Geeky Yet Waterproof

I can’t believe we’re actually in Rome. The civilization we’ve been studying for the past seven years, and now we’re at the center of it.

We went out to explore Rome early in the morning, and came back at about 8pm. We took the Hop-On busses intermittently with walking, and we saw a lot of amazing things today. We passed by the Castel Sant’Angelo at least three times, at which a battle scene took place in my dad’s book, The Fall of Rome.

The first places where we stopped were two very old churches. What was incredible was that at one of them, we saw the pillar at which Jesus was flogged.

When we were done looking around and being amazed with that, we briefly stopped by the former controlling center of civilization: the Roman Forum. Of course it’s all in ruins now, but there’s still a lot left. This was the first time I’d seen ancient Roman ruins that are actually in Rome, and it was stunning to see them in person. The ruins are not just in Rome — they were the heart of the known world!

But we didn’t stay long, because one of the most famous monuments ever was staring us right in the face: the Colosseum. We’ve all seen it a million times in movies and video games, but there’s nothing like seeing it in person. It feels unreal walking down a cobblestone street and seeing the great ruins right in front of you. There were even Roman soldiers wandering around, although a few of them were smoking cigarettes…
When, for four extra euros, we had instantly conquered the endless line to get in, we decided to take a guided tour of the inside. The wooden floor is no longer there, but what was underneath it remains: a series of stone corridors in which the gladiators and animals would wait their turn to kill or be killed. People now aren’t allowed in these former subterranean corridors, but you can go on any other of the four levels, including the top.
In ancient times, the wealthy citizens would sit near the bottom of the amphitheater, while the poorer ones would sit near the top. We saw the exact spot where the Caesars used to sit and watch — at the very bottom. I can understand why they call the top the “Nosebleed Section”, but I think they should call the very bottom just the “Blood Section”, because it’s so close to the action you could get splattered!

We spent two hours exploring the Colosseum, although it felt like 45 minutes. We could have stayed a lot longer, but when you’re in Rome for three days, you want to be able to see everything. So (after waiting half an hour for a non-existent bus), we walked half a mile to the Circus Maximus — the ancient hippodrome where public games would take place, and most importantly, the chariot races. It’s a massive venue that could accommodate 250,000+ spectators. Behind it you can see the imperial palace, and down inside you can see… joggers. You may remember a few days ago I said that Barcelona is “a mix of the old and the new”, but it’s nothing as extreme as Rome.

After marveling over this, we waited another 45 minutes for the tour bus (it turned out one had broken down, leaving only two operating in all of Rome), which we stayed on for a while until it started to get dark. Some of it was the same route we had taken before, but there’s just so much out there that we saw something new each time we passed by — including the actual place where Julius Caesar was murdered.

When dusk (and hunger) fell upon us, we sat outside a little restaurant and had pizza (I think I ate six pieces) and later gelato. Those dang Romans not only know how to rule the world, but they also know how to eat!
Tomorrow is our last day in Rome before we leave. I’m not sure exactly what we’ll be doing, but we’ll definitely tour the Castel Sant’Angelo and the Forum. Here comes another wave of 400+ photos…

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…

When we arrived in Livorno, Italy this morning, it was pouring rain. So it was good that today was the day we’d go on a Shore Excursion (an official tour from Holland America), because that would mean we’d have a charter bus!
There were several different shore excursions today, such as one going to Pisa, one going to Florence, etc. Ours was for Cinque Terre, or “Five Lands”.
Cinque Terre is a series of five villages located on the edge of the sea, about an hour and a half bus ride from Livorno. The five villages are, in order, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterossa.
Thsee towns are surrounded by hills and cliffs, so the bus ride there had some great scenery. The hills are so steep that most of them have been terraced to prevent landslides.

Our tour group first stopped at Manarola. We spent about 15 minutes there wandering around, then we all walked half a mile along the edge of a cliff to Riomaggiore. In this village, all the buildings seemed to be stacked on top of each other, because the cliff on which they were built was so steep!
We took another short break here, just long enough for me to buy a piece of real Italian pizza, which was quite heavenly. Then we all took a 15 minute boat ride to the next town, Vernazza. The boat was rather small, and the ocean rather angry; I was surprised nobody fell and broke a rib!
When we got to Vernazza, our tour guides left us on our own for two hours to find lunch at our leisure. Grandma Nini, my mom, Isa, and I had calamari, spaghetti, and stuffed mussels for lunch. And everything was so good! The waiter was a big boisterous Italian who spoke no English, but we were able to communicate with him well enough to order our food (and a second serving of calamari).
After lunch we had some time left over, so (for €1,50) we climbed a watch tower on one of the hills overlooking the village (where we shouted “Bongiorno!” to all of Italy). From the top, you could see all of Vernazza way down below, and in a different direction all the cliffs overlooking the ocean. No wonder it’s called a watch tower…

When we were done exploring, our group took an underground train back to La Spezia, a town near Cinque Terre. From there we rode our charter bus back to Livorno where the ship was docked.
During the bus ride, we happened to pass by the Leaning Tower of Pisa! Unfortunately, it was too distant to get a good picture, but it was really cool to see the famous tower in person.

Tomorrow in Rome, we’ll be disembarking the Noordam for the last time. Since tonight was our final night of the cruise, the whole crew put on a little show in the ship amphitheater. Of course all of them sang, since they’re all Filipino and Indonesian, and the ones who aren’t are members of the Noordam Singers and Dancers!
It’s sad to be leaving the ship, but I’m looking forward to seeing Rome more than any other city we’ve visited so far. I’ll definitely be adding a lot more to my collection of 3000 photos of this trip!