Rome before and after cruise 2018

Rome October 2018

Getting there is never fun. We had a direct from Chicago O' hare to Rome. I watched several movies and watched Jim my DH sleep the whole way. How do guys do that? Arrived at 0900 and driver Roberto was there and took us to our first Air BnB in the Monti area. He left us at door and I thought oh no now what. We pressed the buzzer and Marisa's husband opened the door. Our room wasn't ready so we left our stuff and started exploring! We had seen the Coliseum before so just wanted to explore the area more. We found a Villa Aldobrandi and had a great overview to see the area.

View from street corner of Air BNB

We were close to Piazza Navona. We walked to trevi fountain and Spanish steps.

We stopped for lunch at the place our Air BNB recommended down our street

Back out after we got checked in at air bnb. Went looking for the church San Pietro in Vinvoli and found the beautiful Moses statue that was completed in 1515

on the ceiling, you find a beautiful fresco by Giovanni

The church has the layout of a much larger basilica as it is divided by 20 ancient marble columns in the interior

The chains of St Peter, according to tradition when the two chains used to fetter the Saint in Jerusalem

Views of Forum

Coliseum

Had reservations at Cuoco E Camica in a cosey alleyway right by a flight of stairs. We sat in a quiet spot only a few steps from the heart of the historic borough of Monti
We had the seafood tasting menu, Rome is always a city by the sea. salmon tartar, cucumber cups, Lobster packets, Octopus, Squid and more. Mango ice cream and two pastries. delicious and waitress explained everything in detail! Two years we had eaten Amore hotel and this meal surpassed it by far and was one third the price.

Went to leave and it started pouring. We laughed as we sloshed through the puddles and ran back to our room.

Saturday, October 6th
In the morning, I used a hotpot for tea for the first time Jim brought back a pastry we were up and ready and had our head stuck out the window looking for our driver to pick us up. We heard him holler Mr. James

We used all off ship tours from cruise critic forum with a group that was traveling on our ship the Jewel. I started working on excursions in Nov 2017 and was all done planning in Feb2018. I joined some tours with others and was in charge of two tours. The people on cruise critic were very seasoned travelers and easy to work with. We ended up seeing many throughout the ship.

We had booked a Pre Cruise Rome Countryside Tour through Stefano's ROMECABS
Barb and Dan from Pennsylvania
Daveen and Don from Washington

Castello Orsini-Odescalchi is a castle in Bracciano in the province of Rome located on the southern shore of Lake Bracciano. Opened in 1485. It is the most impressive castle in Italy. It was built by powerful Orsini family as both a private residence and defense fortress. The castle host important cultural events and high profile weddings, The price for the castle was 8.50 Euros per person. We did not get a guide and enjoyed seeing it on our own and reading placks in each room.

We stopped at and walked the boardwalk

Monday day ten leave the ship and go to Rome

We shared a ride with Dawn and Tom. We were dropped off at Primo Suites We rang the buzzer and Fabio the owner came down to greet us. Our room was not ready so we were given a choice of two rooms. We picked # 5. He gave us a map and many suggestions for places to see since we had been to Rome before.

I loved that we had no agenda and just planned on wondering Rome. We walked to Trevi fountain but it was so busy decided to get up early and come back in the morning. We then walked to Spanish steps

Lunch

We met Dawn and Tom for supper

Tuesday up early togo to Tevi fountain

Market

Capacino break

Jewish Gettho is the oldest Jewish settlement in all of Europe. It is very pedestrian friendly and a great place for a stroll.

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lunch

Piazza Navona
Fountain of four rivers in the middle with an Egyptian obelisk, the Northen end has a fountain of Neptune, Southern end four Titans, Church of Sant Agnese

Supper was a small place off the beaten track that Fabio recommended. We would meet a young couple who also vacationed in Switzerland that we enjoyed talking to. I had ravioli with spinach sage butter and ricotta cheese. Jim had spaghetti with a hole Bucatini with tomato sauce and bacon

Wed Papal Mass with Pope Frances

Jim had gone on Tuesday to get free tickets you get them directly from the Swiss guard in St Peter's Square at the bronze door. We arrived at 0730 to a huge number of people and went through security took us about a half hour. We then went and found a seat in chairs set up and tried to get in the aisle where the Pope goes through in Popemobile. They had several large screens set up in the square. He arrived a little before 10 and went up the aisle and middle where we were. Pope Francis stopped several times to bless people. I was overwhelmed and it brought me to tears. So Happy to experience Pope Francis in person.

We decided to take a walk. Rome is known as the city of seven hills, but actually the Gianicolo or Janiculum the hill that provides one of the best views of Rome to go down we went down to TRASTEVERE. We stayed here the last time and love the location. We had time to wander around and found a great stop for lunch

At Noon

the quiet is momentarily broken by the single shot of a cannon to mark the exact time, a tradition that dates back to the 19th century. We saw a bunch of people waiting and wondered what was happening and BOOM. the cannon went off. We just happened to be in the right place at right time to see it

We went down the steps to TRASTEVERE and wandered around. Found a great place for lunch. I was a little too happy after sharing a bottle of Chanti with Jim and had to get a picture with the bartender!

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We spent time exploring

I had to rest my ankles, sat on the square and enjoyed people watching after all the walking.

We walked back along the Tiber River and I went to the room and rested while Jim checked out a few more churches and Lego displays.

Legos

For our final night in Rome, we picked a restaurant Fabio had recommended, Osteria de Memmo

I had mushroom tagliatelle and Jim had seafood tagliatelle. We shared a cheese plate and bottle of wine.

Thursday the dreaded travel day home. Started day off scary our driver did not show up. Fabio came through again and called them and they said our driver's car had broken down and they were sending another driver. 25 min later the driver arrived. He drove like a racecar driver and we made it to the airport with a few minutes to spare. The first leg of the flight to London. We ate a great burger at the pilots club there. Next long flight home to Chicago. Landed and pulled into our driveway at 1130 at night. Awesome trip and met some wonderful people.

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