Wandering, Flamingos, and Nora

Yesterday, Lindsey and I walked to Molentargius Regional Natural Park to see flamingos. On the way, we passed by a big Catholic Church (called the Shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria) so we decided to go in and take a look. There were two chapels, and both of them were absolutely beautiful. The bigger chapel was very grand because there were many huge Roman pillars holding up the ceiling. I loved that the whole building looked like it was made of stone, because I don't really see buildings that are made of that much stone anymore. I could also see some modern touches in the statues on the side, like electric candles or headpieces that lit up, and there were a couple pictures of Pope Francis! I think it's wonderful that these churches aren't just a museum, and that they are still being used by people. I am a Unitarian Universalist, and in religious education classes I learned about many other religions as well as my own growing up so I am always interested to see other places of worship. It was also nice that we arrived right as it opened because there weren't a lot of people there so it was quiet.
After leaving, we ended up getting lost and walking around for a couple hours until we saw some flamingos in the sky and followed them until we got to the park. The flamingos were pretty far away in the water, but when they were in the air some of them flew low to the ground so we still saw them close-up. I didn't realize how much flamingos flew until yesterday, because I always thought that they mainly stayed in the water, but there were a lot of them in the air. They would also fly in a pack in a v-formation which was fun to watch. Today Lindsey, Kestral, Emily, Matt, and I took a trip to Nora to see an archaeological site. We toured the remains of an old town that was settled first by the Phoenicians, then the Punics, and then it was conquered by the Romans. Our tour guide told us that 8,000 people lived there. She also showed us and explained some of the engineering that the Romans did in the town. We saw some drains in the road that were connected to pipes that drained to the sea. We went to the public baths and saw the remains of an oven that was used to heat the floors and pillars and water to 45 degrees Celsius (very very hot!). They also recycled their bath water and used it for toilets. The other structure that I saw that I particularly liked was the theater. The outside of the theater had little nooks where shops were, and it was made with orange bricks, which signalizes that it's a public area (the baths had them too). The simple people entered the theater at the top, and the richer people entered through arches at the bottom so that they could sit closer to the stage. One aspect that was creative was that in the evening when people watched plays, the actors would be lit up by the sun but the audience would be in the shade.