The trip to Rome took just over an hour, with some interesting views along the way. Sergio was a lovely tour guide who gave us plenty of info as we drove along.
Once we got to Rome, our first stop was the Coloseum. We went inside and up to the first floor, had a good look around and then went down to the interior of the bottom floor. Once we had seen everything we wanted to see we had a browse around the gift shop, before making our way back to Sergio at the vehicle.
We then drove to a viewing site for the Circus Maximus, where Sergio described the chariot races that once took place around the 2 Egyptian obelisks that had been situated at either end.
The circus maximus is behind us
Next
we drove up the hill to a beautiful orange garden that had stunning views over
Rome.
There was a lovely old church next to the garden and we had a quick look in there – so nice to visit a place with not a single tourist, except us!
The magic of Rome - unexpected treasures around every corner!
Next up was a viewing area that had magnificent views over the Forum.
I totally don't remember what this impressive building is called... one of the problems with Rome is Information Overload - it's sooo exhausting wanting to...and trying to... remember every single detail. Some slip through the cracks... as this one did!
Having had a good look at the Forum, we headed for the Pantheon.
We had a look around this amazing building, with the hole in its roof that never ceases to amaze me, before piling back into the car and heading to the Trevi fountain, where we did the touristy thing and threw coins over our shoulders into the fountain. Gotta make sure we come back to Rome you know J
Sergio had phoned ahead to book us a table for lunch at a really nice Italian restaurant very close to the Vatican. The staff were really sweet and the meal was excellent.
That's Sergio to my left and a staff member of the restaurant next to him
After lunch we met our delightful Vatican guide, Francesca. I can honestly say she is the best tour-guide I have ever encountered. She brought the Vatican museums to life and had us hanging on her every word, no mean feat when dealing with a bunch of people who (apart from Paula!) prefer to breeze through museums without taking too much onboard! Francesca made it so interesting.
We moved on to the Sistine chapel and then to St Peter’s Basilica. Even though we had been there before my jaw still hit the floor as I entered the door of St Peter's and it was fun to see Cal’s reaction. Nothing can prepare you for that first impression.
Having toured the Basilica we met up with Sergio again and he took us to his favourite gelateria, right off the tourist trail, where we had delicious gelato topped with whipped Bailey’s cream (a bit of fusion going on there!) Yum!
Sergio
then took us on a little detour to see an amazing optical illusion. We drove along a road where we could see St
Peter’s on our left, we then turned right, so that St Peter’s was directly
behind us – unbelievably, as we drove away from St Peter’s it grew bigger and
bigger…. Quite amazing!
Sadly, it was then time to leave Rome and head back to our boat, with our heads full of about a million facts and impressions of a city that I for one never grow tired of.
We saw a couple of bikini-clad prostitutes lining the highway on the way back to Civitavecchia! Cal and Paula are so innocent, they had no idea why these woman were standing there wearing their swim-suits and high heels and were shocked when I later told them that they were prozzies!
After
a freshen up back on board, Paula and Cal went off to Sorrentos for a pizza
supper, while Lisa, Trev, Grant and I opted for dinner in the main dining-room. We went for coffee at Café Promenade after
supper, before heading back to our cabin for some much-needed sleep.
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