Gatti di Roma

What's a trip to Rome without CATS?! No, not the the play - I mean, actual cats.

Cat shelter + ruins = AWESOME

While wandering the streets of Rome one lovely afternoon, Scott and I noticed an adorable little cat playing by some picturesque ruins near the "Argentina" tram station downtown. This, of course, piqued our interest, as we are both supreme cat lovers.  Unfortunately, all the moving to various countries for work makes it difficult to keep a pet so as much as we both adore cats, we won't be starting our own cat collection anytime soon. Therefore, I have to take any opportunity I can find to get my cat fix - e.g. by stopping to watch the above-mentioned adorable little cat playing in the Roman ruins!

A well-fed Gatti.

CATS!

 Anyway, to our surprise and delight we quickly noticed that there were many cats frolicking amongst the ruins! We had stumbled upon a veritable treasure trove of cats, all of whom appeared to be well-fed and were considerably more friendly than one would expect of a bunch of stray cats.

Cats showing us the way down to the shelter.

Well, that's because they weren't a random bunch of stray cats - they were Gatti di Roma - tenants of the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary! These lucky kitties have just about the coolest and definitely the most historical cat condo ever: the former site of four temples built between 400-100 BC and the spot where legend has it Caesar was assassinated! There are about 250 cats living in the ruins, all well taken care of (food, vaccinations, medical care) by volunteers who man a CatShop and solicit donations and/or cat adoptions from visitors.

Cats and history all rolled into one: what a fun and unexpected way to spend an afternoon! Are there any other dorky cat lovers out there planning travel to Rome? You can check out the shelter's websites at http://www.gattidiroma.com/prima.html or http://www.romancats.com/.