Rome is probably one of the most visited cities in the world but truthfully, Italy was never high on my list of places to visit. We finally made it to Rome (as well as Pisa and Sicily) during our last cruise, which was our last trip in Europe before moving back to Florida when Honeybun was a few months shy of 4 years old and Sugarplum was 21 months.
The cruise started and ended in Civitavecchia, the closest cruise port to Rome. We flew in to Rome the day the cruise started and took a taxi down to the ship and spent three days in Rome after the cruise before returning back to Dublin.
The first day we arranged a private tour of Rome and the Vatican, having the tour guide pick us up at the ship and drop us at our hotel at the end of the day. It worked out great since our luggage was secured in the van until we were able to check into our room (we actually stayed at a apartment type place in a one bedroom apartment that included breakfast at a local restaurant down the street) and was sort of a “two-for-one” since it also got us from the ship to the hotel and provided a tour of the city.
Civitavecchia has been the main port of Rome for centuries and the ruins of the original fort are still standing. The drive from the port is a long one, but the scenery was beautiful.
Upon arriving in the city, we did a short driving tour of some of the outlying sights like the Circus Maximus and Palentine Hill. We then made our first stop at the Roman Colosseum. Probably one of the most famous sights in the world, this is truly where history was made! I love visiting old ruins, imaging life during it’s time and experiencing the vast history a place has witnessed and the Colosseum definitely did not disappoint. While partly in ruin, the structure is largely intact and I love and appreciate the respect European cultures have for their history.
Our tour guide had pre-arranged our tickets for us at the Colossuem so dropped us out front and we were able to walk to the front of the line to collect our tickets. We were then free to wander the Colosseum and surrounding area at our own leisure so after finishing the Colosseum we walked past the Roman Forum and the Victor Emmanuel Monument on our hunt for lunch.
Our guide picked us up after lunch and we saw more of the city by car (passing the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and St. Peter’s Basilica) on the way to the Vatican. We were dropped at the Vatican and left to do a self-guided tour which we really enjoyed. We did almost every exhibit in the place including the Popemobile exhibition, vast art collection and of course the Sistene Chapel (which I found a bit disappointing. It was dim, crowded and noise is not allowed, nor are pictures). The visit was looooong and a lot of walking (with no buggy) but well worth it though we were all pooped by the end of the visit and ready to go relax in our hotel!
The next day we were on our own and started our day at the Castel Sant’Angelo which was just down the street from our hotel. The former Fort and residence of Popes from long ago was not on our original itinerary but I am so glad we went. We spent hours wandering around, swirling our way to the top and exploring all the nooks and crannies then took a few minutes to take in the view over the city before working our way back down.
The rest of the day was spent wandering ALL OVER Rome. We walked along the river, visited the Spanish Steps, had some gelato, did some shopping (I had to leave Rome with some awesome new clothes!), ended up back by the Victor Emmanuel Monument before stopping for some diner and heading home (with a full-on gladiator kit).
Since it had been a long trip and we were headed home in the evening, we decided to take it easy the last day. We started by wandering through Piazza Navona (and buying our last European painting) and heading to the Pantheon which was spectacular, the history in those walls is amazing and you can feel every second that building has lived (which has been used continuously since it was built almost 2,000 years ago!)
We stopped by the Trevi fountain (which was waaaaay too crowded with tourists who wanted to take my children’s picture) before we headed to the Il Genio di Leonardo da Vinci Museo which is a small museum which houses a collection of working apparatuses built based on the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. Honeybun had so much fun wandering around, trying all the machines and exploring.
We spent the rest of the day wandering again, randomly stumbling upon the Largo di Torre Argentina (the site of Julius Caesar’s assassination), having lunch in Campo di Fiori and exploring the West side of the river before ending back up at the Castel San’Angelo where we filled out our time playing at the park.
In all, we walked over 15 km around Rome during our 3 day visit! (that’s about 9 1/2 miles, not including wandering around museums, stores and other sites!)
