On this Sunday - not the best day to be in Rome, by the way, if you have your choice (things are closed for the Sabbath) - we woke up late, around 10. We were pretty worn out from all the tours by then. We didn't have any excursion tickets, so we hadn't quite decided what to do with our day. We were already docked in Civitavecchia, about an hour west of Rome, on the coast (duh).
So, we had our breakfast in bed (and boy, was I spoiled by that; I keep waiting for my food to be delivered when I wake up, and it's NOT happening!), took slow, relaxing showers, and dressed. Then we took the shuttle from the ship to the center of Civitavecchia (pronounced "Chee-VEE-ta-VEH-key-uh") to see our fortune. Well, part with it, anyway.
Immediately after we stepped off the bus, there was a young man asking if anyone needed a taxi. His English was poor, so we negotiated in Italian ("How much?" is "Cuanto costa?"), Spanish, and English for a ride to Rome. For an hours' trip there, back, and sightseeing in the old city, we paid *gulp* 200 Euros. That's a lot, folks. We talked it over for a good five minutes before deciding to go ahead with it. It ended up being worth it, to see all the old and well-known points of interest, but man, it was hard to hand over at the end of the ride! We didn't have much time, either, so it was a whirlwind tour, for sure. Here we go:
The scenery on the way from Civitavecchia to Rome
Monuments, monuments everywhere
The price for gas - we stopped twice, once on the way there and once on the way back. It seemed like for just a little bit at a time. Why, I wonder? Why not just fill up? He had our money, anyway.
More of the Mediterranean passing by; I never get tired of seeing it, do you?
Coming into Rome, now
Approaching Vatican City! After the Leaning Tower of Pisa, that had to be my next most anticipated landmark for this trip!
Here we are! Our tour guide, Max (who was from Civitavecchia, by the way), pulled into a parking place (one of the few times he actually did so; they'll just park any old place over there!) and let us out for about 40 minutes to walk around and take things in. We ended up only needing about half that time. See the sights, take the pictures, get in the car, next!
The fountain in Piazza San Pietro (Saint Peter's Square, which is really a circle)
St. Peter's Basilica
This group of folks was chanting something in the square. I have no idea what they were saying, but I either have it or will soon have it on video here - take a listen and let me know if you know what they're saying. Not sure if they were protesting or just happy to be there! Note their parasols...
On top of the wall surrounding the Piazza. We decided these must be the Popes?
More papal types
Ah, a better view of the fountain. Is it filled with Holy Water? ;)
The requisite "Stand There and Let Me Take Your Picture in Front of This Thing" picture
And the obligatory "Now It's Your Turn" photo - before the person next to me kicked me in the stomach? And yeah, I know, you can totally tell where my passport and money pouch was, but it still would have been hard for a pickpocket to get to it there!
Anyone read Latin?
All the people heading in and out of the Piazza
We headed out and cooled off with some gelato at Ye Olde Gastronomy Shak here. Good stuff, and we people-watched while we ate.
More of the sights right outside St. Peter's Square
Some priests waiting in line to tour the Chapel. We didn't get to go because 200€ was all we had on us that day, and it already belonged to Max's pocketbook. Shucks, I really wanted to see the Sistine Chapel. Oh well, we'll just have to go back one day!
We bought some post cards - a pack of 20 for 1€! That was a great deal. Usually, I paid about 0,30€ - 0,50€ for each one! And I also picked up my spoon. None of the other stuff, though. What, no shot glasses in Vatican City?!
Another monument. Every time we passed one, Rob would say, "Didja get that one?" Yeah, maybe, but I don't know who it is!
Everything old was under construction, it seems like. We forgive them. A few millenia is a long time, even for a building.
This is where my memory gets spotty, but I believe this is a Roman government building, where Berlusconi, the President Council of Italy works.
Venetzia Square, built by Mussolini
A better view of Venetzia Square
Very regal-looking
Uh, the view from the back seat? I'm not sure why I included this picture. Perhaps this is the street Max told us housed all the shops for the well-known designers, and sure enough, we did see name upon name upon name that we recognized. Alas, no money, no time, no figure for shopping there!
Another monument!
Max took a picture of us together, here at the Trevi Fountain
The enormous and beautiful backdrop to the fountain
Oh, I remember how inviting that water was, in the oppressive heat. People kept reaching their hands in and getting yelled at by the guards. I wanted to strip naked and dive in!
This little fairy was up on a pedestal until Rob dropped a few coins in her bucket, and then she came to life, dancing all around him.
He certainly didn't seem to mind the attention, eh?
One last kiss before she went back up on her pedestal, until the next person tipped her.
Everywhere in Rome, people had these parasols, to keep the blazing sun off their heads. I inquired about the cost, but was told 6€. "Troppo," I said. Too much. I managed to bargain my way down to 3€. Not bad, and it was very useful until I handed it over to the girls for a nice Roman souvenir.
One last look at that glorious fountain, before we skedaddled to the next stop.
A-ha! We found a van in Europe! Not a minivan, though. More like a microvan. It was no bigger than my thumb.
Guess what this is...?
On our way to the next site, I asked Rob to pause for a picture so I could get one of the view of the Roman apartments, so different from those, say, on the Côte d'Azur. He was exasperated, you can tell!
That was the name of this store. We believed them!
An interesting thing to find, in Rome, no? See how there were two sets of hours for each day? Everywhere, it was like that, because of the afternoon siesta observed everywhere, from 1 PM to 3 or 4 PM.
The Spanish Steps! And again, more construction.
Rob, about midway up the Steps. People were just sitting around on them, eating, reading, talking. As if it were no big deal to be there. So cool!
And, coming back down the steps...
At the bottom, he was greeted by a jerk of a Roman man, and me, holding three red roses. This man, a flower seller, had come up to me, kissing my cheeks, telling me I was beautiful (yeah, sure), he loved me, my husband was a lucky man, and he wanted to give me these flowers as a gift. That gift was no gift, of course - watch out for that - unlike the true gift I received in Pisa of my embroidered name. He expected payment from Rob when he came back down the steps. When Rob didn't want to pay him that much, he pouted and pointed at my roses. Rob stood firm, and I handed back two roses and walked away. Oh, well. It's another experience for the ol' memory box!
Back out, past Venetzia Square
Marchelo Theatre - an opera house
The Temple of Vesti
Max called this the Church of Mouth, and he pointed to his mouth for clarification.
Driving by the Palatine and Maximum Circle, where gladiators raced back in the day
Or maybe this was where the Gladiators raced. I don't know.
Constantino Arch
I bet you know what this is! The Colosseum! It was amazing, truly. (Dang underlining. Go away.)
Castle San Angel
Can you see that greenish water down there? It's the Tiber River!
Garibaldi Square
Looking out from a scenic overlook at the whole city of Rome
Maximum-Max, our illustrious tour guide, posing for a picture - for which he was laughed at by the other Italians. Oh, well. He was nice.
Driving away, we saw this monument, which I asked Max about. The heads are all the Roman emperors.
We had a quiet drive back to the ship, listening to both Italian and American music. I was surprised to find many of my favorite songs playing on the radios in Europe, many of which you can hear on my main blog. Rob woke me up in the car, as he is wont to do, to "warn" me that I was snoring. Hey, I'm sleeping, I couldn't care less!
Back aboard the ship, once we were scanned in using our keycards, we went for a late lunch of salads on the Lido Deck. That's another thing I got used to, a nice salad in the afternoon. Maybe I'll get some salad fixin's next time I go grocery shopping.
We rested in the room until it was time for dinner, out of the heat. We had reservations to eat by ourselves, early. That night, I had scallops (love me some scallops), and Rob had the chicken; we both had tiramisu for dessert. I am not normally a fan of tiramisu, but it was really excellent.
Afterward, we went to the early show. It was an American comedian from Chicago. Rob laughed hard from the seat next to me, but I really didn't think he was that funny. Surprising; normally we have the same taste in humor.
Then we went to the casino and collected our $25 in "free" gambling money from the Romantic Voyage package. We had cocktails while we played the slots, and it wasn't long before all the coins were gone and I was saying we should have just taken the money and run.
We went to the art gallery, where we had long been admiring a particular piece by Romero Britto, and won a free piece of art for taking a quiz, even though we performed badly. It's nice, I like it. Wait, let me find it...
It's called "Andante" by Charles Lee, and the colors and style are very us. We like it. We'll hang it somewhere.
Finally, after several days of thinking and talking about it, Rob put in a pre-bid for the Britto we liked. The auction was later in the trip, but the pre-bid locked us in at a lower price if no one bid against us. We were excited! Juliette, the art gallery auctioneer, congratulated us a million times, and wished us luck at the auction. We received another free piece of work for the pre-bid, too:
This one's called "Paysage aux 3 Enfants" by Jean-Claude Picot. It's nice enough, but eh... it's nice enough. Anyone like it?
After we left the art gallery, we went to listen to the cellist in a side lounge, and have some drinks. (booze cruise!) The music was lively yet relaxing, and we enjoyed ourselves for a while before heading back to our room to read and have a late-night room service snack.
Just another lovely sunset in Civitavecchia.
Tomorrow: Stay tuned for Sicily!
Fin.
Ah Rome. I have a love hate relationship with Rome for sure. Man, that was a whirlwind! I know you didn't get to see Sistine, but did you go in St. Peter's basillica?
I want to go on a cruise!
Posted by: Sarri | July 15, 2008 at 10:10 AM
Beautiful!
Holy moly...the $$ just flies there doesn't it!
Posted by: Stephanie | July 15, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Fun!
I love the Paysage aux 3 Enfants. It's beautiful!
Posted by: Ruby | July 15, 2008 at 11:21 AM
I also love the Paysage!
I wonder if those tiny cars have tiny gas tanks that don't hold as much as our american cars do? and thats why they don't get as much gas? And wow...1.5 euros=$2.40...1 liter is about the same as a quart....4x2.40=9.60 for a gallon of gas? Ouch.
Posted by: Holly | July 16, 2008 at 10:21 AM