(Day 14) Eternal City

Our glorious voyage across the Mediterranean has come to an end…and what of it? This boat has become my home, for all intents and purposes, and I am sad to say goodbye. As we packed up the last of our goods from our stateroom, we were right back to where we started only 12 days earlier – in port at Civitavecchia near Rome. For nearly two weeks, we owned this boat – along with a gazillion geris, of course, but now we are like family. Family that is ready to kill one another once the shuttle buses arrive and it’s a free-for-all. But first, breakfast.



The Lido restaurant on the morning of debarkation always has a hint of sombreness. Goodbye little shippy! I will miss you!

After we actually got off the boat, we decided we were going to make an attempt at public transportation and take the train into Rome. In order to get there, we first needed to catch the Carnival shuttle to the entrance of the port (which was freaking far, btw) which really was more challenging than it sounds. There were many, many buses out front and none of them marked as the port shuttle. Then, when we discovered one, it was just driving away. So we’d wait, but then later discover it had come back but parked elsewhere. Worst! Then when we discovered the right spot and planned to wait patiently, we got swarmed by disgustingly rude families who refused to wait in line and encouraged their children to brag to their schoolmates when they got home and push others out of the way once the bus finally comes. Arg~! I’m ticked now. When the bus came, we made sure to push them out of the way first and shove ourselves on before them. Petty much? We weren’t successful anyway, but we made it onto the bus.

We hurried to the train station and then onto the train that was departing – adrenaline!! The train whizzed on towards Rome and shortly after arriving, we found our B&B and checked in.





The place wasn’t anything fancy, but it was clean and quiet and very close to Rome’s central station, Termini.





We had a tour starting in the early afternoon so we wanted to grab some lunch first. Where to eat…where to eat…how about we try pizza again? Um…I should have known that wouldn’t be a good idea.



The place looked cute and it said “wood fired oven” which is my favie. The prices were…a bit high, but this is Rome, right? We should have been warned when the restaurant was virtually empty and the wait staff seemed angry. I ordered a Quattro-fromaggi pizza and when we tried to order tap water, they were like, “No!” Awkward. I forgot they don’t drink tap water here. We have to order the five euro glass bottle and partition the supply among our four thirsty selves. :(



Urg. I should have learned when I was in Paris that European cheese is really gnarly. This pizza just tasted like a salty-grease-lick. Blah! And then we had a creepy waiter who honestly stood behind Grant and stared at us for the entire meal. Not to mention how everyone stared when I pulled out my credit card and the ensuing refusal to split the bill and mandatory gratuity charge. I’m not pleased.



Anyways *shudder* moving along…our tour was departing from near the Colosseum, so we made our way toward that direction. As I described yesterday, when I see these historical things, my brain goes, “Uwaaaaaaa~!”









And a panoramic – just for good measure! (Click to enlarge):



They also had another Arc de Triompf:




Actually, maybe this one is called something else. I don’t know. I don’t care.

We were really early to arrive at the tour joint, so we found a bummy park nearby to rest our bones.





!!!! Segways are fun. And I’m kind of a pro.





After a bit of practice and rolling around the bummy park, we were off! I was a bit irked as the group was supposed to be maximum six but there sure were more than that! I’m a stickler for rules. Sometimes.












These are the ruins near Circus Maximus – can you believe that those arches in the ground used to be doorways? Our guide said that Rome is getting buried further and further every year and eventually all the historic spots will need to be excavated. Further to that, much of ancient Rome is still underground and archaeologists won’t excavate further until technology becomes advanced enough to enhance preservation techniques. That’s why the subway system in Rome is so limited – they can’t keep poking around underground because they always discover something really old.



A beautiful panoramic of Circus Maximus with Palatine Hill in the background (click to enlarge):



And us!:



Every segway tour always has to have one person that falls – thankfully it wasn’t anyone in our group. It was the lady in the picture below on the right! (Sorry lady, but I have to point you out…for some reason.)



Our next stop was a little lookout ledge at park than was crawling with teenagers who refused to move. Worst little buggers. The view was nice though – I can see St. Peter’s!





Our guide then brought us to a little hole. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? Really, it was a little hole in a door. The hole had a line up and no one spoke of what was on the other side. When it was my turn, I was surprised…so I took a picture (two actually…the way the camera took a picture, it didn’t capture the whole thing…)


A forest? How peculiar! And through the forest…


The dome of St. Peter’s at the Vatican! COOL.





The afternoon was wearing on and we passed through some of downtown – what a messy traffic group! I wouldn’t like to drive in Rome. The horns were a-blazing.


”Eyyy! C’mon! Blah blah blah yelling in Italian!”

Are any of you familiar with the La Bocca della Verità (in English, ‘The Mouth of Truth’)? I saw my first replica of this statue on my first visit to Tokyo and I kind of think it’s awesome. Wikipedia tells us:

The most famous characteristic of the Mouth… is its role as a lie detector. Starting from the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie with one's hand in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off.

So rad, right? I was pumped to see him in person:



The thrill ride doesn’t stop! Next up is the Roman Forum.



And, of course, the full-size panoramic (click to enlarge):



It was here that I found some archaeological evidence that the Japanese had been here before I had:




Hrm…what he be scratchin’?





Yup, we’ve arrived at Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome. It was here that the city was formed.







After going down some crazy-steep hills on two wheels, we were soon scooting back towards the Colosseum.







Standing is hard, y’all. After we returned our segways, we were famished! We decided to head to the piazza closest to our hotel and rustle up some grub. Arriving at Piazza Repubblica, the choice was clear – McDonald’s!! And what a glamorous one it was.





The lady who served us was a harsh biznatch. In my very best Italian (which is so bad btw) I ordered Marty a Big Mac meal and me a McChicken – but I wanted a bottle of water and a salad instead of Coke and fries. OH NO I DIDN’T!! Oh yes – customizing your meal was enough to make the lady want to breathe fire. She had pre-poured Cokes so she was ticked that she had to walk further for the water. My supplemental items threw her off so bad that she forgot Marty’s fries. It was a mess. But it was a delicious mess.



McDonald’s in Rome has the best patio ever. Like, magical.







This brings us to our last Roman moments with our traveling companions. We explored the piazza in the twilight.





Today we don’t have any towel animals or mints to come home to – just a hotel room with super-noisy cars in the alley below who insist on parking others in…and then making the rest of us suffer when that person just jams on their horn for 20 minutes until the person comes back and moves their car.



We said goodbye to Grant and Rachel and they headed on their way back towards the Hilton at the airport. They are leaving for Canada tomorrow while we still have another two days to explore the city. To be honest, I’m a bit jealous they get to go home – I’m zonked and have overloaded on a buttload of culture – not to mention the rudeness of Romans. BUT! We are here – let’s try to overcome and you know how the old saying goes – when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Now excuse me while I go to sleep on my non-hypoallergenic pillow…