We arrived in Civitavecchia and are heading to Rome for the day. John got me up ultra early at 6:15 even though we were not due on the bus to 8:45 giving us time to get John yet another huge English breakfast as there was no lunch which would be the longest time without food.
Civitavecchia...is a very small town with the largest dock accessing Rome. As there is so much port traffic, the town has created a road system which bypasses the town completely. The trip to Rome is approximately 1 ½ hours each way.
Lovely Italian tour guide (natural blonde which apparently is not unusual as this area had been invaded by the Normans in the 13th Century). She spoke an Eliza Doolittle type of English ~ odd but very charming.
Stopped on the outskirts of Rome for a toilet break and a shot of expresso which John claimed was even smaller than the one in Barcelona but tasted great (no complaints about the taste just the volume ~ claimed half had evaporated while he went to the loo).
John does want you to know that he was really impressed with the service station bathroom which had spring loaded seats and a foot flush. It so inspired him that he is considering writing a book of the bathrooms of Europe.
Rome... before parking, we were given a panoramic view of the monuments and archelogical highlights. For a large city, there are only two subway lines and two underground parking garages as everywhere they dig, they find more artifacts~ very much like Peachland.
We only had 4 hours in Rome before the bus returned to the ship so had we had to make hard choices in city filled with wondrous things to see. We headed for Vatican City which is an independent country within Rome. Queues (line-ups for the Canadian reader) were everywhere even though the Pope was in Fatima which was a pity as he looking forward to meeting John. Apparently, when the Pope is in residence, the line-ups are much worse which is hard to believe. (John checked all the toilets in the Vatican as a continuation of his research for his book).
We saw the tombs of the Pope and, honestly, I was touched by Pope John Paul II where people are permitted to place flowers and other small items. One lady was so emotional that a friend of hers had to restrain her while she dropped a red scarf on the tomb. The basilica was awesome ~ too much to take in and the pictures really will not do it justice. The grandeur, size and history are too big to take in during such a brief visit.
Hate to admit but there were stalls on the Vatican grounds with some selling bee(Heineken and Guinness were noted by John),gelato, a tourist paraphenialia.
The only thing scarier than the driving in Rome is the parking. Every lawful (and many unlawful ) inches are used to maximum effect. We attach a picture to demonstrate. John watched a lady parallel park into a gap only about 6 inches bigger than her car in about 2 minutes.
My feet were so sore from walking on all that marble. The streets/sidewalks are all paved in marble.
We were giving a firm deadline for return to the meeting place as we had to get back on the ship for departure. John won a bet when he was certain that someone would be late and they were. If they had missed the bus, there only way back was by taxi and the tour guide assured us that this would be very expensive.
The poor lady also had an Englishman harangue her as they had to change the bus as the driver in the morning had become ill. In spite of being told at least 3 times to leave nothing on the bus, they left 2 jumpers (sweaters) behind. He was extremely unpleasant to her but the lady got the support of rest of the folks on the bus which effectively shut him up. While she did promise to get the sweaters to the ship if possible, I hope he was not successful.
We went to the Stardust Theatre for another production at sea. This time it was Justino, a high energy ham, and Daniella, a very flexible clothes horse. What she could do with a piece of rope and a bunch of hula hoops was amazing.
Another day of hard touring tomorrow.
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