RSVP Mediterranean Odyssey Day Eleven: Rome, Italy

DAY 11: Rome, Italy

We left the ship with our belongings around 9:00 am and were back in Rome by 10.  We then proceeded to our Hotel (the Airport Hilton).  Apparently, we were not the only people on the cruise who had decided to stay there before heading back to the U.S.  We had to wait in line for about 40 minutes to check into our room.

At noon we took the Hilton shuttle into the heart of Rome.  We had no idea where we were when we got out of the bus but we were hungry so we stopped in a little café by the Teatro Marcello, an ancient Roman theater.  After lunch we walked up the road a bit and noticed some tourists going up a stairway that led to a courtyard surrounded by statues and some palatial buildings.

We decided to follow them up the stairs.  The buildings were nice but we knew there must be something else in the vicinity that was attracting all the tourists.  We were right.  As we walked behind the buildings we came to a view overlooking the ruins of ancient Rome.  There were columns and arches that led to no where, skeletons of cathedrals and buildings of state, and towering behind it all was the Coliseum. I was awestruck by the history that was spread out before me.  There is nothing like that in the U.S.

 

We saw a line of people walking down into the ruins in the general direction of the Coliseum and so we followed the crowds.  There were two things that I really wanted to see in Rome: the Coliseum and the Sistine Chapel.  As it turned out, I only got to see one.

The Coliseum was amazing. The outside looked pretty much as I’d seen in photographs but the inside was like being in another world.  The orange arches held high against the blue sky by the structure of the Coliseum were surreal.  I felt like I’d gone back in time to a world that was very different than the one we live in today.  It was as if just yesterday an arena full of Romans had been there cheering and shouting over an event that I would likely find very brutal.  It was a thrilling experience.

 

The walk to the Coliseum was a long one and we quickly realized that we were not going to be able to see all of Rome on foot so we decided that we would take one of the double-decker tour buses that we’d seen driving through the streets.  We got on a train and took it to the Termini train station, the main terminal in Rome, and got on the first tour bus we saw.  Within minutes we were off.

Rome truly is a beautiful city.  The architecture is absolutely breathtaking. There are more cathedrals and fountains in Rome than one can possibly visit in one day.  But a day is all we had and so we had to be content to simply drive by them.  My favorite sight on the tour was St. Peter’s basilica at the Vatican.  I’ve seen it on T.V. before and it basically looked like just another church but in person it is absolutely enormous and awe-inspiring.  One of the things I really wanted to see while I was in Rome was the Sistine Chapel but unfortunately it is closed on Sundays and our one day in Rome happened to fall on a Sunday.  It was very disappointing.

 

When the tour was over, we needed to eat fast because we had less than an hour before we had to catch the Hilton shuttle to get back to our hotel.  We found another café near the Teatro Marcello where we had some pizza and lasagna.  The food was outstanding as usual and we returned to the hotel stuffed and exhausted from our travels.

Continue to read more: RSVP Mediterranean Odyssey Day Twelve: Departure…