Having never been to Rome, seriously never had the desire, it was one of the must do excursions for us.

The port, like the airport, is 1.5 hours from the city itself. So on the bus and off we go. There are a bunch of pushy old folk on the cruise so that means Jason and I usually squish to the back and have more room but less view. I hate to say it, and I have put off writing this down, the majority of these pushy, loud, rude, and demanding people are Americans.

Nothing like the Americans I know. And I wonder, do cruises attract these type of people, or is it the sense of entitlement that comes from being waited on that causes it. Anyway, we have met some lovely people and I digress.

The bus ride was smooth and painless and we made it into central Rome. It was hot, damn hot. 29 degrees. Not great in the city as we no longer had the lovely sea breeze.

The city was lovelier, cleaner, and less busy than I had been expecting. BUT, the amount of armed police and army was very confronting. Automatic weapons and armored  vehicles everywhere.

Jason asked one of the guards if this was due to the G7 but apparently it is just the norm now. How sad is that.

Our tour guide, lovely girl, took us to the centre, showed us where to eat, where to shop, and where to see. We very promptly got lost, no time for shopping (no shoes, I died a little inside that day ha, ha), but we saw some lovely sites and ate a tasty pizza (not as good as Ravello though).

I think when seeing Rome you need time, time to get lost, time to find yourself again, time to shop, and time to eat. Unfortunately we did not have all that time. We met back up with the tour and then onto the Vatican.

Many of you will be picking yourselves up off the floor, knowing that neither of us are overly religious, or religious at all, in any way, shape, form. BUT, if you are going to see a church St Peter’s Basilica is the one to see!

Before we could get in to see it, we had to queue in 29 degrees, with no shade, for an hour. Who knew I had that sort of patience! I took a lot of photos, ignored a lot of gypsies, and counted a lot of people to pass the time.

Finally, through the metal detector, we made it inside. Wow, freaking wow, amazingly wow. All the paintings are not in fact paintings but are mosaics. When you got close to them you could see the individual pieces, how astounding. The size, the colours, the skill, and the extravagance is something to be seen first hand.

We spent about an hour inside the church, so an hour to get in and an hour inside. Sigh, I hate queues. But, we are both really pleased we did it, the church to see. I sent the obligatory postcard from the Vatican of course ha, ha.

Back on the bus and “TO THE COLOSSEUM”! This is what Jason had really been looking forward to, and this time he was not disappointed.

First, I have to say, everywhere you looked in Rome there were ruins and relics mixed with the beautiful greenery. We were constantly taking photos, pointing, eyes wide, mouths open. So pretty and amazing to think how old the city is.

Onto the colosseum! Wow, double wow, triple wow. How the hell did they build this, and wouldn’t have been amazing to attend a gladiator match, as I noted to the guide I would have been cheering for the lions! Everything was so huge and beautiful. And crowded, but still, worth every bit of effort to see it. Some reconstruction has occurred so you can get an idea of what the stage and the structure would have looked like and to prevent further deterioration of the remains. A good thing, because if you look up you don’t want one of those suckers falling on you!

We spent time walking through the colosseum before heading back to the bus for the trip back to the ship.

Another super awesome bit of customer service, we arrive back at the boat after this hugely long day, to the staff from the boat handing out fresh, citrus smelling, cooling towels to refresh ourselves upon our return. Seriously, how awesome is that.

A day well worth the effort, in total we were gone for 10 hours, so we were a wee bit tired that night.

However, Jason is addicted to the Asian fusion restaurant Red Ginger, so we went back. Again the food was delicious. We were at a shared table again but nothing like the entertainment we had previously – oh Harvey where are you.

I really enjoyed Rome, which surprised me. I would go back again. Still thinking about the lost shoe opportunities, but these things happen for a reason right, I am sure I will find some shoes somewhere!

We now leave Italy and head to France. And to cheese. And to wine. Goes to sleep with smile on my face 🙂