Day 4: Rome

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Port: Civitavecchia (Rome)

Another beautiful morning – after another calm night at sea. We are docked at the photogenic port of Civitavecchia at 7:00 am – and again, this is sarcasm, dear readers - the port is not very pretty from the ship.

We awaken at 6:55 am with the phone call from Room Service – who needs an alarm clock or wake-up call? – and a few minutes later our breakfast arrives. Hubby slips in my birthday card while I am not looking – yes, dear readers, today is my birthday. I turn 47 years young today. Yay for me!

After breakfast, we got dressed and ready to go. I am practically trembling with excitement. The weather is sunny with a high of 87. Warm - but beautiful.

The mysterious itchy rash that had begun on my neck has now spread to my left cheek, and I realize (in horror) that I have developed a case of poison ivy. Yikes! (Rest assured, dear readers - it came from my home in the States - and NOT from the ship. We had just purchased a new lake home before we left for the cruise). And I have no hydrocortisone cream! I make my way down to the Medical Clinic on Deck 2 (all the way to the front of the ship), but to my disappointment and frustration, they are not open yet – and we must catch up with our tour.

We exit the ship through Deck 2 and meet up with the same 3 couples from yesterday at 8:00 am. We have Laura & Chris, Erin and Bryan, Amy & Bill, and ourselves.

We're in Rome. Well, technically, we're in Civitavecchia - but for all intents and purposes, we're in Rome.

Rome, the "Eternal City", capital of Italy and the Catholic Church, is a modern, lively and fashionable city. The Tiber River curvs through the City and Ancient Rome is situated on the left bank, as are the original Seven Hills of Rome and the more modern shopping areas, while the Vatican City is on the right bank of the Tiber.

Many Romans today are employed in tourist related industries, as well as in government, film-making and some other small-scale industries. The citizens of Rome still enjoy a relaxed way of life, and live and love life to the fullest. It is believed locally that on the last day of the world the Romans will throw a great farewell party, a gastronomic feast with wine flowing from the City's many fountains - "La Dolce Vita!"

Salvatore, our driver, is on the dock waiting for us and we hop into the spacious van to begin our tour. Salvatore is from RomeinLimo, who have been absolutely wonderful so far in arranging our tours for us while in Italy. Our plan today is to see the highlights of Rome – culminating in a guided tour of the Vatican and the Sistene Chapel.

Salvatore begins the long drive from Civitavecchia, the port, to Rome. In normal situations, this drive would be an hour – but in heavy traffic days – which apparently it was for us, it was longer than an hour. Salvatore keeps us all entertained with stories and history of Rome as we make our way (slowly) to Rome. Patience is a virtue in Rome.

Finally, we arrive at about 9:15 am…. ahhhh….Rome. Our first impressions were of a lot of traffic – and a lot of scooters. The scooters are everywhere – apparently, cars are only for families, or tourists, or the ‘un-hip.’

We stop at a "mysterious" keyhole - Salvatore won't tell us what's behind the keyhole - we have to look for ourselves. The Secret Keyhole - one of Rome's most charming views - is found at the Piazz del Cavalieri di Malta, on the Aventine Hill southwest of the Colosseum. To find it, walk to the left of the church of Santa Sabina as you face it...continue to the end of the piazza and look through the keyhole of the huge door of the Priority of the Knights of Malta (No. 3). I will not ruin the surprise for any of you, dear readers - you just have to see it for yourself. What is beyond that keyhole???!!!

We drive around Rome for a while where Salvatore points out the great sights and monuments and statues – everywhere you look, there they are. We peer down on the impressive Roman Forum, the heart of the Roman Empire for almost 1,000 years. We cruise through Piazza Navona, where we are awed by the fountains, the buildings, and the throng of people, all enjoying Rome's most grand square.

We see the Circus Maximus, which at one point, was the largest stadium in ancient Rome. It could seat over 250,000 people! The famous chariot races were held here, with the last one being held in AD 579. Today, all we could really see was a lot of grassland – with a lone tree in the middle. Someone in the van commented on the lone tree, wondering what it was doing there. I said that was where the girl would stand, dropping her scarf, to signal the start of the chariot races. Remember that scene from “Grease”?

Well, I’m sure the Romans had their version, too. The girl would like, drop her toga, or something. And the chariots were off!

As our van heads over to the Colosseum, Salvatore shows us a book in the car that has overlays to show what the Colosseum probably looked like way back when. We arrive at the Colosseum at approximately 9:40 am and we had until 10:20 am to go exploring and take photos. Salvatore stopped and helped us buy our tickets, which allowed us to cut to the front of the normal ticket line, thus saving us 30 minutes of wait time. Well done, Salvatore. You’ve earned your tip.

We approach the Colosseum. And it appears from this photo that I am saying, "What Colosseum? I don't see any Colosseum?"!!!!!!

The Colosseum – what can I say? Simply stunning – one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. It was built between 70 AD and 80 AD; capable of seating over 50,000; and estimates say that over 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games. Because we were there early, we managed to beat a lot of the Barbarians – so it wasn’t really too crowded.

My one regret is that we didn’t have time to do an organized tour of the place – perhaps later. Hubby and I try to figure out how to get to the “top” of the Colosseum so we can see it better, and we manage to get lost. Only us. We have an innate talent for getting lost – we can get lost in our driveway at home.


"Uh...where the heck ARE we??!"


One note here: beware of the Roman “gladiators” dressed in costume outside the Colosseum. They will try to grab you for photos, and will then charge outrageous sums of money for said photo – Roman extortion at the Colosseum. We managed to avoid them, but had heard horror stories about their scare tactics.

Hubby and I finally figure out how to navigate to the top of the Colosseum, but we no sooner get to the top when it is time to head back down and meet back up with the group. After we load back into the van, we drive past other famous sites – the Palazzo di Venezia, where Mussolini had an office and used the balcony often for his stirring speeches; the place where Julius Cesaer was killed; and lots and lots of other monuments and statues and churches and plazas.

We head over to the Pantheon – where Salvatore gives us about 15 minutes to go inside and admire the beautiful architecture and frescoes inside.

The Pantheon is the best-preserved ancient monument in Rome, having been rebuilt in 125 A.D.

It's the closest you'll come to a perfect Roman building...and it is simply bellissimo! However, for so great a building, it's remarkable that no one really knows it's purpose.



It’s topped by the widest flattened dome in the world – exceeding that at St. Peter’s by about 3 feet. Light streams into the 30-foot oculus by day, and rain pours in through the hole in the dome. There are some drainage holes in the floor if you look carefully.

I found this amusing. Sorry.

We cruise past the famous Piazzza di Spagna, and the famous Spanish Steps, which are swathed with visitors...

We make our way to the Trevi Fountain at about 11:20 am - where every visitor is required to throw some loose coins over their shoulder, insuring a return trip to Rome. The fountain is crowded – but it was easy to make our up to the front where we could get some great photos. The Fountain was completed in 1762 – actually, one of the “newer” buildings in Rome. Salvatore gives us about 25 minutes to spend at the Fountain, which was plenty of time to throw our coins and take the photos.

When we get back in the van, Salvatore appropriately plays “Three Coins in a Fountain” recorded by Dean Martin in 1954 for the movie of the same name. The song won the Academy Award that year for Best Song – and we all croon along with Deano while sitting in the van. What a classy touch to the tour.

After the Fountain, we drive past Vatican City and the Square, as we arrive at a little restaurant for lunch. Our lunch was delightful – it had all been prearranged by Rome in Limo and we had an appetizer of prosciutto, then the main course of lasagna,
and then the meat course of veal in lemon cream sauce. All washed down with delightful red wine.

Ahhhh….when in Rome, one must eat as the Romans do….and this was heaven. There was also to be a dessert course, but we were all so full that we couldn’t possibly do justice to it, so we bypassed the dessert. However, we all did purchase a bottle of the house wine to take home with us a souvenir. I kept thinking of the song, “La Vie Boheme” in “Rent”, where the characters sing, “Wine and Beer!”

After lunch, Salvatore was there to pick us up and drive us the short distance to the Vatican.

Now - here's a tip. It's a hot day. The men in our group had worn shorts. BUT - the Vatican does not allow men in shorts. We solved this problem by having the guys in our group BRING some pants in their backpacks - left on the van all day - and they quickly changed out of their shorts and into their pants while us ladies all kindly looked the other way in the van. Very simple - very convenient - and solved the problem of "shorts vs pants" debate I've read so much about. Voila!

Outside the Vatican, we met our guide – Evan – an art major from Portland, Oregon who lives in Italy for the summer, giving tours. Here's Evan with Hubby.

He gets us our tickets to the Museum and we bypass the regular line – which is nice – and we invade the museum, along with 20,000 other Barbarians. Although the Vatican was amazing – and I wouldn’t miss it for the world – it was hot, crowded, stuffy and tiring. There is just so much to take in – and even with a guide – it was too much; we were on sensory overload by then. Plus, I think we were all still recovering from our delicious lunch and the wine. I was ready to nap – not fight the Barbarians.

We walked…and we walked…and we walked….through room after room of art, statues, frescoes, mosaics, etc….Evan told us what we were seeing, and although he did a good job, I couldn’t really write it down as it was all I could do to fight my way through the crowds. We took hundreds of photos - I won't post them all here.



Enough, already! Didn’t these barbarians know that I wanted the Vatican to myself??!!
The coffered ceiling of the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, which is filled with beautiful 16th-century maps...

You would really need more than a few hours to see all that the Vatican Museum offers…I do know that we visited the Gallery of Tapestries, as well as the Gallery of Maps.



We eventually left the museum, with the intention of tackling St Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. Outside the Vatican Museums, there is a delightful drinking fountain with some very cool, refreshing water.

TIP ALERT: take bottled water with you while touring – it is allowed and you WILL need it. The Vatican is not air conditioned in most places, and with the crush of bodies, and little airflow, it will get hot.

We eventually make our way into the Sistine Chapel, where photos are not allowed and the guards strictly enforced this. If they saw you taking a photo, they would come over and stand by you, making you delete it off your camera. Evan gave us a very thorough background of the ceiling painted by the artist, Michelangelo. To go in and raise your eyes and see this work of art – words can’t describe it. Just sit back and soak it in.

After we leave the Chapel, we go through St Peter’s Basilica – and it is stunning. It really is the most beautiful church in the world. It’s just awe-inspiring and overwhelming – and I apologize if I sound trite – there really aren’t words in the English language that can describe what we saw that day.

It is now about 4:30 pm and time to meet back up with Salvatore and head back to the port. We spend a few minutes at St. Peter's Square.

We all doze as we make our way through the traffic back to the port – and Salvatore obliges us by playing some beautiful opera music and not saying a word. As we arrive back at the port, he plays “Arrivederci, Rome” – sung by Perry Como in 1966. It’s not a touristy song, but how fitting! We say our goodbyes to Salvatore, slipping him his payment as well as a generous tip, and go through the security line to get back on the ship – and the alcohol-bottle security force immediately confiscate our wine.

Ah, the joys of sailing with Royal Caribbean. Taking our bottles away from us. Drat.

As Hubby goes back up to the room to begin the clean-up process before dinner, I make my way to the front of the ship to visit the Medical Clinic. Perhaps I will have better luck this afternoon in getting my much-needed cream for the poison ivy. Yay – to my utter delight, I find them open, and after explaining (and showing) my problem to the lady at the front counter, she kindly offers me a tube of cream for a small price of $5.00. Relief at last!

I rush back to the room and Hubby has got the shower ready and going for me – I peel the sweat-induced clothing off and jump in to a delightful shower. Hubby is already peeling his own clothes off to get in the shower after I do….I had just turned the shower off and was putting on the robe when our doorbell rings. We look at each other – me in the robe and Hubby in his skivvies – and wonder, “Who could that be?” when we hear someone say, “Helloooooo???? I am Alston – your cabin attendant! I have come by to finally meet you!” Hubby opens the door, and hiding his almost-naked self behind it, says, “Hello, Alston – it’s really not a good time….can you come back?” Alston asks us to call him when we are suitable – which we graciously agree to do so.

And so – a little while later, we give Alston a phone call and he returns in 5 minutes. We invite him in and introductions and handshakes follow, and we then spend a few minutes getting to know him. He is from St. Vincent and has a 7-year old son back home whom he dearly misses. He is a delightful young man, very tall, with a beautiful voice. He warns us about being victimized in Naples the following day, recommending that I leave my jewelry (I wear several rings and bracelets of value all of the time) behind in the safe while touring tomorrow.

After we are both suitably cleaned and fresh smelling, we make our way to the Concierge Lounge where we get our favorite drinks of the evening and settle in to chit-chat and share the day’s adventures with other Loungers. Although the Lounge is full – I wouldn’t say it was crowded. The Diamond Lounge was up on Deck 13 the entire cruise, so it helped to alleviate the crowding.

Eventually, it is 7:00 pm and time to head down to the Minstrel Dining Room where our favorite tablemates and our favorite servers await. Tonight our table has grown to a full 11 people – all met through this wonderful CC. The crew is not happy that we have 11 people in our group – the table is only designed to hold 10 – but we squeeze everyone in. We wanted more people at our table, but the crew said no. That’s too bad – wouldn’t it be lovely to have larger tables so you can break bread with ALL of your friends? Oh well. The food was very good again, and the company and stories even better. I sit next to a 13-year old girl who said her favorite part of Rome was the shopping. Ah, to be young again.

We had just finished dessert when I hear a commotion behind me….as I turn around, I see our head waiter holding a chocolate cake with 2 candles on top – surrounded by our wait staff and a few others….they bring the cake to me and serenade me with a rousing happy birthday song! How delightful! Then, Hubby has ordered champagne for the table, and so we all have a birthday toast – which is even more fun. The champagne was very tasty!

I am presented with a gift by our dear friends Susan & Pete. They have given me a (rather) large pencil so that I may continue to write – even if my laptop should break down. How perfect and thoughtful! There is also a birthday card – which is a beautiful postcard of the ship.

As we are leaving dinner around 8:45 pm, I stop at Dave & Kerry’s table to see how their day went, and then I make my way (alone - Hubby has disappeared) to the front counter to make sure Erhan has our MTD reservation for tomorrow.

Erhan has already got us down for Friday night, and he gives me a big birthday hug – which is good “guest relations.”

I make my way back to our room and find Hubby already relaxing. He claims that he never saw me stop at Dave & Kerry’s table in the dining room, which is why he abandoned me – I guess I am an adult and can live with that.

Tonight's show was Steph Carse, a singer. He only had one show - at 8:15 pm - so we missed it, as we were still at dinner. Oh well.

It is now time for my 9:00 pm appointment at the spa where I have a Foot & Ankle Massage booked. I make my way down and arrive at the desk to check-in, almost interrupting a filming going on in the spa by the Cruise Director and the Activities Director. They are set up a few feet away in the Spa to film a “commercial” for the ship – and although I whisper to the desk attendant to check in, I can clearly hear my voice the next day when the spot is broadcast on the ship’s TV. Oh well – I can live in infamy now.

I get my paperwork to complete and make my way to the “Relaxation Room” at the very back of the ship – it is a little too dark to see the wake of the ship – and I sit and complete the necessary inquisition. Then, my attendant, Serena, shows up to take care of me – and she leads me to a room where I disrobe and get under the sheets. She then comes back in and places lavender-laced cotton balls on my eyes and then proceeds to give me one of the best 30-minute foot and ankle massages I have ever had. My feet have never been so happy after being so brutalized. Walking in Rome can do a number on your feet – trust me. TIP ALERT: Wear comfortable walking shoes in Rome – you’ll need them.

Serena is from Barcelona, Spain and so I practice my Spanish on her while she practices her English. We both admit to not being good at our second language but agree it is fun to practice.

After the massage, she disappears to allow me to dress and then returns with a flute of champagne for me – for my birthday! Ahhhh….I love birthdays and champagne. And spas. Life doesn’t get much better than this, dear readers.

Eventually all good things must come to an end and so it is time for me to leave the spa. I walk back to the cabin where Hubby is settling in. We have chocolates but no towel animals. But we have gifts! Woo hoo! Our C&A gifts have arrived and are on our beds – very large canvas tote bags and those lovely, scenic postcards. Ah, the joy.

We eventually get things settled and climb into bed. All in all, a very good birthday. Life is good.

Impressions: Salvatore was very good – besides the visual aids he used in the car (the books), he also played wonderful music at the appropriate times; he was a very good guide with lots of information and everything ran like clockwork for us today. Lunch, tours, guides, etc – all arranged for us and we were like “sheeple” just following along – which was nice, as we got to see so much and do so much. I would HIGHLY recommend Rome in Limo for future tours – and especially Salvatore. He was great!