Rome, Italy (Itinerary)

The sun rose over the land as we sailed into Civitavecchia, the port gateway to Rome. Our day was scheduled to be 7am to 6:30pm, which gave us a good amount of time to explore Rome. As usual, we were among the first off the ship, were on the first port shuttle bus, and walked a brisk mile to the train station. We bought our day passes and remembered at the last minute that we needed to validate the tickets in the machine before boarding the train. Whew! We were off on a pleasant hour-long ride through the countryside filled with various crops.

We got off at the St. Peter's Square station for our first stop at the Vatican.

 
We walked the half mile or so to St. Peter's Square.

Masses of people filled the square because it was Wednesday and the Pope would be making an appearance that morning in about an hour. What great timing for us.

 
Some aisles were saved for those with official business.

 
The Swiss Guard looked spiffy.

 
Groups of people in matching hats or tee-shirts were recognized in various languages before the ceremonies began. First up was a flag demonstration.

Then the pope slowly made his way up and down all the pathways

Images of the pope were shown on large screens around the square. Here a TV cameraman captures the people's faces as they are being blessed. We did not stay to hear him speak. Some of our fellow passengers spent all day here to absorb everything: the art, the museum, and the Vatican tours. We wanted to see more of the city.

 
Matching hats helps to keep track of the group.

 
In a store window not far from The Vatican.

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You can get an idea of Rome's sensibility when you see that buildings under repair are covered with huge screens so tourists don't have ugly backgrounds when taking photos. The photo on the left is located in front of such a screen.

Our next stop was the People's Plaza.

 
We eventually made our way to the top of the hill (with the arches) behind The People's Plaza. We think it may be one of Rome's "Seven hills."

 
The Leonardo da Vinci Museum would have been interesting, but we were in a scan-mode to see as much of the city as possible. If we come again, this will be on the list.

 
Good views from the top of the hill.

We could see Vittorio Emanuele Monument with its amazing rooftop statues from here. We would stop there later.

We could see people's rooftop living areas from the hill.

As we descended from the hill, we went into the train station next to this fountain.

 
Station art and train graffiti.

 
The exit from the train station was right next to the very famous coliseum.

 
A brick wall holds up the ancient stone arches.

 
This is a close-up of the above arch. Yes, it was mesmerizing...

A dig was going on at the base of the Coliseum.

 
On the wall of the Coliseum: details on the pope who started it and the one who finished it.

They cleared this street for a movie shoot. Some nerdy-looking guy was running down the road.

 
SPQR is an acronym of a Latin phrase, Senatus Populusque Romanus, "The Senate and People of Rome".

The massiveness of the Vittorio Emanuele Monument AKA Altare della Patria is amazing. See the Wiki page for history and more details.

 
It includes a tomb of the unknown soldier.