World Cruise 2015: Day 100

The last stop in this very long list of port stops is Civitavecchia, Italy. It is the port of Rome. Civitavecchia is a town and commune of the province of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located 80 kilometres (50 miles) west-north-west of Rome, across the Mignone river. The harbor is formed by two piers and a breakwater, on which is a lighthouse. The name Civitavecchia means "ancient town". It is the third most important seaport next to Naples and Genoa.

Rome’s nicknamed the Eternal City for a reason. In Rome, you can drink from a street fountain fed by an ancient aqueduct or see the same profile on a statue in the Capitoline Museum and the guy making your cappuccino. Rome is also a city of contrasts—what other place on earth could be home to both the Vatican and La Dolce Vita?

Rome was founded in 753 BC, and the birth of this city is celebrated every 21^st of April by the Romans. The city itself was famously built on seven hills, a number that was a universal symbol for completion and perfection. This was likely not a coincidence, as the founder of Ancient Rome wanted the world to know that this particular city was destined for greatness. Over the course of the last 3,000 years the sheer volume of history and culture that has accumulated here is nothing short of spectacular. However, what is more charming is the way that history is preserved within a cosmopolitan atmosphere. It is the perfect blend of the old and the new with a must see collection of famous sights that put most other destinations to shame. This includes the ancient ruins of the Coliseum and the Pantheon, as well as the impressive art that can be found in Vatican City and St. Peter’s Basilica.

However, equally important is taking in the Roman culture. From the pasta to the gelato, food is an important part of daily life in this city and one of the best ways to pass an hour is by sitting at a café and soaking in the sights, sounds an smells that are implicitly Rome.

We took a Holland American Tour today that was 10.5 hours long, so we saw a lot of the sites, but did not get to sit in a café and enjoy that part of the culture. We started our tour with the Coliseum. Known as the Flavian Amphitheater it was built in the middle of the broad valley between the Palatine, Caelin and Esquiline hills, three of the seven hills of Rome. It took more than 100,000 cubic meters of travertine to build it and even the metal pins that held the blocks together must have weighed more than 300 tons. It was begun by Vespasian shortly after 70 AD and was opened by Titus ten years later. The ceremonies and games on that occasion went on for a hundred days and they say over 5000 animals and 2000 men were killed in there during that time. They would put sand on the floor so it would soak up the blood.

The next major stop was at the Pantheon. This was originally a pagan temple dedicated to twelve pagan gods that was destroyed by fire in 80 AD and rebuilt between 118 and 125 AD. The inside is all original. In 608 AD the Byzantine emperor Phocas gave it as a gift to Pop Boniface IV. It was then transformed into a Christian church. Today all the pagan statues are replaced by Christian saints.

For lunch we went to restaurant Casa Nova. We had salad, lasagna, dessert and lots of wine. It was excellent. We then went to our last stop, St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica. We had to wait in line for 40 minutes to get into the Basilica but it was a pretty day. The whole area, as well as the Basilica, were beautiful to see.

1 – Sunrise

2 – Umbrella Pine, they have them all over

3-4 Arch of Constantine

5-17 Coliseum

18 – Aqueduct

19 – Temple

20 – Temple of Hercules

21 – Theater of Marcellus (11 BC); built by Caesar and dedicated to his nephew

22 – Palace of Justice (like our Supreme Court) and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for those who died in WW I

23-25 Church of St. Andrew

26 – Bridge over the Tiber River

27 – What is found of Stadio di Domiziano