Our last Noordam Eggs Benedict, French toasts and Waffles
for a while. We were in group Brown 2 and around 8 am it was our turn to leave
the ship.
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| Civitavecchia Cruise Port |
Our suitcases were already waiting for us. Our ride with
Click Airport Transfer was scheduled at 9 am, but the driver arrived early.
It was Sunday, so not very crowded at the highway to Rome. We asked the driver
to stop at a Rome metro station so we could pick up our 3-day travel cards
(Biglietto per 3 giorni BTI). He did not only stop, but showed Joost where the
vending machines were. Great guy.
We will stay for three nights at the Crowne Plaza Roma San Piedro where we stayed two years ago. Bak then we were on the good side of the
cruise, a few days in Rome before sailing with the Noordam. Our room at the
hotel was already available, so we had a whole hour extra in Rome. Our room
overlooks the pool, so that is a safe thought when the girls are swimming.
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| Crowne Plaza Rome |
The hotel offers a shuttle to the city. We actually
used it two years ago, when it was free. Now it is just as expensive as the
public bus stat stops right outside the hotel. With the public bus we have a
direct connection to two metro stations, to St. Peters square and to the northern part
of the old Rome. So we thought that public transport is more flexible and got
our BTI-tickets for three of us. Rhodé is young enough to travel free.
We took the bus to the city and got off just at the
Tiber river on the other side of Castel Sant’Angelo. We crossed the Bridge of
Angels (Ponte Sant'Angelo) that goes back as far as 134 AD. The angels are
showing the Instruments of the Passion (like the cross, the crown of thorns,
the holy sponge and many more).
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| Castel Sant’Angelo |
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| Bridge to Castel Sant’Angelo |
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| The Passetto as seen from Castel Sant’Angelo |
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| Bridge over the Tiber |
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| Bridge from Castel Sant’Angelo |
The Castel itself is a maze with small rooms, steps
and art. On our way up we saw the Passetto, the wall that runs from the Castel
right to Vatican City. It provides an escape route for the Pope. Of course it
also played a crucial role in the book and movie Angels and Demons, as did the Castel
and a lot of other Rome sights.
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| Inside Castel Sant’Angelo |
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| Inside Castel Sant’Angelo |
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| Inside Castel Sant’Angelo |
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| Inside Castel Sant’Angelo |
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| Inside Castel Sant’Angelo |
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| On top of Castel Sant’Angelo |
The absolute highlight for us was the view from
the top. You can see all of Rome from the roof. We are so glad that we are
going to be here for two more days. One short stop from Civitavecchia would have been way too short.
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| Vatican City from Castel Sant’Angelo |
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| Vatican City from Castel Sant’Angelo |
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| View of Rome from Castel Sant'Angelo |
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| Panoramic view of Rome from Castel Sant'Angelo |
After two hours in the Castel Sant’Angelo we were
thirsty and hungry. No Lido buffet, but lots of restaurants in the city. We found a
restaurant that looked nice at Piazza Risorgimento just north of The Vatican.
Unfortunately the pizza had a hard bite and was way overpriced. We have to
kick-off from cruise food that is inherently great. Better luck next time.
Tram 19 was waiting for us at Piazza Risorgimento. We took the tram up to the Galleria d’Arte Moderna and walked up the steps to the Borghese
park. At the end of the park we once again had again a great view of the old city.
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| Borghese park |
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| Kim at Borghese park |
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| View from Borghese park |
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| View from Borghese park |
The park is a lot higher than the rest of the city
(hence the tram). That led to another advantage. We did not have to climb up to
the Spanish Steps that were close, but we walked down. A lot easier in the
heat.
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| Spanish Steps |
On the Via dei Bobuino we walked to Piazza del Popolo.
We filled our water bottles in the public fountain. The water is drinking water
so no risk there. We love Piazza del Popolo with the twin churches, the
fountain and the obelisk. The famous Santa Maria del Poppolo was still closed,
so we had a refreshing lemon drink (unfortunately not Napolitan Limoncella).
Afterwards we could visit the church and the Chigi chapel.
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| Piazza del Popolo |
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| Piazza del Popolo |
We had a little trouble finding the bus stop to Piazza
Risorgimento, but from the square it was a short walk to St. Peters Square. The
girls had to wind their shawls around their legs because shorts are not allowed
in St. Peters Basilica. We were prepared for that. St Peters Basilica is overwhelmingly great inside.
It was Sunday, so not all corners of the Basilica were open to visit.
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| St Peters Basilica |
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| St Peters Basilica door |
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| Inside St Peters Basilica |
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| Inside St Peters Basilica |
We went to check if the previous Pope was already
named on the list of all Popes, but he wasn’t. Perhaps they do that only after
his death and of course he is still a Vatican resident.
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| St Peters Square from the Basilica |
After that we were quite exhausted. We went back to
the hotel. The pool was still open, so Kim and Rhodé decided to cool off and
swim. Afterwards we had our diner in the restaurant in the hotel. The
restaurant had a piano man. He was good, but was not even close to the amazing
Stryker at Noordam (that by now will be sailing away from Civitavecchia)…
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