December 3, 2016 - Rome Alone

Today was a "turnaround day." Our second cruise ended and the third one started. While we were out, our possessions were moved to a new cabin - a mini-suite - and we love it. On the Pacific Princess the mini-suites are huge. We took a tour called "Rome on Your Own." This is basically a bus ride from the port of Civitavecchia (I know how to pronounce it) to Rome, 6 hours of free time, then a bus ride back. Even though it was a not really a tour, we had a guide, Luca, who rode on the bus with us and talked to us about Rome. When we arrived at our drop off point in front of the Vatican it was practically deserted - so different from our mid-summer visit several years ago. We planned to follow Rick Steves' self-guided "Walk Across Rome" so we got a cab and headed to Campo de Fiori. We arrived at a "square" filled with market stalls. In addition to lots of flowers, we saw stalls selling fruits, veggies, cheese, and local artisanal products such as olive oil, jam and honey. It was crowded and bustling. At one end of the square was a bakery called Forno. As recommended by Rick, we tried their pizza blanco. It was plain pizza crust brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and it was just perfect. We ate it standing in front of the shop along with a few other aficionados. The walk continued to Piazza Navona, site of Bernini fountains. The Four Rivers Fountain was wonderful. The rivers are the Nile, the Ganges, the Danube, and the Plata (Uruguay), representing the four known continents of the time. I don't know what happened to North America, or how Bernini got away with depicting pagan river gods.  We peeked in a few churches and continued on. The church of St. Agnes was a beautiful Baroque building. Such a departure from all the Gothic one is used to seeing. There are ancient obelisks from Egypt everywhere. Amazing. So much to see around every corner. The most amazing building of all is the Pantheon, built in 27 BCE. It is hard to imagine how they got the dome to be a perfect circle and how they managed to get it in place. A 142-foot diameter sphere would fit perfectly inside. It is made from concrete! it gets thinner as it reaches the top, decreasing from a thickness of 23 feet to only 5 feet. The coffered ceiling allows the dome to be lighter without compromising strength. The Romans were very sophisticated engineers. The Pantheon is one of the most influential buildings in art history. Basically, any domed building you can think was probably inspired by the Pantheon. The US Capitol and numerous state capitols, St. Peter's, etc. The Pantheon started out as a Roman temple honoring several gods. It later became a Christian church. It now contains statues and tombs of famous people, including Raphael and two kings of modern Italy, Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I. Umberto's wife Queen Margherita is also there. She may be the most famous, as she has a pizza named after her. More squares, more churches, more obelisks, more fountains, and finally, the Trevi Fountain, the most famous fountain of all. Trajan's Column was fantastic. I would have liked to know more about the story told by the carvings spiraling around the column. Our walk ended at the Spanish Steps. On a previous visit we had seen the Colosseum and the Vatican, so now it felt like we had seen the rest of the best of Rome. It was enjoyable to be able to walk along at our own, snacking and stopping whenever we wanted to. From the Spanish Steps we walked all the way back to the Vatican. There was so much to see on the way. We soaked up the atmosphere as much as we could. The ride back to the ship went by so quickly. Maybe I fell asleep. A lot of people felt like Rome was too far away from Civitavecchia so they stayed on the shop. I am so glad we made the effort to go into Rome. The bus ride was about one and 3/4 hours each way, but it was very relaxing. We returned to our new stateroom, did a little unpacking, went to dinner (open seating), and went to a show featuring comedian Tony Daro. When I get the photos posted you will see what I mean about our walk through the Heart of Rome.