Day 45 Rome

Day 45 – Civitavecchia (Rome) – Friday 29/6/12

Weather – Fine and Sunny 25C - 30C (in port, closer to 40C in Rome

Sunrise – 5.41am

Sunset – 8.51pm

Time difference - minus 8 hours ex Sydney

Piacere di conosceria Roma !!!!

Today is a big ticket day again, with both of us anticipating a memorable day for our first ever visit to Rome. You know when your expectations are raised a bit, and there is a latent concern, that you dont mention, but its there, that the city, or day may not be all its been cracked up to be by others who have been before you. So you keep a lid on the anticipation, coz you dont want to feel overly disappointed if it is not what you expect, and just hope it turns out as well as you would hope. So......... well you just have to wait and see huh :)

We had decided that we wanted to do Rome on our own, as in, not on a organised tour. We used Princess to get us into Rome and back, but we were on our own for the whole day. A bus shuttle took us from the ship to Civitavecchia Port railway station, where we hopped on a 'private train'. It was a 4 carriage train, with only Princess passengers aboard, who were doing the same as us. There was a bus option into Rome, but the train sounded so much nicer, and it was. Lovely carriages, fitted with comfortable red leather (yeah imitation) lounge chairs, frilly gold curtains etc etc, and so much quicker, less than hour in. Each double carriage had one transit guide each, we had a young guy, and the others had a young lady guide.

Today is a public holiday that marks the start of a long weekend celebrating St Peter. As a result many shops and buildings were to be closed, so we were not sure if that was going to interrupt our day, as it turned out it was probably a good thing as many locals had hightailed out for the weekend. The incredible queue of cars waiting to board ferries to the islands was testament that theory.

The train took us to St Peters station, where our transit guide escorted us from the station to St Peters Square, where he was to set us free. We walked only about 10 mins through a few side streets, then an underpass, and through a colonnade of pillars, where we heard music and hymns being sung. Out onto a courtyard that was a sea of cobblestones, and then it was one of those breathless moments. This was it, we were standing in Saint Peters Square. I was overwhelmed with where we were, and what I was seeing, trying to unpick the landmarks as best I could, so much so that I was oblivious to what the guide was saying. Luckily Donna got in close and paid attention to what was being said.

Suffice to say, the SHB photo was taken here, whilst we absorbed the buildings, and the aura of the place. A mass was being beamed out to the big screen in the square, which just added to the occasion. We eventually dragged ourselves away, and embarked upon our self styled walking tour of Rome. We walked along Via della Concillazione to Piazza Adriana where we saw the Castel Sant' Angelo (aka the Mauseoleum of Hadrian), a towering cylindrical building. Then we crossed the Tevere River by way of the bridge, Ponte Sant' Angelo, which ran into Via del Banco di S.Spiroto.

A few lefts and rights as we looked for our next goal, the Pantheon. Yeah well, we got lost, but we had fun sorting ourselves out!! We eventually found Piazza Navona, which is home to the Fountain of Four Rivers. A few more zig zags in the general direction of the Pantheon proved successful. Awesome, awesome, awesome, we were lucky enough to have a quick squiz although there was a mass under way. I can see why this has a reputation.

The weather was heating up now, but we pushed on, this time in search of the Colosseum. On our way along one of the main drags, Via del Corso, we came across San Marcello al Corso, a lovely church, devoted to Pope Marcellus 1. A plain jane building outside, was just something to behold inside, I am so glad we took time to have a look.

We then came across the Piazza Venezia, home to the imposing white marble building, Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emmanuele 11. The structure is really just so imposing at 135m wide and 70m high, with its external stairways, Corinthian columns, fountains, sculptures and statues. It is also home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

By now, we could see our quarry, whilst looking down the impressive Via del Fori Imperiali, which was closed to vehicle traffic. The Colosseum is as grand as we had hoped for, and it needed another SHB photo here. We popped into a Tourist Info centre and picked up a decent map, and also took time out at a restaurant for a rest, drink and feed. Donna had a carbonara pasta, and I went for A la Matratciano that was the spiciest I have ever had.

Now we had a dilemma. We only had a limited time, so we were not going to fit in a visit to all that we wanted. Thats just how it is with one day port visits with cruising. The fact that we passed on the Hop On Hop Off bus, that would have got us around quickly, was more than offset by walking everywhere, as we did wanted we really wanted to do , and that was absorb the life of Rome first hand on the ground, and in the back streets.

So the dilemma was to we track a northern route back to St Peters, to visit the famed, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, or do we take the longer southern route along the picturesque River Tevere. We did not have time to do both. We chose the latter, and so glad we did it was just lovely, and the shady promenade provided some welcome respite from the heat.

We got our way back to the shops outside Vatican City, when Donna realised that she had lost her prescription glasses. So we back tracked about a km or so, and lucky lucky lucky, there they were resting on the window ledge that we had used for a sit down rest stop about half an hour earlier.

Back to Vatican City, a little shopping, and then in search of a watering hole on the way back to the station. We came across some of the mob, outside a pub en route, for some refreshments, and bonus, free wi fi. So kiddies, you now have some photos, which I trust you would have seen by now.

A short wait, and our 'private train' came along on schedule, and took the weary travellers home to the ship. A long shower, and a short dinner, a quick catch up with some friends, and then the movie addict (Donna) was off to the theatre, whilst I prepped the blog.

So, the day turned out to be as memorable as we had hoped, and Rome is definitely on the 'must return to' list, which is filling up rather fast :)

We left berth on time at 7pm, and retraced our courses out through the breakwaters. The pilot jumped off, and we headed west north westerly across the Tyrrhenian Sea. At 1.45am we will pass between the islands of Porto and Porto Ferraio, then alter course towards the north. Another pilot on at 6am and enter the Livorno harbour, and be secured alongside by 7am

Great day again. We are on such a roll, having a ball !!!