Travel journal: east Med Princess cruise 2010 (Day 13, I)

The Pope's colonnade,
at the Vatican's entrance

St. Peter's Basilica

Vatican square

St. Peter's Basilica: The Pieta

St. Peter's Dome

St. Peter's Basilica: bronze altar

Top left, Vatican museum.
Top right, the Pope's palace.

The Coliseum; view of the underground tunnels

The Coliseum: the reconstructed stage

The Coliseum: the Emperor's seat

Arc of Constantine (near Coliseum)



Ruins: Temple of Venus (near Coliseum)



Day 13, 11/22/2010, Part I:

Disembarkation and Rome shore excursion

Ending a great trip is always a melancholy occasion. Disembarking from one’s first-ever cruise that went to Europe is even tougher to take.

Our trip isn’t quite over yet. We have a 6:30am flight out of Rome tomorrow, so we chose a shore excursion. This is often the best thing to do in Rome when staying overnight, as the port of Civitavecchia is about 90 minutes away and transfers between the two can be involved and expensive.

Once transferred with our bags into Rome, our first stop was to Vatican City to visit St. Peter’s Basilica. This is the largest church in the world and such a popular attraction that the line to go inside wrapped most of the way around Vatican Square, at the end of which was a security checkpoint.

Though bigger does not always mean better, it’s true in the case of St. Peter’s Basilica. Its ceiling and dome are intricately embellished and gold-laden, and its bronze altar stands a couple of stories high. What truly sets St. Peter’s Basilica apart from the thousands of churches in Europe is Michelangelo’s Pieta, located in the back right corner of the building and protected by a glass encasement.

There are two must-do's on my itinerary for the Vatican if I return: to make it to the top of St. Peter’s Dome to look out on the city, and to go into the Vatican Museum, whose tour ends with the startling, world-famous Sistene Chapel.

Our guided tour included a drive-by of the ancient Roman Forum and a 45-minute visit to the Coliseum. With a capacity of about 75 thousand spectators, this amphitheater was the largest and most impressive in the Roman Empire. The second floor, as our tour guide assured, offered the best panorama and view of the underground tunnels and reconstructed stage. I could see where one could spend a lot longer than our allotted time here, as there are interesting-looking exhibit rooms that wrap all the way around the interior.

We disembarked from our guided excursion at Ostiense train station and were on our own for good. We’d come into Rome cold – few Euros left, no hotel reservation, and no clue as to where we were in this huge city. My gut was nervously tangled as I wondered whether or not we’d be able to make it through on our own.