We have now arrived at our starting port city of Rome, where we begin our post cruise vacation visiting Rome and Venice. :-)
This was an early departure from the boat. We had to be up and out by 7:15 am. Yikes!!!! The port city near Rome is called Civitavecchia and is a good hour/hour and a half from Rome. We had to get off the boat and retrieve our luggage from the designated area and get on our bus. The departure routine is pretty organized. You have to set all your luggage out the night before, with the tags that your stateroom attendant leaves for you. By morning, your luggage is whisked away and waiting for you off the ship, to retrieve.
On the bus ride in to Rome our guide gave us numerous tid bits about Rome. The one piece that became clearly evident very quickly was that everybody had a car, but there wasn't anywhere to park all the cars.
Our first destination on our tour was Vatican City. I didn't realize that Vatican city is actually a sovereign state and the smallest one at that, guarded by Swiss guards. Once we reached Vatican city we met up with a local tour guide. I am thankful that we arrived to the Vatican pretty early, for European standards, because there was not yet a line to get into St. Peter's basilica. We wandered through the barricades on St. Peter's Square and made it to the Swiss guards, whom were very strict on the dress code, as they should be, no knees or shoulders showing. They had no problem turning people away. Once inside the complex we were only given 20 minutes inside St. Peter's basilica, but what can you expect when we still had to see the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, all by 1:00 in the afternoon and it was now 9:30 am. It is absolutely impossible to take all St. Peter's has to offer in just 20 minutes, but again, it is what it is.
St. Peter's basilica is the greatest, largest basilica of the Christian world. When inside the basilica you can see markings on the floor to show where other churches in the world would end if they were placed inside the basilica. I was trying to buzz around the basilica as quickly as I could, taking in every nook and cranny I could reach. Ellie wasn't feeling well, as she was a bit overheated from the walk there and waiting in the short line, so a chunk of our time there we were dealing with a possible mad dash to the restroom, but thankfully that didn't happen and she was able to cool down once inside. The inside is just incredible. When you first walk in, off to the right, is the famous piece by Michelangelo, Pieta.
Like I said, this place was incredible. You just cannot even put into words how incredible it is.
Back outside, with a few minutes in the shade, to take in all the glory of St. Peter's square itself.
Back on the bus, and cooling off, we were off to our next location: Ancient Rome. As the bus drove us throughout the city we saw some other monumental buildings. I am glad that I attempted to take pictures through the window of the bus, because we didn't make it back to these areas for another photo op.
I am not sure what all of these sights are, but the upper right-hand corner and a close up in the lower left-hand corner is the Victor Emmanuel Monument. This ginormous monument was built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the country's unification in 1861 and was dedicated to the first king of Italy. The middle picture is part of the Colosseum.
The bus let us off in the midst of the Ancient Rome area and we began our next portion: The Roman Forum and The Colosseum. Now, mind you, it was about 11:00 am now and holy cow, it was Hot as Hades.
The Roman Forum is ancient Rome's birthplace and civic center. If there was anything important happening in Rome, it was happening here. There are many things to see in this area. I did not have my trusted Rick Steves' guide, so I really can't say what all we were seeing. We did have a guide telling us what things were, but honestly, it was so hot, I just can't remember. Here is, at least, a collage of the photos I took. You can always find more information on the internet regarding this sight, but this is all I got. :-)
After leaving the Roman Forum, we walked/bustled across the street to enter the Colosseum at our slotted time frame. This was certainly the beauty of having a guide, she had everything pre-arranged so we didn't have to wait in any lines...and let me tell you...the line to get into the Colosseum was INSANE! It was so insane I couldn't even get to my camera to take a picture of it. We made it inside and our guide stopped for a potty break. This next picture was accidental, but it actually portrays how we felt...a little steamy and a bit dizzy...after baking in the sun during the Forum and the whole entering fiasco...there were soooo many people. Haha...
This little bit of respite while our group went to the restroom was in desperate need. Once our group got back together we walked upstairs to view this incredible structure. Some more background...The Colosseum was built when the Roman Empire was at its peak in A.D. 80. This was an arena for gladiator contests and public spectacles. The 2,000 year old building is the classic example of Roman engineering. The outside once contained 3.5 million cubic feet of travertine stone.
Gladiators, criminals, and wild animal fought to the death in every conceivable scenario within these walls. It becomes apparent that the Roman's certainly enjoyed their fare share of violence. I guess not much has changed in these modern times, with all the violence on our televisions and movie screens. You can see, from the picture below, just how the process must have taken place below the stadium floor.
Today, only a third of the original Colosseum remains. Between earthquakes and looters, this is all that is left. Even with that said, it was an amazing sight and if you ask the kids about what they remembered about the Colosseum, they will tell you, "the floor was made of wood and they would sprinkle sand on the wood in order to soak up the blood of whatever was just killed so that they could just sweep it away". Well, at least it's something.
After The Colosseum it was time for us to get back on the bus. We were staying a few more days in Rome so we were dropped off at the Ostiense train station and got a taxi to our hotel, which was much farther than appeared on the map when we booked it, I might add. We got checked in and stayed inside from the heat of the day. I will continue on my next post with Hot as Hades Tour: Rome on our Own next.
You shared very superb pictures of Rome. You had a great experience there. You shared useful information for me as well. I will definitely consider it.
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