Day 07 - Rome

Today we woke up at 6am, had an early breakfast in the Windjammer, and met our tour group at 7:45am. 

There was a quick rain shower that fell at around 7:30am. The amount of rain was pretty light considering how loud the thunder was that preceded it.

Our tour guide, Daniel, escorted us to a bus for a short 10 minute ride to the train station where we caught a “vintage” or diesel train to Rome. We met a couple from Sweden who spoke excellent english and for whom this was their first cruise. The train ride took about 1 hour and stopped at the Stazione di San Pietro.

The station was a short 15 minute walk to Saint Peter’s Basilica where the tour guide “set us free like birds”. We had from 9:30am until 5pm to explore Rome on our own.

We walked to the Castle St. Angelo. We crossed the river and made our way to the Pantheon. The crowds at the Pantheon were pretty light and we were able to walk right in. The condition of the building’s interior is pretty amazing considering its age. The coffered ceiling is an architectural and engineering marvel. It measures 142 feet across and today remains the largest unreinforced concreate dome in the world. In fact, it wasn't until 1436 (1,500 years later) that a larger dome was built. That nod goes to Filippo Brunelleschi’s dome a top Florence's cathedral. Michele has wanted to see the Pantheon since her college art history class. There are even decorative holes in the floor where the rainwater can drain out. 

  Where once statues of pagan gods stood, christian icons now reside.

Rob found a crack in the wall. A measuring device has been installed to monitor it.

 

The outside of the Pantheon is more close to what you would expect a 2100 year old building to look like.

We left the Pantheon and made our way towards the Arch of Constantine. Along the way we passed the Altar of the Fatherland. This is quite the huge structure and is very white. 

We also passed the Colosseum as it is right next to the Arch of Constantine. Both structures are pretty amazing. The arch of course is in far better condition than the Colosseum ruins. The crowds were unreal. It was also fairly hot at 86 degrees. 

We took a short detour into the Palatino and looked at ruins.

We proceeded south to walk in the Circus Maximus ruins. Nothing really remains of the structure but as we walked along what use to be the center of the oval track, you can imagine the stands that ran along both long sides and the spectacle that the races were when they were held thousands of years ago.

At Noon we started to head back towards the Vatican City in the direction of the Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps.

We found a nice little restaurant called La Lanterna for lunch (Via della Pilotta), which advertises authentic Roman food. Daniel had told us to find a restaurant on a side street with reasonable prices. We shared gnocchi pomodoro and a mixed salad. Yum. There was a group of clergy at the table behind us. They were having a good time taking pictures, eating strawberry deserts, and drinking vino and limoncello. 

It was a short walk to Trevi Fountain from our lunch stop. Trevi Fountain was beautiful. The crowds were overwhelming here, too. We did not throw any coins in the fountain. Michele was worried that Rob might throw in 2 or 3 coins (which signifies that you want a new spouse) but all we had was paper money.

The Spanish steps was another 15-20 minute walk from the fountain. We walked up the steps and Rob counted 132 steps.

It was now 3pm and we started to make our way back to the river. We crossed the river and followed it past the Castle St. Angelo and the Supreme Court building. The Italians were not modest in decorating the facade of that building.

We arrived back at the station at 4:00 where we waited for the rest of our group to catch the 5 pm train back to Civitavecchia where the ship was docked.

Today was the longest and highest single day walking mileage so far at about 9.5 miles. We were proud of ourselves for having seen most of the major sights of Rome entirely by foot. The temps were warm but the humidity was quite low so ducking into the shade when we found it offered a nice respite from the heat.

Michele kept in touch with Katlyn by text during the day. They were taking the hop on hop off bus through the city. Katlyn said they saw “a fountain, pantion and some other places.” Apparently her legs almost gave out from walking. Michele had the same problem. 

When we got back Rob was not hungry and Katlyn did not want to eat in the dining room with everyone else. Instead she and Michele met to walk up to the Windjammer for dinner. That night the waiters had chocolate covered bananas so Katlyn got a few. They had a fun girls dinner together. 

We all were signed up to see Hiro tonight. It is a water show in the outdoor aqua theater at the back of the ship. It was really cool (depending on who you ask). They had suspended ladies, people doing diving tricks from platforms and water related dancing and acrobatics. A tight rope walker did tricks at the end. The pool can be quickly converted to platforms from underneath.  

After the show Michele and Katlyn got sorbet in the sugar palace, then met Rob, Marcia and Jason upstairs to play the Apples to Apples board game. At 11pm we all went to bed. Tomorrow is Naples.