Civitavecchia and Il Vaticano

Ciao! Our last dinner on board the ship was wonderful – took lots of pictures, laughed, cried, and of course had many beverages. We even got to see the grand finale of the karaoke superstar competition…what a great way to end the trip!

Our ship docked in Civitavecchia early at 5am and we got off the ship for the last time at 7:15am and boarded a bus for our tour of the Vatican City in Rome. It was about a 45 minute bus ride from the port to the city center where we got off the bus, and we were appreciative of the nap time! Once we got to the Vatican City walls, we met up with Fabio who would be our tour guide. He led us up some stairs to a kind of back entrance to the Vatican where we went through security and directly into the Vatican Museum (instead of the main entrance into St. Peter’s Square that is so popular and crowded). The museum was wonderful – they have so many fabulous artifacts and pieces of art (shocker), obtained God knows how (probably not all purchased honestly if you catch my drift…again, shocker). There were enormous tapestries, statues, Roman candelabras, the first maps ever commissioned by a Pope, and so many other wonderful things. Check the pictures when we finally get them online. Then we made our way to the Sistine Chapel…beyond words that place is. The paintings done by Michelangelo cover the entire ceiling and all 4 walls. It is absolutely breathtaking and wonderful. Fabio explained to us before entering the various meanings of all the different scenes, origins of the stories they tell, and also the process of the conclave, how the stove works, and all of that. A tip for anyone who wants to visit the Vatican: do it with a guide, you will learn so much more. Also bring a neck brace for after you visit the chapel, because you will get a crick staring at the ceiling for 20 minutes…totally worth it. I could talk about this place for another 5 paragraphs so I’ll move on. We then made our way out of the chapel and to St. Peter’s Basilica. Again, absolutely wonderful and breath-taking. I am of the opinion that you don’t have to be Catholic to appreciate all of these things, but because I am Catholic I suppose I can’t speak for those of you who aren’t…go there and then tell me if you agree that it’s absolutely fabulous and awesome. The Basilica, for those of you that don’t know, is the biggest basilica in the WORLD. Yes, like the whole entire globe. And once we were inside I had no trouble believing that – it is huge and seemingly endless. The first awesome thing we saw was Michelangelo’s Pieta’, which, like the statue of David, is wonderful to see in person. Another little lesson for you folks (I’m sure some of you know this already but I didn’t so I’m sharing), the Pieta’ di Maria, or the Compassion of Mary, is a common statue and painting idea that was done during the Renaissance (and before and after that as well), but Michelangelo’s is simply the most famous representation of Mary’s compassion for her Son after He has been crucified. It is really quite moving.

So anyways then we moved on to numerous other landmarks within the Basilica, including different famous Pope’s entombed above ground with shrines and statues, marble work, and one of the most impressive things, the mosaics. There are absolutely no paintings or frescos in the Basilica – it is ALL mosaics, which is again just mind-blowing. Check out the pictures and you’ll get a good idea. Moving on we explored more shrines to Popes, saints, martyrs, the most important of which (next to Jesus obviously) was the one for St. Peter, which was especially decorated since it was the week of his feast day. Then we saw Bernini’s most famous altar (it is enormous and beautiful also), and more little mini shrines and altars along the way on the way out. The Basilica is 3 football fields long and ridiculously tall. Inside the biggest dome and all along the main aisle, the letters along the ceiling are 6 feet tall. The place is just huge.
After exiting the Basilica we were able to enjoy the beauty of the Square, the symmetry of the columns surrounding it, and the lovely sound of hammers and cranes as they set up for St. Peter’s feast day event. We then traveled with our tour group to a gift shop selling mostly Catholic goodies (big crucifixes, millions of rosaries, statues of Mary, mini holy water holders to hang by your door…like I said, Catholic goodies), and then after a bit of shopping and free toilettes (which as you know are a hot commodity in Italy) we boarded the bus again and were dropped at Termini Station for transport to our hotel.

This part of the trip is less interesting but certainly comical and worth mentioning. We waited at the station for a taxi for quite a while, and finally with the help of Armando, secured an honest taxi (again hard to come by) and made our way back to the Rome Park Hotel where we stayed pre-cruise. The weather was lovely and so we decided to nap by the pool, however after a while it was a bit too blustery for relaxation and we moved our naps inside. Our plan was to wake up and go to the city center or a local place for dinner around 8 or 9 (since the Marriott charges 15 euros for a soda, it’s not an economical place to have any meals), but when we woke up at 9:30 we decided to bag dinner and kept sleeping until morning. It was fabulous, and I for one was not even hungry, having eaten for 9 people the past two weeks.

So tomorrow, we will sleep in a little and venture back to Rome to do some more touring!