We traveled the hour by bus to Rome and admired the view of the ancient ruins as we drove through the city.
Our first stop was the Colosseum. This was my husband's favorite place we visited the entire trip. I think it might have something to do with his engineering degree. We enjoyed a very thorough history lesson and wandered around the amazing structure for most of the morning.
We had some pretty amazing views of some other famous monuments from inside the Colosseum, including the Arch of Constantine.
After our tour of the Colosseum, it was lunchtime. Our tour group stopped at a hotel restaurant and had another delicious lunch that included baked pasta, wine and gelato.
When our tummies were full, we piled back on the bus and drove to the city-state of the Vatican.
We spent the part of afternoon at the Vatican museum, admiring the amazing architecture and beautifully painted ceilings.
The Sistine Chapel did not disappoint. It was absolutely breathtaking, and overwhelming to see so much detail that we did not even know where to look first. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but the huge bouncer-esque guards would have yelled at us if we would have even thought about snapping one, so I kept my camera off like a good tourist. Upon exiting the chapel, we took a second to admire the gorgeous bronze Holy Door before entering St. Peter's Basilica.
The Basilica itself was also very detailed and intricate. Pictures do not do it justice. I found myself unsure of what to even take a picture of, because seriously everywhere I looked would have made for a beautiful photo.
After another very long history lesson and about half of a 2GB memory card, we took a few minutes to check out St. Peter's Square.
After another long day of walking and soaking in as much as we could of what Rome had to offer, we headed back to Civitavecchia and the ship.
It's true what they say. Rome was not built in a day. While we didn't get to see even close to everything in the eternal city, we did get to see two of the major highlights and saw enough to know we want to go back sometime in the future. But for now we were off to our next Italian destination: Naples.
We had some pretty amazing views of some other famous monuments from inside the Colosseum, including the Arch of Constantine.
After our tour of the Colosseum, it was lunchtime. Our tour group stopped at a hotel restaurant and had another delicious lunch that included baked pasta, wine and gelato.
When our tummies were full, we piled back on the bus and drove to the city-state of the Vatican.
We spent the part of afternoon at the Vatican museum, admiring the amazing architecture and beautifully painted ceilings.
The Sistine Chapel did not disappoint. It was absolutely breathtaking, and overwhelming to see so much detail that we did not even know where to look first. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but the huge bouncer-esque guards would have yelled at us if we would have even thought about snapping one, so I kept my camera off like a good tourist. Upon exiting the chapel, we took a second to admire the gorgeous bronze Holy Door before entering St. Peter's Basilica.
The Basilica itself was also very detailed and intricate. Pictures do not do it justice. I found myself unsure of what to even take a picture of, because seriously everywhere I looked would have made for a beautiful photo.
After another very long history lesson and about half of a 2GB memory card, we took a few minutes to check out St. Peter's Square.
After another long day of walking and soaking in as much as we could of what Rome had to offer, we headed back to Civitavecchia and the ship.
It's true what they say. Rome was not built in a day. While we didn't get to see even close to everything in the eternal city, we did get to see two of the major highlights and saw enough to know we want to go back sometime in the future. But for now we were off to our next Italian destination: Naples.
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