Day 9 - Roma

As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Sadly, we couldn’t see it all in a day either but we did make a pretty nice dent in our list.

Because we docked in Civitadeccia, which is about an hour train ride from Rome, we opted to use one of the ship’s excursions to get us to the city. We walked off the ship right at 8 am, when we were cleared by customs. From the ship, we boarded a bus that took us out of the dock area (which is secure so you can’t walk in it) to a train that is used exclusively by cruise ship passengers. It was a cute little 4 car train that looked like it was from the late 60’s or early 70’s. It was very comfortable, despite its age, and we had a pleasant 60-minute ride in to Rome.

We got off the bus about a 10-minute walk from the Vatican City, where they were getting ready for a 10 am mass. After the 10 am mass, the Pope comes to the window of his residence on Sundays and waves at everyone. The piazza there was packed like Bono was going to appear! We cleverly decided to come back to see the Vatican after the crowds had cleared this afternoon.

We jumped on the bus and, in no time at all, we were at the stop for the Trevi Fountain. Legend says that if you throw a coin over your shoulder in to the fountain, you will return to Rome someday. Worked for me last time I was here, so we did it again!

From Trevi, we set of on foot to see the Capuchin Crypt. This is a small 4-room crypt in a little church where the skeletons of more than 4,000 monks from all over the world have been configured in to artful designs. Fascinating! We were not allowed to take photos in the crypts, because it is considered a burial site, so you’ll have to Google it to see for yourself.

Back on the bus to the main Rome Metro station to buy a Roma pass. This pass gives you access for 3 days to all the public transportation (which is cheap to start with). More importantly, however, it allows you free access to some of the major attractions and there is a special “no wait” line at the Coliseum for Roma pass holders. The main Metro station is only 3-stops from the Coliseum, which is a good thing because I think most of Rome was in our same car! We were among the last on to the car, and Andrew had to lean forward in to the car so that his backpack didn’t get closed in the door.

As we came up the stairs from the underground Metro platform, the Coliseum came in to view. Though I have seen it before, you can’t help but catch your breath. Built about 2000 years ago, it could hold as many as 50,000 Romans to watch the gladiators battle exotic animals (and each other) to the death. We were happy to skip the very, very long line with our Roma passes, and we were inside in less than 10 minutes. We wandered around, took a few photos and wondered at the architecture and the fact that it’s still standing after 2 millennia.

Across the street from the Coliseum is the Forum and Palatine Hill. We walked up Palatine Hill, but the line at the Forum was too long and our time was limited so we only took a few photos from outside the gates. Next time!

With only about 2.5 hours left in our day, it was time to jump on the bus back to the Vatican, which is its own county – the smallest county in the world, in fact. Here’s a photo of Andrew standing with one foot in Italy and one in the Vatican.

Inside the Vatican, the crowds had thinned in the piazza considerably. There was still a long line to get in to St. Peter’s Basilica, but it appeared to be moving quite smoothly so we jumped in. About 35 minutes later we had cleared the metal detectors (don’t want any heathens trying to get the Pope!) and headed in to the Basilica. St. Peter’s is considered the most important Catholic church in the world and is the burial site of many of the previous Popes. It also houses many great works of art, including Michelangelo’s The Pieta.

Other photos inside/outside the Basilica…

Finally, it was time to walk back to the train station and head back to Civitavecchia – whew! Once back on the ship we hit the buffet for dinner, as we were too tired to change for dinner. Now we’re back in the cabin getting organized for our day tomorrow – in my favorite Italian city, Florence!