Travel to Rome and the Colosseum
Before leaving, we had decided tgat DD was too young for a full day of old buildings in Rome. While she had done great on our half day tours in Barcelona and Pompeii, we felt good about our decision. So, my dad and I were heading to Rome and my mom and DD were spending the day on the ship.
We had an 8:00 pickup time scheduled with Rome In Limo.
https://www.romeinlimo.com/
We had booked the Rome and Catacombs tour. My parents had been to Rome before so I was really the driver of the itenerary. They offered the Rome and Vatican tour, but I just didn't have a lot of interest in the Vatican. All the descriptions were insanely crowded. Plus, I knew I'd be seeing plenty of other Catholic churches (we aren't Catholic.) Finally, because we aren't Catholic, the Vatican doesn't hold extra religious significance. I decided we'd see more of Rome if we skipped the Vatican. I did think the catacombs sounded interesting and my dad had never seen them.
I set my alarm for 6:30 so I could get dressed. Dad and I had agreed to meet in Cabanas for breakfast around 7:15. DD sleepily said goodbye to me and my mom brought her book in the room as I headed upstairs. Dad was still getting ready. Ha! I had learned from the day before and I had a good breakfast today: mainly protein with some carbs (eggs, musleix, and fruit.) It was perfect and lasted me well.
Then we headed off the ship. Before leaving, Rome In Limo had told us they would be waiting right outside the ship, but then Darren had been using lots of scare tactics before the show the night before saying that no private excursions could get close to the ship and we'd have to walk a long way or take a shuttle to meet them outside the port area. This was definitely not true. Enrico was waiting just past the security booth. Super easy.
I took a photo from where we met him. Notice you can still see the gangway.
We got in the car and started our drive. Getting out of the port area was super interesting. Lots of fishing boats were getting ready for the day and we saw fishermen repairing nets by hand.
As we drove we discussed our plans for the day. Enrico wanted to know our priorities. Mine was to see ancient sites and Dad's was to see some new things. While the Catacombs sounded interesting, neither of us were so set on them that we would be upset if another part of our day ran long. Enrico was great with this plan.
The traffic heading to Rome wasn't built, but as we approached the tourist areas, it definitely slowed down.
The first thing we saw were the original walls. Very cool.
Our first stop was the Colosseum.
Hello crowds! This is where Enrico dropped us off. We agreed to meet back in 30 minutes. Tons of guides were around trying to get people to sign up for tours. We also saw our first
DCL excursion. They were wearing their stickers and had on the headphones to listen to the guide.
When we got around to the other side, we could see the HUGE line to get inside. I'd be interested to do the underground tour some day, but for my first time in Rome, I'm glad we kept our schedule more flexible.
You cab see the line here and how crowded it is inside.
I had a fish eye I played with a little bit. So all those rounded spaces used to be filled with paintings or mosaics. As the Catholic Church gained power, they stole all of them but the empty spaces remain.
We also opted not to go in the forum, but we did get some nice views and photos by walking up the hill to the church in the area.
The walk up the hill was really nice.
We headed back to meet up with Enrico. He had bottles of water waiting for us.
As we drove, we got a view of Nero's palace.
Photo limit reached
Next up - More Rome