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TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2013:

Tuesday we were in the port of Civitavecchia, Italy from 7:00AM to 7:00PM

This was probably the most disappointing day of my trip.
I decided to do Rome on my own and ended up spending most of my day waiting for the
damn tourist bus. I started my day at St. Peter's Square where the line to get in the
Basilica wrapped all the way around the entire square. From St. Peter's I rode the
worthless tourist bus to Venice Square and the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II.
From here I walked to the Trevi Fountain.

All of the images below are thumbnails and can be clicked on for a larger image.

 St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Rome's monument to Vittorio Emanuele II Rome's Trevi Fountain

My walk through Rome on this very hot August day continued to Piazza di Spagna and the
Spanish Steps and finally to Piazza del Popolo. From here I walked back to Venice Square
and then took the broken down bus to the Colosseum. It was then back to the Vatican City
parking garage for the return trip to the ship in Civitavecchia.
The Spanish Steps at Piazza di Spagna in Rome Rome's Piazza del Popolo The Colosseum in Rome

There was a beautiful sunset shortly after sailing away from Civitavecchia.
A Mediterranean Sunset A Mediterranean Sunset

The video below is 28 minutes long of Rome and my sail away from Civitavecchia.

MY DAILY EMAIL SENT ON AUGUST 13, 2013
Howdy folks,

I was up early this morning and heading to Rome. I decided to do Rome on my own. Because last time I was here on a cruise ship I took a tour. We spent more time eating lunch than actually seeing anything. So this time I decided I would do it on my own. Apparently that decision was a big mistake. My bus to Rome dropped me at Vatican City. I was going to visit St. Peter's Basilica and then move on to other places. But the line to get in wrapped all the way around the entire square. So since I have actually been in there before, I decided to skip it. I walked to the end of the main street that runs into the Vatican to catch the hop-on, hop-off tourist bus. This is how I was going to get around the city. This place was a mad house. About a 1000 people waiting to squeeze on a bus that can only hold about 65 people. It was that way at every stop all day long. I spent most of my day waiting for the damn bus. Then the first one would be full and would have to wait for another one. I did manage to see a few things but it was not a very enjoyable day.

Below is St. Peter's Basilica where I started my day.



After finally getting on the awful bus, I got off at Venice Square where the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II is located.



From here I walked to the Trevi Fountian.



From there I walked to the Spanish Steps aka Piazza di Spagna.



From there I walked to Piazza del Popolo.



Next I rode the awful bus to the Colosseum.



Getting back on the bus here was a thrill. The police had to be called people were so mad. Way too many people crammed on to one bus and they told people to get off. The people refused and they went and got the police to throw them off. I finally got on the third bus. At this point I was afraid to ever get off again for fear I would never get back to the Vatican to catch my bus back to the ship.

There are seven cruise ships in town today. Almost every tour for all seven of those cruise ships meets at the Vatican parking garage at 4:00. I can't even begin to tell you how unbelievable that chaos was.

I can't tell you how nice it was to finally return to my comfy home on the Royal Princess. We sailed away from the port town of Civitavecchia shortly after 7:00. I captured a beautiful sunset from my balcony a couple hours ago. A peaceful end to a chaotic day.



Hoping for a better day in Naples tomorrow,

Tim
Click on email photos for the large full-size photograph.

My brothers visited Rome a few months before I did.
Their visit was a lot longer and more complete than mine.
Their video is 42 minutes long.

This was my second visit to Rome and Civitavecchia. I was also here in 2008.


Click on the arrow above to continue to my next stop, NAPLES, ITALY!

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