Today was a really early departure for us. Our tour would take us from the port into Rome, see a few sights, and return. We have all slept pretty well on the boat and have had plenty of energy for the days. Today was a full packed day, so we need all the energy we have.
The tour check in was on the third deck, and once we got that done, we headed to the bus. The bus ride took an hour and a half with the guide telling us all kinds of information about what we were about to see. We arrived at the stop and headed out.
Here is the Trevi Fountain. They are doing a huge restoration of just the fountain, so you can't see much. But, you can walk through an elevated path where the water normally is, allowing for a closer inspection of the fountain. Pretty cool.
Being the summer, and the high season, there are tourists everywhere. I think we found them all between the bus stop and the Colesium. It made for great people watching, but getting your best shot on the camera was almost impossible. No worries. We just wanted to see this stuff up close and in person.
The Forum.
This group was entertaining. They were from our bus and did whatever they wanted, anywhere they wanted. The man let his boys stomp on the fenced off grass section in from of everyone. I found out later that he was Canadian, but he spoke with almost a perfect American English accent. To the others around us, I am sure he was taken for an American and not really setting the best example. Go him!
At this point we saw the Colusium for the first time. I was amazed at how big it was from a distance and walking up to it, it became even bigger. My parents were not even showing and signs of being tired. The walking was intense over the cobbled streets. The excitement of the sights keeps you going.
This was a great place for a break after the Colusium. We were wating for the bus, but had entertainment from the local street vendors to pass the time.
The next stop was Vatican City. The bus driver parked us in a secret underground parking area. It was built with a very tall roof to accommodate the coach sized busses. Our exit was through a little alley popping us out right at the Vatican.
We took a moment for lunch in a small place off the main road. Funny enough, we had pizza and pasta for lunch with the wondful house wine. Like almost everywhere in Europe, there was WiFi available. I quickly took a look at my email and so did my mom. Her news was much more exciting that mine. She heard from her dog breeder that her puppy came out succesfully from the mother ship. Now, when she gets back to Virginia, she can pick one out from the litter.
Yeah, the Vatican was cool, but more impressive to me was the line going into it. I swear it was about a half mile long. No, we didn't go in. We just checked out the outside and walked around.
We got back to the port in just enough time to make the departure. It was a long and tiring day. We just washed up and chilled on the deck for a bit before dinner. Our rotation took us to Carioca's for dinner for the second time. This time we got to enjoy a Peruvian menu which went with the theme of the restaurant. There were some really interesting choices. Katherine and I both started with an ahi tuna and avocado tower and tiger shrimp ceviche and palmitos salad. Katherine enjoyed a lobster, shrimp and salmon skewer on quinoa with a nice dried mango, pineapple and toasted coconut salsa. I ordered the garlic rubbed roasted beef ribeye. I guess I overlooked the "roasted" part, because I would not have ordered it if I had noticed this. The meat ended up being tough. Why ruin a perfectly good ribeye by roasting it? For some reason they cook meat like this in the Vegas casinos as well. I miss my grill.
Tomorrow we look forward to a sea day. I plan to relax and enjoy the open ocean. You can see nothing for hours out here!
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