In 2002 our son Sam went to Italy and came home with a picture of him in a 3000 year old toilet facility. Barb’s dad Bob saw it one day and got a funny look on his face. A couple days later he showed up with a picture of Barb’s mom Marge sitting in the same facility…from about 1980! When Sam went back to Italy in 2011 he took a picture of girlfriend Ruby in the same toilet.
Fast forward to the present, Barb’s one and only goal for this trip to Italy has been to have her picture taken on the family 3000 year old crapper. So today, off to Ostia Antica it was for our merry little group, to find the family crapper. We’d been warned Ostia is a huge site, as it was the original port for Rome, predating Rome itself by hundreds of years. No worries, find it we did after several hours of hunting, only to find…
They fenced the darn thing off! After taking a few photos of our disappointed heroine, we were met by another group, who listened with growing sympathy to Barb’s tale of woe as they perused the family photo album of all the relatives sitting on “their” throne over the years. Finally one of our new friends couldn’t take it anymore. “Jump the fence! It won’t hurt anything! I’ll cover for you!” she said. Before cooler heads could prevail, little Barbarina was over the offending fence in a flash! Hence,
Our picture of the day, Barbarina fulfilling the family tradition of having their picture taken on a 3000 year old Italian crapper. The exact same one her mother used 33 years ago. Thank you fellow Camanoescapers for helping to make this happen. Special thanks to the kind lady who gave Barbarina the courage to scoff at the law in the finest Camanoescape tradition!
camanoescape - The Wagnerson's Travel Adventures 
Who knew the criminal side of Barb? Good thing she had a lawyer with her. And good for you, Barb, going for it! I don’t think the sign was meant for anyone with family traditions that needed to be completed. Although you might have waited until you left Italy before posting the evidence.
From the time we began planning this trip, we all agreed on one thing. We weren’t going to be tied to a list of “have to’s”. We just wanted to come experience Italy. That being said, I really, really, REALLY wanted to have this picture. We, arrived at the site sometime mid-afternoon and just began exploring. The ruins are soooo amazing and sooo big, Probably covers a couple square miles After a while of just wandering we began to search in earnest but to no avail. I began to worry. But my team didn’t let me down. We started showing everyone we met the pictures of Mom, Sam and Ruby, asking if they had see that site. Some said no and others sent us in various directions. The team fanned out in all directions,. at one point we had to call Lynda on her cell phone to find her. We literally searched high and low. Finally there was Dale waving his arms and I wound my way over to where he had found it. After experiencing the size of the place and our long search, I kept thinking , what were the odds that 30 years apart, Mom and Sam would have the same picture. Can’t wait to frame them all together. Thanks to the team for all their efforts on my behalf. Sorry to the gentleman who had issues with my family tradition.
So glad Barb was able to get the picture.
So proud of you Barbarina!! So glad your moral compass wasn’t working…
Bonnie
Been working overtime the whole trip Bonnie. Getting exhausted here. Work, work work!
Today was like a pilgrimage. Seeing Barb there like her mom so many years ago brought tears to my eyes. Oh and she did a fine job getting over the fence. Good climbing Barb.