Along the Appian Way

Ciao!
First off with insincere apologies to 42nd Street.
Come and meet those sandaled feet-beat beat beat
On the avenue I'm taking you to, Via Appia!
Come and meet those marching feet beat beat beat
'Cause the legions love the melody of Via Appia!

Go on Sunday, they said.  It's the best day, they said.  The park is closed to traffic. The latter statement is true.
Although I enjoyed the lovely archeological park, getting there and back--and this involved busses--was a nerve wracking adventure.  I did my due diligence.  I used the Roman transport route planner.  I wrote down the bus number and stops.  There were even suggested times.  No where did it say (and I did look) that said bus does not run on Sundays.
I took the metro out and found the suggested bus stop right away. I should have known it was too good to be true.  Also there was a largish group of young people awaiting the same bus.  Ha ha.  What a bunch of saps we were.  At length the leader of the group consulted with the driver of a bus that actually ran.  She motioned the kids to get on board.  I followed.
When they got off I got off.  The leader had directions on her phone, so I followed along wondering how I was ever going to find my way back.  I chatted with the leader along the walk.  She told me Roman buses have no time table, so . . . We walked quite a while, then lucked into a bus that was going where they wanted to go, and I didn't mind going.
Success!  We were at the Catacomb of Callistus.  I bought a ticket and joined a tour.
It was fascinating.  Our guide was lively and witty.  She put her jacket on before going downstairs, so the rest of us who had sweaters, etc. followed suit.  It was cool in the catacombs, but not really chilly.  The tour was very informative.  Of course, I already knew some of the terms and information from Art History, but I loved seeing the admittedly crude Early Christian Frescos and actually being there.
After the tour I took along walk in the archeological park.  It was a beautiful day and a bit cooler than yesterday.  Everything was green and fresh looking.
The park is a a huge sprawling site, and I did not see everything before I began to feel tired and footsore, but then the question became--how do I get the bus back?  I could not find a stop going in my direction.  I had to ask twice, but I finally found a stop, and I knew it was the correct one because the bus I wanted was pulling away from it once I'd spotted it.  I had no idea how long I'd have to wait--no timetables, remember?  I think it was about fifteen to twenty minutes so not bad. The bus deposited us near the Circo Massimo Metro Station, so I tubed--with a change at Termini--home where I am now enjoying a refreshing and well earned aperitivo--Prosecco, olives, and nuts if you are interested.
But stick around for cena, amici, because we are having pasta all'amatriciana.  Traditionally it's made with buccatini, which is a long, thick pasta with a hole in it like stretched out macaroni, and then dressed with this tomato based sauce.
Did you make the sauce, Pil?
Nope, but it's easy to make nonetheless, so I could have if I'd bought the ingredients.  There's an another traditional Roman style spaghetti called Gricia made with guanciale (pork cheeks--the kind from the face, silly but substitute pancetta if you can't find it), some oil, garlic, and pepper.  Amatriciana is that deglazed with white wine plus gooshed up canned tomatoes.  Some people add onion.  Amatriciana refers to Amatrice, which used to be in Lazio and had the reputation of creating good cooks.
Let's begin by having a sip of a Lazio red wine.  Most wines produced around Rome are white, but I found some Gran Picco Castelli Romani DOC at the hypermercato.  Nice.  Not my favorite.  I'll have to see how it goes with food.
Italians claim Americans over sauce the pasta, so I added the pasta to what I considered a meager amount of sauce, but it does look like it does in the photos.  Add a sprinkle of parmesan or pecorino Romano. AND it tastes good!  Very savory.  The wine--still nothing special--goes well enough with it.