Geeky Yet Waterproof

Today our cruise ended in Civitavecchia, Italy, which is the most important seaport in Europe. We got up early thinking we had to leave the ship by 10am, but then it turned out our shuttle van wouldn’t arrive until 3pm. So we hung around for a few hours, saying goodbye to the observation deck, the hot tubs, and (most importantly!) the free food.
It took us about an hour to get to Rome from Civitavecchia. I was sleeping most of the time, and when I woke up, there was Castel Sant’ Angelo — the site of Hadrian’s tomb — right outside the van window!

When we got to the hotel, we spent just few minutes unpacking (and checking out the Roman internet, which is none too high tech), then we excitedly walked to the Vatican, which is only about half a mile away.
It’s hard to describe the Vatican, except by saying that it was even more astounding than the mosque at Casablanca. I’ve never seen stone carving on such a large scale. The statues of saints were more than twice as big as life size. There were huge paintings on the walls, which turned out to be mosaics — made of such fine stones that even from three feet away you almost can’t tell it’s a mosaic. There were tombs so big that they had a door at the base (but don’t ask me why anyone would need to go inside). Even the side chapels were as large as a normal sized church!
And the whole thing is in a gigantic plaza that can hold thousands of people. With all the magnificent stone architecture, it felt just like going back in time — well, except for the giant TV screen right in the middle.

After we got kicked out at 7pm (the closing time), we set out to get lost find a street pizza place to have a light — and Italian — dinner. Of course, in Rome, pizzerias are scattered on every block like coffee shops in Seattle. So we just picked the closest one, and all had delicious pizza from its country of origin.

Tomorrow I think we’ll be going on a tour of archaeological Rome — the Colosseum, the Forum, the Castel Sant’ Angelo, etc. I’m more excited right now than I have been for any other city we’ve seen on this trip! But I guess this means I have to actually start doing my Latin homework…