Day 13: Civitavecchia/Rome

What a day we had!  It was fun, it was challenging, it was exhausting…at 8pm we are back in our hotel in Civitavecchia. Stick a fork in me, I’m done!

It was nice to see sun again this morning when we woke up. Actually, shortly after we woke up; it was still dark when the alarm went off at 6am. We finalized packing up our cabin (the over the door shoe rack and all toiletries were packed in a Princess tote bag for fast unpacking tomorrow on the Norwegian Spirit). By 8am we were in the Horizon Court Buffet lingering over breakfast. Our tentative walk off time was 9:45am. 

It was a rather strange turnaround day. I suspect a large percentage of passengers were staying on until Dubai or Singapore, so disembarkation seemed very easy, and very fast.  By 9:25am they were making the last and final announcement for all disembarking passengers to go ashore, and that was our cue to go down to Deck 7 to disembark. Our two suitcases were among only 20 or so still remaining in the terminal. 

The waiting game then began, as taxi/shuttle after taxi/shuttle would pull into the parking lot in front of the terminal, and a driver would emerge, carrying a piece of paper with a name on it. Couple by couple, the waiting guests were picked up, most of them bound for Rome. Finally a van arrived and the emerging paper contained our name, and we were off, heading to the Hotel Traiano in.Civitavecchia. 

I don’t remember exactly why I chose this hotel for our one night stay. I knew it had an elevator (very important) and very good reviews. The price was certainly right (€81, including transfers and breakfast tomorrow morning). They do a big cruise business here. When we arrived this morning, the lobby was busy with people who were boarding the Sapphire today. 

We were assigned a room shortly after 11am, a nice corner unit on the fourth floor with a wrap around balcony.. It’s very basic but very clean and extremely quiet (which the hotels closer to the waterfront are not). It took us a few minutes to get settled and lock up our valuables in the safe, and then we set out to walk about 15 minutes down to the Civitavecchia train station. Our goal for the day was to go to Rome for the afternoon.

We purchased tickets for €4 each. Our outbound train was in a newer, two level car, and it was nearly empty. We watched while the train traveled south along the water and then did a big left turn toward Rome. I think it took less than an hour; this train was fast, reaching speeds of 92 mph. We disembarked at Stazione San Pietro, about a 10-minute walk from St. Peter’s Square. 

We first walked to St. Peter’s Basilica, thinking we might go inside again (and maybe even stay for the 5pm Mass), but were met with long, long lines waiting to see inside. Someone who worked there estimated it was a 75-90 minute wait to enter the basilica. When we were here two years ago, we had entered from the Sistine Chapel and avoided the line altogether. We didn’t realize until today what an advantage that had been!

St. Peter’s Square

Directional tiles

St. Peter’s Basilica

St. Peter’s Square

Vatican City parking

Lunch stop

Love these balconies!

HATE this trash!

Instead we just walked around Vatican City awhile, and finally settled on a restaurant to have a late lunch/early dinner. It was close to 5pm by the time we finished, and we headed back to the Stazione San Pietro to take a train back to Civitavecchia. Oh my.  The next train to Civitavecchia was cancelled altogether and the one after that was about 15 minutes late. When we boarded, it was standing room only and these were old cars with no bars to hold on to. I inched my way toward the sliding door at the back of the car, where it was hooked together with the next car and I held on to the door handle, hoping that I would not inadvertently open it while we were speeding across the countryside. 

It was dark when we arrived back in Civitavecchia, but we thought we could carefully find our way back up to the hotel. We stopped at a small store on the way to pick up beverages and snacks for the evening and are back in the room. Unfortunately, the WiFi that worked fine in the lobby isn’t working at all in our room, so I am typing this post on my iPhone. It’s good practice for the next ten days. On NCL we’ll be crossing to the dark side, and I will have to rely on publishing my blog posts the next day, pending a decent cellular signal in our ports. I will continue to write, even if I can’t publish, and will get caught up as soon as I can. 

G is fully absorbed in a show on one the TV’s few channels called Container Wars. It’s apparently an American show dubbed in Italian, so he doesn’t understand a thing that is being said, but is watching anyway. I remember he did this same thing in Papeete, Tahiti, only there the shows were in French or Tahitian, but I don’t get it. We have hours of shows downloaded on our iDevices. Shows in English. ;-) 

No TV for me; I will soon be asleep. We walked over 21,000 steps today, on rough cobblestones and uneven pavement, and I am sore (that foot!).  And wiped out. And really, really, really sore.

I felt again today what I’ve felt before... I wish I had visited places like Rome 50 years ago. Sure, I would have been a kid, but setting aside that reality, I have a feeling that all of these places were much less crowded with much less security a few decades ago. They are close to be ruined by both for me. (When did we get used to visiting tourist sites accompanied by camouflaged soldiers carrying automatic weapons? You don’t see that in the travel pix!) 

And cell phones don’t help the situation. G said today that, at any point in time, half the people are talking on their phones and the other half are taking selfies with theirs. He was right. He usually is. 

And it didn’t even add to my hurts to admit that. ;-)

Day 17: Re-embarkation on the Pacific Princess

Today was Day 17 of this season of cruising. In some ways, it feels like it's been 71 days. In others, it felt like today was Day 1. But Day 17 it is, and it was a very, very good day. 

First, a sidebar. You might recall that I mentioned that Papal Audience are held in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday mornings when the Pope is in town. That's the reason we chose to add a guided tour of the Vatican Museum to the tickets we had purchased online, because it allowed us to skip the hours long line waiting outside the Square and instead enter the Basilica directly from the Sistine Chapel. Well, we met passengers in Rome for the day from an NCL cruise ship who had just come from their audience. They had reserved their (free) tickets online months ahead of their visit. We didn't have the luxury of time to do that, but asked them to email us this photo when they returned home. They did, and here it is. If we are ever in Rome with more than a few days notice on a Wednesday morning, I am definitely going to do this. Look how close they were!

 

Pope Francis in his Popemobile in St. Peter's Square

Back to our day: 

We were awake and showered and in the Hotel Vespasiano cafe when it opened at 7:30am. Have I mentioned the amazing cappuccinos we've been enjoying at breakfast?  Fantastic, and we've been having at least two each morning. I was still full from my tagliatelle and seafood last night and had just fruit for breakfast; I knew what riches were in store for us when we reboarded the Pacific Princess. We returned to our room just to pack away the last of our toiletries and had help getting our suitcases down to the front desk. 

A final few words about the Hotel Vespasiano...we recommend it for people very able to handle the many marble and tile steps, sometimes partial steps where the several stairways turn and twist. G joked that the architect who fit this boutique hotel with its twelve rooms into this tiny space might have expired from a heart attack when it was all over. Really, it is a work of art, and the service is wonderful and the beds very comfortable (and the showers large and the bathroom sinks useless). And the location is unbeatable. But there are lots of stairs and no elevators and that why we had help getting our large suitcases down to the front desk. 

The last one was being brought down when our driver from Rome Airporter popped his head in the front door and asked if we were the couple he was looking for. He was 5 minutes early and we were totally happy with the service we had from that company. While G worked with him to load up his Mercedes, I paid the Rome City tax for our stay (it's a per person per day charge) and checked us out. By 9:31am, we were on our way through the horrible Rome morning traffic. It's craziness!

Eventually, we made it to the beltline that surrounds Rome and then to the north-south toll road that was fast and comfortable and the city turned to rolling hills and countryside and we looked at each other and said, "This is more our style!" Traffic was a bit heavy in the port city of Civitavecchia (say Che-VEET-a-VECK-ee-a), and the port itself was huge and our driver was directed first to the long breakwater where there were three cruise ships but we could tell none of them were the Pacific Princess but we couldn't see the Pacific Princess until finally it appeared on the main dock, hidden behind its larger counterparts.  By 10:45am we were paying our driver (104€) and handing over our big luggage and waiting in the terminal for just 30-40 minutes until we could check in and board just before 11:30am. 

Wucy, we're home, exactly 14 days after we left. 

The welcomes and hugs started before we were even on the ship. We love these people. We love this little ship, boo boos and all. We are only sad that the production show cast left before we arrived as the new cast came on board in Genoa. Company Performance Manager Rachel is the only one who remains, and only for this cruise. The new cast has no familiar faces but we will meet them and we will like them, I'm certain (and on this ship where they function as the entertainment staff, there will be many opportunities to get to know them). 

We dropped our roll aboards in the cabin (Deck 3 with a porthole, the same cabin we had last year) and headed to the Club Restaurant for lunch. Our waiter was Marco (also our waiter for dinner), and it was a feast. G's beef was actually filet mignon. I suppose they have some things to move out of the freezer.

We also just missed saying goodbye to headwaiters Nelson and Josko, but Antonio and Ilio are taking their places, and we've known both of them for years. We were told they were working the Panorama Buffet and so headed up there next to see them. Gosh, it's good to be home. It was sunny and dry today, about 70-ish, and we sat outside on the Panorama Terrace enjoying the weather and watching the very large ferries that go from Civitavecchia to several ports in this part of the Mediterranean. 

At 3:15pm, there was a cultural show in the Cabaret Lounge called the Corrado Duo and they were a pianist and a tenor who sang Italian songs in the style of Andrea Bocelli and they were incredible. What fantastic entertainment. They received a well deserved standing ovation and, honestly, if they are on board on December 3, our next turnaround in Civitavecchia, I would skip any sightseeing to listen to them again. 

It was muster drill time by then, something we thought we were done with for this season, but life had other plans. Afterward, we had just enough time to quickly unpack before first seating dining. We are at the same table with the same waiters (Marco from Mexico and Taufik from Indonesia) and it was like we never went home and did laundry and stressed. But when dessert time came, I freely ordered flourless chocolate cake and didn't delay the gratification until 'next cruise'. I have learned that life is uncertain, and 'next cruise' is never guaranteed; I need to eat flourless chocolate cake while I can. 

 

 

Mediterranean spinach dip

 

 

 

Dinner with a sunset view from our table 

We went directly to the Cabaret Lounge for the Welcome Aboard show, which featured opening and closing numbers by the new singers and dancers, and then a short show by British comedian Paul Adams. Funny guy, and it's a tough job, to keep travel-weary passengers awake and make them laugh and he easily did both.

Tomorrow is Naples, and we have no plans for the day. We did have a full day tour planned, booked independently, but when we were home, I cancelled it. A one week cancellation notice was required to not be charged and we really didn't know what was going to happen. We lost our independently arranged tour in Athens during the cancelled cruise, too. In fact, we have no solid plans for any ports from here on out. But it doesn't bother me in the least. We will find things to do...or we won't. Either way we'll enjoy ourselves. In fact, we might enjoy ourselves more by taking a more free-spirited approach to these cruises. And in the end, that is the real goal. 

We are home. Life is good. :-)

Day 16: Rome

I am going to make this post a bit shorter tonight to allow me some time to upload photos. Once we check out of the Hotel Vespasiano tomorrow morning, I will once again go from fast and free to slow and expensive WiFi. I want to take advantage of this while I can!

We slept until nearly 7am today, despite our 'early to bed' last night. We were wiped out- from the heat, the humidity, the crowds and the ten zillion steps we took yesterday. Speaking of steps, I actually left my fitness tracker at home this time around. My ship's card deactivated at least six time last cruise, after almost never having had that issue in the past. The only thing that was different was my fitness tracker, and I got tired of going to the Passenger Services Desk (PSD) every other day to get a new card. We'll see if my old luck returns. 

We lingered a bit over breakfast and cappuccinos. We didn't have any kind of schedule today, and it felt wonderful.  Our goal (albeit flexible) was to get to the Colosseum and Roman Forum, and the fastest way to do that would have been to take Rome's two metro lines to get there. (Due to all its buried archaeological sites, Rome has only the two lines). But underground was not how we wanted to do this. First, we wanted to see the city, not move under it. And second, after my experience in St. Peter's dome coupled with yesterday's earthquake (we had felt nothing, by the way), I was just not that anxious to go underground. While we had been walking around the Vatican area our first night here, we had seen one of the the city's trams, kind of like streetcars, powered by overhead wires. These looked pretty cute to us and we wanted to ride one while we were here. 

We walked north on Via Vespasiano a couple of blocks, and then east one block. We passed a tobacco store that sold public transport tickets, and bought two for 1,50€ each. Crossing the street from there took us to a center median that was the boarding area for the #19 tram. When it arrived, we were delighted to see it was one of the oldest trams, with just a single line of seats down each side with a middle aisle. While we had waited for it, we studied the sign that showed the stops along the line. We knew we could change trams at about six different stops, and memorized how many stops it was to the first and last of those. We struggled a bit to validate our tickets but a local stood up to show us how. Easy peasy once we were shown the trick. 

We changed trams in from of the Mueseum of Modern Art, to a #3 tram. This one was a little tougher; we needed to get off at the 17th stop, but some of the stops were actually two stops so we had to watch the signs at each stop. We needn't have worried; once we rounded a final corner, the Colloseum appeared, huge and ancient, right in front of us. It would have been nearly impossible to miss that stop. The Colloseum was completed in 80AD and is the largest amphitheater ever built (and yes, several Michigan Stadiums could probably fit in it).

 

 

 

We walked around then Colloseum looking for the ticket office, and caught sight of the crowds inside and the lines to get through security. As we were about to buy a ticket, G said he had had enough of both yesterday. It was a gorgeous day, low 70s, sunny and low humidity, and what we wanted to do more than get a detailed history of the Colloseum (we had read Rick Steve's section on it and found it a bit...disturbing) was simply walk around and take some photos. And that is what we did, spending an hour or so at our own pace, viewing the Arch of Constantine and the Colloseum from different angles and then walking up toward the Roman Forum and Palantine Hill (one of the seven hills of Rome)

 

Arch of Constantine 

 

 

Road to Roman Forum 

 

Roman Forum area

Just this side of the security check for the Roman Forum and Palantine Hill (long lines nearly back to the Colloseum), we turned off on a road called San...something (Benefacio?  I'm not certain) and we walked up what was basically Palatine Hill but outside the security fence. At the end of that road was a small, unpretentious (at least by Italian standards) church that was a real hidden treasure. We spent a few minutes inside and then walked back to the Colloseum. 

 

 

 

 

Looking back at the Colloseum 

At that point we had spent enough time in crowds for the day. We saw several different Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) buses near the Colloseum and decided on the spur of the moment that that was how we wanted to spend the rest of our afternoon. We chose one that cost 18€ per person for the day, climbed up to the second level and sat back to enjoy the ride. We saw way more of Rome that way than walking through crowds at street level, gorgeous views above the cars and people. The buildings in Rome are like the statues in the Vatican Museum; there are so many beautiful ones that eventually they feel a bit less awe inspiring. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rode the full loop once and then stayed on back to the stop nearest the Vatican. We had talked about getting off near the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps but decided we were just not that interested in getting another punch on our list of 'sites we saw in Rome'. Instead we wanted to have energy for a nice walk back to the hotel and then dinner out at a sidewalk cafe.  After we disembarked the bus, we crossed the Ponte (Bridge) Sant'Angelo over the Tiber River. It was built by the Emperor Hadrian in 134 AD (these dates are just amazing) to connect the city center to his newly constructed mausoleum, the Castle Sant'Angelo. At that point we kind of went on instinct, left turns then right turns. When we found same shade we used the Maps.Me app to confirm that we were on track, and soon started to recognize the area. 

 

 

It was so nice to return to the hotel around 5:30pm with a bit of energy. We got cleaned up and went back out for dinner, choosing a sidewalk cafe we had passed on our walk to the tram this morning. G had lasagna and I had tagliatelle with seafood and we split a bottle of wine and generally had a wonderful meal to wrap up our very short Rome stay. As he was reviewing his photos, G just said that we've met some really helpful people here, but the traffic and crowds are so horrendous that he could never stay here more than a few days at a time. We love Rome...in very small doses. 

The alarm is set for 7am tomorrow. As soon as we returned back to the hotel we went online to check on the whereabouts of the Pacific Princess. Great news...it has left Genoa and is making its way to Civitavecchia by 5am tomorrow morning!  I had had the scare of a lifetime this morning when I checked my emails and saw a Cancellation Notification from Princess. What???? It turned out that it was the notification we had never received in invoice form of the last cruise's cancellation. But it almost stopped my heart until I figured it out. All that stands between us and the Pacific Princess is one sleep, one breakfast, one pack up (easy to do since we've lived out of our roll aboards since we arrived in Rome) and one long transfer. We can do this!  The Pacific Princess can do this!  And exactly two weeks after the Nice mishap, we'll meet up again. 

Life is good. :-)

Day 15: Vatican City

Without a doubt, this day will top any 'best day ever' list we enjoy this season. It started out overwhelming (the Vatican Museum), became underwhelming (the Sistine Chapel) but ended with the highest of high notes in St. Peter's Basilica.

We set an alarm for 7am and went down to breakfast at 7:30am when the tiny cafe opened. Did I mention this small hotel has only 12 rooms?  Well, half of them could be seated at a time in the even smaller cafe. There was a nice selection of food - not Hotel West End nice, of course (that was amazing)- but we had eggs and yogurts and cereal and fruit and all sorts of pastries...and espressos and cappuccinos, natch. I took a chance and ordered a decaf cappuccino and it was safe...and delicious.  

We had talked to Oltjon at the front desk last night and he advised that we upgrade our Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel ticket, purchased online, for a guided tour. Every Wednesday morning, there is a papal audience in St. Peter's Square (free, but one needs more then the couple of days notice we had to snag tickets). As a result, the front entrance of St. Peter's Basilica is closed off until 1pm or so. Oltjon said the line to enter would stretch down the street in front of the church for hours, but if we upgraded to a guided tour, we'd be able to enter the Basilica through a side entrance from the Sistine Chapel directly into the nave. Though we came prepared with Rick Steve's audio tours on iPhone, the promise of skipping lines both at the Vatican Museam and St. Peter's Basilica was too tempting. Especially as it rained on and off all day long. 

My overwhelming impression of the Vatican Museum? Crowds. Never ending crowds, people wall to wall. And our guide told us that today was not a busy day at all. It was crowded and hot (and today wasn't hot) and about a trillion percent humidity. In the Vatican Museum courtyards, people were reluctant to stand outside which made the congestion even worse. And the sheer opulence of the art is almost too much to take in. I would enjoy taking the tour with about 2% of the visitors that we had today. As it was, it became a bit of an endurance contest. 

Still, we saw some things we really liked. The gallery ceilings were incredible, hundreds of works of art in each one.The map hall was impressive. Long before Google Maps the early explorers did a pretty good job of mapping the Roman Empire. And the tapestries were breathtaking. I could have enjoyed those all day. But the sculptures were just neverending, so large and beautiful that they lost their impact. At least for us. But the biggest surprise was all the statues depicting Greek and Roman mythology. I didn't see that coming in the Vatican Museum!

 

 

 

 

One of the many soggy courtyards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ceiling in the Vatican Museum

 

  

 

Missing human- mass of humanity

 

 

 

Vatican Museum ceiling (ditto below)

 

 

Before today, I was most anticipating the Sistine Chapel, but by the time we arrived there, after all those glorious ceilings in the museum, I had to tell myself to be impressed. Yes, Michelangelo painted this one, lying in his back, but it, too, was crowded and we kept being pushed onward, onward, and there was no time to just stand there and contemplate. And there no pews to sit in even if we hadn't been caught in this mass of humanity. G admitted that today was the first time he ever wanted to be pope, simply to have evening visiting privileges and the ability to view all of the splendors in the absence of people. 

(Photos aren't allowed in the Sistine Chapel)

We exited the Sistine Chapel through the 'secret' door at the back right corner. We were routed outside for just a minute to purchase tickets for 6€ each to climb to the observation deck, almost at the top of the dome. When we made our quick trip outside, we saw the long lines of people standing in the rain that Oltjon had told us about. I'm sure glad we saved our energy to climb the 551 steps to the top of the dome!

Our climb started out gently, with wide steps with low rises. But before too long we realized why there were signs advising that people with heart issues avoid the climb and and instead take the elevator as far as the Basilica rooftop. We reached the rooftop and took a few photos of a bride and groom (please tell me they took the elevator) posing there for photos and then continued back inside. Another hundred or so steps brought us to an observation platform on the inside of the dome. G said my first words were OMG OMG OMG (that's gosh, not God...I was in St. Peter's Basilica, after all!). Looking down on the Basilica for the first time was absolutely breathtaking. Only a semi-circle of platform was open, and we made our way around it, snapping photos through the plastic wire fence as best we could. 

 

 

 

 

Stairs continuing up from the rooftop

 

Rooftop of the Basilica

 

A rare break

 

Our first glimpse of the inside of St. Peter's Basilica

 

 

The Apse where 5pm Mass was held. The dove window above the altar is actually 6 feet tall, and the 

letters in the words that encircle the Basilica, which are Jesus' words to Peter from the Bible, are 7 feet tall. 

 

Every inch of wall in the dome is covered with mosaic tiles

I thought that was it for our climb, and even mentioned to G that it seemed far easier than 551 steps, until we saw the sign saying there were an additional 165 steps to the exterior observation deck. And these were the toughest steps of all. I was shaking from claustrophobia as these stairs narrowed and tightened with stone walls on either side and and only occasional slits letting in light and fresh air. At one point the stairs were about two feet wide...and the walls were tilted to the right. Walking required keeping one hand on the right side wall, and there was no stopping without holding up the people coming behind. I thought that was the worst part...until we got to the tightest circular stairs without room for even a handrail, just a rope hanging vertically. There was certainly not enough stair width for my size 11 boats to step on. 

 

 

 

 

The walls were starting to lean 

 

Narrower and leanier

 

I was living for the window openings

 

Another brief section of easy steps

 

The hardest part

Just when I thought that I couldn't take another second of feeling locked in with no escape; the stairs opened up to an observation deck overlooking all of Vatican City and much of Rome. The views made it almost (almost!) worth the climb. Because we had entered the Basilica from the Sistine Chapel, this was our first view of St. Peter's Square. Just as on Easter Island, it's kind of wild to see something in person that we've seen on TV all our lives. We were trying to figure out which residence was Pope Francis' (he doesn't live in the usual pope apartment) and another visitor heard us talking about it and took us over to where we could view it. He was Italian but had understood our English. That was lucky...and nice!

 

St. Peter's Square 

 

 

The papal garden

 

Pope Francis' apartment (2nd floor left, shuttered windows) 

 

Even the top of the dome was packed

 

All smiles on the way down 

We eventually made our way back down a different set of stairs with a different vertical rope and a different set of fun house stairs to the rooftop of the Basilica. There was a gift shop there, and a small cafe, and G went to have a bite to eat while I shopped (and found the most perfectly perfect gift for Mom!) and then bought postcards and Vatican City stamps. I joined G and we wrote out the postcards and mailed them at the Vatican City post office. Feeling a bit refreshed, we opted to take the stairs all the way down, instead of the elevator, and exited right into the nave of the Basilica. I have to say that, as impressive as it is from the floor, it was even more impressive from the observation deck above. 

 

Looking up at where we'd been

 

 The main altar where the pope says Mass and located over St. Peter's tomb

 

Religious tours entered praying and singing

We were limited to walking around the nave and spent our time viewing the Pieta (in its own alcove fronted by bullet proof glass) and the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. We went into the latter (no photos, just prayer), and then continued on to view the body of Pope John XXIII. And this is when whole 'tourists taking photos' things started to get to me. People were crouching down so they could be included in a photo with the dead pope. I really don't understand people who have a need to take a photo of themselves in front of everything, but in front of a dead pope?  That's just strange. 

 

The Pieta, carved my Michelangelo when he was 23 years old. 

In an alcove behind bullet proof glass. 

 

 

With people for scale. It's the largest church on earth. 

 

By this time it was almost 5pm, and we had spent most of the prior eight hours on our feet. We were sagging, but wanted to stay for the 5pm Mass in Latin in the apse, with its throne of St. Peter. We worshippers were allowed past the roped off area of the nave and past the main altar, built over the tomb of St Peter, where the pope celebrates Mass.  Even for an everyday Mass, our Mass in the apse had music and pipe organs in stereo (one on each side) and it was all very moving...plus we were able to sit for an hour (that alone would make a believer out of me). We had seen many nuns and priests all around the Vatican but no where near as many as at the Mass.

 

Latin Mass in the apse at St. Peter's Basilica with the throne of St. Peter.

A definite 'pinch me' moment!!

The six o'clock bells were chiming as we walked out the front of the Basilica and into St. Peter's Square for the first time. We took a minute to get photos of the Swiss Guards in their uniforms designed by Michelangelo. It was just starting to get dark, and as we turned around to look back at the church we saw that the lights had been turned on. Stunning!  We walked down the pedestrian street leading from St. Peter's Square and exited through an arch in the tall wall surrounding Vatican City. We were only about a ten minute walk from our hotel. What a perfect location!

 

 

 

We were so tired that having dinner in one of the many sidewalk cafes held less appeal than getting pizzas to take back to the room. We went to the restaurant right across the street from the hotel and ordered two small pizzas and crossed back to the hotel just as it started to get really dark. We felt so dirty that we had to wash our hands before we used the bathroom, before we undressed and then again before we ate. That's pretty dirty!  G was asleep before he finished his pizza. He was feeling better today but I think his cold caught up with him late afternoon. I am going to publish this post and then will upload photos before we check out of the hotel Friday morning. I'm just too darn tired to publish them tonight!

We had plans for the Colloseum tomorrow but will wait to see how we feel. We knew that we couldn't see even a small percentage of Rome's sites before leaving Friday for the Pacific Princess. What we didn't realize is that even a fraction of that many might be all we squeezed in.