Cruise day: 123/152
Ports days: 59
Sea days: 64
Countries: 20
Continents: 5
Ports: 43
Civitavecchia. Go ahead. Say it out loud. Nope - not even close. It is pronounced:
chee-vee-tah-VEH-kee-ah
And, you have to use your hands when you say it.
This morning, we pulled into Civitavecchia, a port that services Rome. Today is a big day with a full-day exploration of Rome including a tour of the Colosseum. We hit the road. It turns out, that once again, we had a budding race car driver at the wheel. We were on Bus #2. We passed Bus #3 on the road - well, almost. After passing about 70% of bus #3, our driver decided to return to the right lane. This didn't sit well with bus #3 nor its passengers. As I saw us returning to the right lane as I was looking into the eyes of passengers on the bus next to me, Bus #3 slammed on the brakes and sounded the horn. Ultimately, it ended up as a non-event, but it sure could have been a lot worse.
Rome is a city of about three million residents and also includes the world's smallest city/state with less than 100 residents and 109 acres, Vatican City, completely within the city of Rome. The walls of Vatican City were the first highlight we saw from the bus.
Next, we passed the Justice Court.
 |
| Crossing the Tiber River that splits Rome - the river flows for about 240 miles |
We exited our bus and started our walking tour. Everywhere you turn in Rome, there is something to see. We did our best writing down what we saw (that's all Arlona) and will try to match it up with the photos as best we can.
 |
| Approaching the city wall |
 |
| The north gate of Rome |
 |
| St. Peter, telling us to use the map |
 |
| St. Paul, telling us to just go that way |
 |
| Entering through the north gate |
 |
| Looking back at the north gate from inside the city |
We entered the Piazza del Popolo from the north gate. There is a huge Egyptian obelisk here as well as several other piazzas throughout Rome.
 |
| Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo |
 |
| Fontana del Nettuno |
 |
| Fontana della Dea di Roma |
 |
| Basilica di Santa Maria in Montesanto & Chiesa Santa Maria dei Miracoli |
 |
| An Anglican church within the city |
 |
| Our guide called this the "ugly fountain" - it depicts a mud bath |
 |
| We arrived at Piazza di Spagna or the Spanish Square, named for the Spanish Embassy located there |
 |
| Fontana della Barcaccia |
 |
| The famed Spanish Steps |
Today is April 25, Liberation Day in Italy marking the day they were liberated during World War II. There were tons of folks in Rome today.
 |
| We made the hike up the Spanish Steps |
 |
| The view down |
Once we got back down, Arlona took advantage of the fountain and grabbed a cool drink. The water is drinkable and was cold and refreshing.
 |
| There are a lot of designer shops in the Spanish Square - I wore my Bvlgari so it could visit home but they were closed for the holiday |
 |
| The Spanish embassy that lends its name to the square |
 |
| One of the many public water fountains |
 |
| Our guide demonstrates that if you plug the spout, the water redirects out the top so you can take a drink - clever! |
Our next stop was Trevi Square.
 |
| We saw several vendors roasting chestnuts |
Of course, the highlight of Trevi Square is the Trevi Fountain.
 |
| I needed to use the restroom and shops generally require a purchase to use their restroom - we didn't want gelato, we had to get some - yeah, that's our story |
 |
| Unfortunately, this guy wasn't granting any wishes |
 |
| Our guide, Cinzia, demonstrated another fountain |
 |
| This one packed more of a punch when redirected up |
This building was amazing. Much of it was original or restored, dating back to the 1600s.
 |
| The layer with the lion heads was restored - the layers below that are original from the 1600s |
 |
| Many doorways have paintings over them to offer protection - there are 39 such paintings in the city |
The next amazing building we came to was the Pantheon - not to be confused with the Parthenon that is in Athens - see the blog a few days ago for that. The Pantheon is a functioning church and is 90% original dating back to the second century A.D.
 |
| The monolithic columns are 14 meters high |
 |
| Another Egyptian obelisk in front of the Pantheon |
 |
| Lots of folks were inside |
Vespas were everywhere!
 |
| Church of St. Louis of the French - San Luigi dei Francesi |
 |
| St. Andrew - the second tallest dome in Rome |
Next up, Piazza di Navona.
 |
| The obelisk atop the Fiumi Fountain - Fontana dei Fiumi |
 |
| We went into Sant'Agnese in Agone |
 |
| This pigeon was nicely perched |
 |
| The Fountain of Neptune and an Octopus |
We enjoyed a nice lunch at a local restaurant. We had a huge pasta starter followed by beef, potatoes, and salad. Tiramisu rounded out the meal.
We crossed over the Tiber again and approved the Corte di cassazione or City Courthouse.
The walk over the river afforded great views of St. Peter's Basilica.
 |
| We got another good view of St. Peter's from the bus |
 |
| We passed by Circus Maximus where chariot races were held - seven laps to a race |
Our final stop was the Colosseum. Built by slaves over eight years around 70 A.D., the Colosseum could seat about 80,000 on multiple levels. It featured running water, toilets, a concession stand, and a water and perfume spray system to both cool guests and mask odors from the colosseum floor.
 |
| The Arch of Constantine |
 |
| The letters on the upper right - SPRQ - Senate and People of Rome |
 |
| The Temple of Venus in front and the Temple of Rome behind |
 |
| Arch of Titus |
 |
| The back of the Arch of Constantine |
Just like modern stadiums, entries were labeled by number - look over the arch, here are 52 (LII), 53 (LIII) & 54 (LIIII - not sure why it wasn't LIV)
 |
| The interior was plastered and painted |
 |
| Original marble floors |
 |
| A model of elevators that were used to raise combat animals from below ground into the stadium - slaves were used to twist the winch handles |
 |
| Stairways to upper levels |
 |
| The diagonal lines on the top wall show stairways to the upper level - a better photo is coming |
 |
| A platform on the two pillars was reserved for the Emperor |
 |
| The underground areas where combatants and animals were kept |
 |
| The white pieces are where the elevators slid up and down in the grooves |
 |
| Here, you can see the multi-ring construction with concentric rings getting higher as they moved out |
With our visit complete, we returned to our bus for the 75-minute ride back to the port. Today was predicted to be in the upper 60s with rain. We had brilliant sunshine and temperatures closer to 70. It was a perfect sightseeing day.
We arrived back at the port in Civitavecchia, safe and sound.
Arlona caught the fiery sunset as we got ready to sail.
Tomorrow, we dock in Livorno, Italy, and will be heading to Florence and Pisa - the one with the tower with a vertical issue.
When did they change the itinerary for you to go to the next Italian port so you could see Florence and Pisa. That is fabulous. Were there alot of choices on the excursions?
ReplyDelete