Rome

Day #12

Cruise Day #8 - Civitavecchia (Rome)

(Updated Sept 29th)

Up very early as we had to be on the dock at 8 a.m to catch our private tour. Kelly met a group through the Cruise Critic Roll Calls and we joined three other couples for a private tour of Rome and it's many sights.  At the dockside parking lot we introduced ourselves and met Mike & Elaine from the Cleveland area, David & Janet from Huntsville, Alabama and Ali & Brad from Toronto. With everyone loaded and our driver Enrico at the helm we headed off on our long awaited adventure to the heart of Rome. In an hour or so we made our first of many stops within the city as we drove beside an aqueduct that was over 1600 years old... and still works!

The first one was the "Fontana dell"Acqua Paola"  built in 1612. We learned that the Pope at the time, plundered the city and used various parts of buildings to construct these "new" structures. We also had views of the city in front of this structure.

Fountain of Water Paul

A carved marble column telling the story of Marcus Aurelius. As many people could not read at the time, his triumphs were laid out in pictures circling upwards on the column.

Incredible detail!

 We then went to the Pantheon built in 27BC. Incredible marble columns weighing 60 tons each!! The top of the church is cut out to allow light in.... and rain :-) It's called an Oculus and works amazingly well.

Huge Marble structures... mind boggling how they transported and erected them.

The oculus allows the light in.

Next was the Barogue Church "Chiesa Di S. Ignazo." It feature the first 3d type painting on the ceiling as well as a painting that represented a dome, which it did not have. The eyes played tricks :-) Incredible

We were stunned at the interior of this Church.

Our whirlwind journey took us to the Column of the Immaculate Conception and the Spanish Steps in the Piazza Di Spagna.The steps are great example in Rome and this is where Kelly posed a'la Lauren when she visited the steps in 2006.

Kelly makes the pose!

We did go to the Trevi Fountain although it was under restoration and you couldn't really get a good view to do it justice. I guess we will have to come back in a couple years when it is finished.

Enrico showed us all the top spots to view from and the Roman Forum or what is left of it was simply stunning.

We were then dropped off near the Coliseum and after giving us explicit instructions on our "VIP" entry we walked past the queue of people and into the Coliseum. Words or pictures really can't describe this place as it just puts you in awe of history. You can imagine the huge crowds cheering on the gladiators.... all amazing!

Outside the Coliseum as we headed to the entrance. You can see some restoration work completed.

Inside. You can see the reconstructed floor area in the rear along with a sample seating area.

We basically stayed together as a group as we explored the different levels and views. We walked the upper level all the way around and then it was sadly time to go.

Our driver made arrangements to have an authentic Italian lunch served to us at Hostaria Dino e Toni Italian Restaurant.  It was very good as one would imagine. After lunch we were driven over to the entrance to Vatican City where we met Selene our tour guide.

Selene took us through Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel after getting us priority in the lineup... in fact we basically walked right in :-) We were outfitted with a radio and ear piece so she could talk us through all the things we would see. The fact that she was a history major didn't hurt either.

St Peter's Basilica

The artwork is beautiful and stunning.

Did I mention "stunning"? :-)

Wow!

After the tour we were just overloaded mentally with all that we saw. It was time to head to the ship with incredible memories... it was almost too much for the mind to digest.

Back at the ship... yep Sail Away drink, dinner and then relax (fall asleep) then get up and go to bed & try and blog. 

We planned on another private tour tomorrow in Florence & Pisa.