Mithras at Ostia

The top two photos are from Ostia's Mithras baths,
with a reconstruction of the original statue.
The bottom two show the statue in the Ostia museum,
along with a detail of the inscription on the bull.
This dates from the first century A.D.
I am very pleased to have these pictures in my collection,
as I find Mithraea very interesting.
(Mithras was a Persian solar god who slew a mythic bull
and thus brought life to the world.)
I love this Mithraeum, too.
It's extremely atmospheric,
and visiting it was definitely my favorite part of Ostia.

High Tea at Babington's

There is a famous 'British' style tea room in Rome,
next to the Spanish steps,
opposite the Keats-Shelley house.
It was founded in the late 1800s by two English ladies
who wished to make a living providing proper tea
to their compatriots on the Grand Tour.
I went and had High Tea there one afternoon,
with a lemon verbena tisane substituted for actual tea.
I got little teeny sandwiches with the crusts off--
the fillings were great, but the bread was a bit dry.
The tea was also not made with boiling water
(which for a British tea room I found inexcusable!!)
but the cakes were absolutely top notch.
All in all, it was fun to do once,
but it was very expensive,
and I'm not going to make a habit out of it!