Anzio/Ponza
Revised June 19, 2004
Our First Weekend Trip - June 19
Hynda and I have decided that we will leave Rome for weekends just like the Romans do. There is a mass exodus from the city every Saturday, about mid day. Once the weather turns hot they run off to the mountains or the beaches. Both are very close. The people in Hynda's lab have recommended a number of places and the first one we selected was Ponza. This is a small (5 mile long) volcanic island off the coast (west) which we have been told has beautiful water and caves.
To get there you have to take a train to Anzio (1 hour) and then a hydrofoil ride (1 hour) or a ferry (2 hours). The hydrofoil/ferry part was not something that I was looking forward to. I do not have bonine or ginger here.
We started out this morning from Termini (the main train station in Rome). Public transit here is incredibly cheap. The one hour train ride was about 3E ($3.80). The equivalent ride on the Long Island Railroad would have been over $8 and a less than one hour ride on Amtrak from DC to Baltimore is $15.
When we arrived at Anzio the wind was blowing and we learned that the 11AM hydrofoil was full and in all likelihood they were canceling the 12 Noon trip because of high seas. We were welcome to take the ferry (2 hours) since that was a larger boat and it was going. We had planned to stay over on the island and the people in Hynda's office had also told us that this was pretty early in the season so we would not have to make reservations for a hotel room on Ponza even though there were limited rooms on the island. It turned out that this weekend is the festival of Saint Someone of Ponza and all rooms on the island are booked. That ended our weekend.
We spent the rest of the day walking around Anzio and these photos are from that walk.
Anzio Beaches/Port
For those of you too young to remember either from experience or your world history classes, Anzio was the first landing that we made in Italy in World War II. This was going to be the beachhead for the push to liberate Rome. It was particularly bloody and we bombed the hell out of Anzio before we landed troops. The town was pretty much leveled so almost everything was built up again after the war. It is a remarkably nice looking city considering the time period when a lot of it was built back up.
This is Hynda and I at the beach and dock area.
Angel of Anzio
This is a statue called the `Angel of Anzio'. Evidently some British troops found this little girl on the beach when they landed who somehow managed to survive the bombardment. They adopted her as a lucky mascot but she did not survive the war. This is a memorial to her.
Wedding in Anzio
We happened upon a wedding in the main square in Anzio. This is a photo of the bride and groom on the steps of the church. No comments required but how is that little guy going to survive??
Here is the whole family. Groom is standing one step up from her and on his toes for this photo. I assume that is the groom's father to his left.
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