Rome
If you would like to follow my 15 day cruise then read the previous posts here:
Venice (1)
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Koper (2)
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Sarande (3)
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Split (4)
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Catania (5)
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Amalfi (6)
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Tuk Tuk to the train station
How could anyone ever be expected to cover Rome in a day. It's an impossible task, but my husband and I decided we would make the most our one day in Rome and cram in as much as humanly possible.
Our ship docked in Civitavecchia on the coast of Italy. We got a tuk tuk to the train station and realised that the next train was in 4 minutes. The rush for tickets was insane! But we got it and ran to the train as the doors were closing. Rome is a one hour train ride from Civitavecchia to Central Rome Termini. We decided to get off a couple stops early because it was closer to the Vatican.
Unfortunately the Vatican was holding a major church service for its members and it was not open to the public that day. We walked as close as we could to the Vatican buildings avoiding the barriers and then bought tickets for the red City Sightseeing Bus down a little side street.
The cues to the service were amazing. We wished we could just walk in, but member had reserved tickets to the service and security was tight.
Castle of St Angelo
From the Vatican walked straight down Borgo towards Castle of St Angelo and crossed the river on St. Angelo Bridge to find the Red Bus stop. A bus was already waiting so we showed out tickets, got our free headphones and found a seat on the open upper deck.
The view from St Angelo Bridge
The bus took us in a round about way towards the area above the Trevi Fountain. The busses can't access the narrow streets of Rome, so they have a specific route that circumvents the busy areas.
Trevi Fountain
I must admit that I hadn't done too much research prior to our trip, so we used the Bus map to decide on our stops. Trevi Fountain was stop number 1 for us.
We hopped off and made our way about 5 blocks to the Trevi Fountain. Throw in your coins for luck! I once found out that the fountain is cleaned and coins are revoked every few months and the income is donated to local charities. That must be quite the lot of money!
The Trevi Fountain
I thought the fountain would be on a massive square but it turns out that it is crammed between a whole lot of buildings and the space for visitors os small and cramped.
We met new friends and fellow South Africans, Brian and Christine, on the cruise and they happened to be on the same red bus so they joined us for part of our walking tour of Rome.
The Spanish Steps
Next we walked through the streets using a digital map to the Spanish Steps. It turns out the Spanish Steps are named after the Spanish Square below which is also the location for the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican. And what's ironic is that the steps were paid for by a frenchman and designed by an Italian! How crazy is that.
The Steps from Below - crowds!!!!
With our friends on the Steps
The Spanish Steps and Square below
Anyway, the steps are beautiful and I can understand why the masses want visit them.
Basilica St Andrea delle Fratte
We happened to walk past a beautiful church that had free entry so we went in. We were sad to have missed the Sistine Chapel, but we were only too surprised to walk into this absolute gem.
We entered this Baroque church with the most incredible painted ceiling. We were completely overwhelmed because it was so unexpected. This Catholic Church dates back to the year 1000AD and has been restored after many years. Also near the altar were 2 marbles statues of Angels carrying musical instruments.
We dragged ourselves away from the church and back to our bus because there was still so much of Rome to see. We had only visited 1 area from 1 stop and it was definitely time to move on.
The Colosseum
Next stop: The Colosseum
The Arch of Constantine & The Colosseum
Our bus stop was just South of the Colosseum and as we walked up the hill the crowds grew. It was incredible to see so many people gathering to see a ruin. We did not go into the Colosseum with the crowds, but rather walked the massive outer walls and the Roman built Arch of Constantine. It's hard to imagine gladiators fighting and losing their lives, while crowds cheered. It was a different world back then.
The Roman Forum
Next stop: The Roman Forum
We got the bus to our next stop at the back of the Roman Forum. It was getting HOT so we stopped for the obligatory Gelato in a tiny Italian Cafe in a side street. This was our first rest of the morning and so worth it.
Then we were off walking again. First we went up the many stairs to the upper level of the Forum to take in the views of the many runs that surround this entire area. It's incredible that excavations are still continuing today. More and more is being uncovered and restored to tell the stories of Ancient Rome.
The Forum is raised up above the surrounding area so we had to defend a winding path to get back to the lower street on the other side. We crossed a road and walked through Trajan's Forum taking in the excavations.
Trajan's Forum and Column
We then found the Trajan's Column which is about 40 meters high and carved in a relief that winds its way up the column. The frieze tells historical stories in order of wars, conquests and sacrifice.
It was time to start making our way back to the ship, but rather than heading to the main Termini to catch the train, we decided to rather get the Red Bus back to the Vatican to get the train from a quieter train station.
The Vatican
We went back to the Vatican and this time the rows of steel barricades had been removed to allow the public to walk through the grounds. We walked through massive columns and arches, visited the Bernini Fountain and saw the St Peters Square Obelisk.
Cues were still 2 hours long to get into the Sistine Chapel, so we were not going to be able to do it. We slowly made our way back to the train station looking at all the tiny plastic electric cars along the way. We had noticed that more Italian cities had many tiny cars and Rome was exactly the same.
We made it to our ship in Civitavecchia with time to spare and very sore tired feet after walking 24 000 steps in the few hours that we had spent in Rome. Is there still more to see? ABSOLUTELY! Did we see a lot? YES!
Follow along for our next day in Florence
//:# (!worldmappin 41.90078 lat 12.45802 long Mediterranean Cruise: Rome (7) d3scr)