Civitavecchia, Italy

April 10, 2023

Civitavecchia is where the cruise port for Rome is located and today we were taking a ten and a half hour tour into Rome so do some exploring. The bus ride into Rome was about an hour and a half and, once there, we were going to visit some catacombs, the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Vatican City, and have lunch. The day was packed and included a lot of walking (nearly 6 miles) and lots of people since it was, again, a holiday (Easter Monday).

The first place we visited was the Catacombs of Domitilla, which are outside the walls of Rome. Yes, Rome is, yet again, another walled city. Photos were not allowed in the catacombs. However, I did get some photos of the grounds.

Inside the visitor center, we were handed over to an expert guide and we were led down several flights of stairs to an underground church. While we sat on benches, our guide explained what the catacombs were and began our introduction to early Christian burial practices.

We then started walking down into the catacombs. The hallway was dark and narrow with niches carved into the wall which once held bodies. All of the bones from the catacombs were scavenged by early grave robbers and, most likely, some of the bones were sent to churches as relics. We stopped in a room (one of many) off the hallway. All of the walls had niches cut out and was probably a family tomb. There is nothing ostentatious about these graves. The richer people might have a fresco painted inside, but most were very simple. After an early Christian died, their riches would be found in heaven. We spent some time following our guide as she lead us through the maze-like tunnels and then back out through the underground church and into the sunshine. I find that when I go to places like the catacombs, I come away with a better understanding of how our ancestors lived and how customs that are still used today developed.

Now we were going to head through the city gates and into Rome. It didn’t matter where I looked, history just smacked me in the face.

Now the major walking portion of our tour would begin. Here’s some advice for you: when the shore excursion ticket describes the tour as “strenuous”, believe it! We had a few members of our tour who were very unhappy so much walking was involved. We heard variations of “Are we there yet?” and “When are we going to be done?” throughout the day. Buses cannot park in the center of Rome so, if you take a bus tour, you must walk to where the bus is. Of course, I don’t think there is any better way to see Rome than by walking.

When we reached the Colosseum, we were handed over to our new guide, Vincenzo, who would be with us for the rest of our visit to Rome. Our bus guide walked behind us to pick up stragglers.

The Colosseum will take your breath away. It is certainly an engineering marvel! So much of it is still standing. Of course, some sensitive restoration has been done to bring back its glory. There was originally two circular walls around the building. You can see below where one is partially gone.

Our tour included tickets that allowed us to go into the Colosseum and get a view from the ground level. After that we headed up a lot of stairs to the next level to look down into the Colosseum. I took a lot of pictures.

Some of the original entry gates still have the gate number visible. All those lessons I had in elementary school on how to read Roman numerals came in handy here.

This is a good view of the remnants of the rooms beneath the floor of the Colosseum where gladiators waited and wild animals were kept before matches. According to Vincenzo, by 2025 the floor will be restored to its original state and the only way you will be able to see these rooms is with another ticket. Even today, you need a ticket to go down and explore but a least you can see them from above.

There was a remnant of a fresco showing a map of the old city of Jerusalem.

Leaving the Colosseum, we started walking through the old Roman forum. We saw ruins juxtaposed with street performers and vendors, along with many Romans just out to view the beautiful day. Some of these pictures may not be exactly in the Forum proper but we’re close.

This small building (not the one with the dome) is the old Roman senate. It is much smaller than I had imagined.

Continuing our walk, we passed the Victor Emmanuel II Monument.

To reach the Trevi Fountain we passed through the square where the Vatican University was located.

Eventually, we made it to the Trevi Fountain. There was a huge crowed there, so we couldn’t get close. This is what we saw:

There was no way we’d get close enough to toss a coin into it. One couple on our tour decided to take the time to try. The rest of our group waited 20 minutes for them to return. Our guides were searching for them and they eventually returned oblivious to or not caring about all the complications they caused for the rest of us. Unfortunately, we have gotten used to this behavior. It doesn’t matter if you are on a ship sponsored tour or an independently arranged one, there are often people who think the schedule doesn’t apply to them. While frustrating, we try to shake it off and not let any upset spoil the rest of our day.

We were now heading to our bus which was still a ways away. The street was uphill at times and the roads were crowded.

We were now headed to lunch at a very nice restaurant. Unfortunately, I seem to have taken absolutely no pictures of this at all. It was a very good plated meal of pasta, chicken or salmon with vegetables, and dessert. Prosecco and wine were provided to drink along with water. It was nice to sit for awhile and rest before we headed to our final stop of the tour, Vatican City.

Again, the parking garage for us bus was a few blocks away from the Vatican. There is a simple metal fence dividing Italy from Vatican City. We were now in another country. I have seen so many pictures and videos of St. Peter’s Square filled with people waiting to see or hear the Pope. In fact, some of our fellow passengers heard him speak that morning. He addresses the crowd from the window of the Pope’s official residence. However, Pope Francis doesn’t actually live there. It was too fancy and big for him, so he has rooms at a hotel run by nuns just next door. We were not able to go inside St. Peter’s as the lines were way too long and we would only be there a relatively short time. The Vatican has magnificent architecture and was, all in all, very impressive.

We even got to see the Swiss Guards.

There was a recent (2019) sculpture in the square dedicated to migrants.

Also, the Vatican has its own mailbox.

We said “Goodbye” to Vincenzo and headed back to the bus. We did a little more sightseeing as we drove out of Rome to head back to Civitavecchia. One of the pictures is of the Tiber River.

You really do need a lot of time to see Rome properly. This short visit made us both eager to return one day. Our return list is still growing!