-05)
[4488] Election day, 2015 - (2015-05-07)
[4490] What and where are the Azores? - (2015-05-09)
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[4643] From last July (2015) - (2016-02-08)
[4671] Ruby training, half a world away - (2016-05-14)
[4683] Saudi Arabia or Weymouth? - (2016-05-22)
[4729] The oldest part of Los Angeles - (2016-11-23)
[4730] San Juan Capistrano - (2016-11-23)
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