Trevor & Jonathans Cruise & Trip to the Far East and Australia 2016

Day 3 - Thursday May 12th 2016 - Civitavecchia, Italy

So we actually set an alarm to get up this morning as we awoke it Civitavecchia. It’s a really busy port and apparently the closest to Rome itself although it’s not actually that close at all.

Now it should be noted that we have actually been both to the port and to Rome before so we had not boked any excursions or trips but there was a loose plan to just get to Rome, soak up the atmosphere a bit and have some great pasta.

So after the breakfast run (this time in the Solarium Restaurant) a trip to Starbucks and we were off the boat in record time marching through Civitavecchia on our way to the train station.

Truth be told we did not know that way but sometimes when you follow the crowd things come up trumps and we were led there by the masses. With our tickets purchased for €10 (how can the rest of Europe get train pricing and there servicing so right and the UK so wrong) we were on the 0942 to Termini Station in Rome.

The train journey was uneventful along with the views to be honest. As the coast disappeared we were meant with farmland and industrial wastelands before hitting the suburbs of Rome. We got talking to couple from the Midlands who had also docked that day in Civitavecchia . They were travelling on a Thompson cruise ship which by their own admission was a little bit dated and full of Brits (not that there is anything wrong with that).

We pulled into Rome and with the help of apple maps on the iPhone we walked the forty-minute walk to the Trevi fountain. As one of the most iconic places in Rome I’m sure it comes as no surprise to find that the place was mobbed. Finding s space and the railings surrounding the fountain is a job in itself. The tiered gallery was at least six deep as a sea of selfie sticks poked up towards the sky in front of the nearly cleaned and scaffold free fountain. We made our wishes, threw coins in the fountain, took the photos from every angle we could manage and moved on toward the Spanish steps or Piazza de Spagna.

The Spanish steps were deep into refurbishment with only a very narrow section open but it did not matter. Just being in Rome is a special thing. How do the Italian’s on the whole get it so right when it comes to style? How come nearly every single woman seems to be wearing heels on cobbled street and all carry a designer bag from a fashion house from within their own country.

The streets are bustling, hardly a surprise really when you consider that Rome probably has more things to look at per square mile than any other city I can immediately think of. Everyone seems to smoke here and the fag butts litter the floor between each of the granite sets on the floor. Having an espresso in a square side bar is an art. It comes complete with designer shades and the latest look from Prada free of charge……we are back to that Italian style thing.

We walked amongst the stylish, the students, the businessmen, the call girls and found ourselves sat beside a large square with an obelisk in the middle of it. The pasta really is better in Italy and this was no exception. Shame it came with a 20% service charge but that’s life in a big city, things are always more expensive.

This was our Rome trip over with this time. We made the forty minute walk back to Termini station and by luck jumped on the express train straight back to the port. It was slightly more expensive train ticket (well €10 more between us) but our station was the first stop and it took half the time of the normal commuter train.

Arriving back in Civitavecchia time was on our side still so we headed down to the beach front to see what it had to offer us. To be honest the town itself is not that bad but as we arrived in the middle of siesta time things were generally closed and it all felt a bit soulless and bare after the bustle in Rome.

The waterfront is a mixture of modern non-descript architecture mixed in with forts built by Mossolini in the second world war. I imagine that this was serious base for both the German and Italian navy’s.

With not much going on we headed back to the boat to get ready for posh night at the Grnd Restaurant on-board. Much to our disappointment we found that the Grand restaurant was no longer very grand as the strict formal dress clothes policy had just been changed (we were not informed) to smart casual so subsequently there were people in sports shirts etc. Now this would not bother us other than we had dragged the suits with us on a very tight luggage allowance so it was frustrating at the very least. The service however was sensational and the food more than good although I don’t think that we need to eat another steak in a rush….this has been a very red meat cruise so far.

With dinner over we headed to The Schooner Bar with Laurence on the ivories playing a mixture of classic swing numbers all the way up to Ed Sheeran piano style.

So 2215 came as this was advertised on the ships community notice board as the LGBT meeting time at the Bionic Bar. Being noisy we headed off there to see what was going on. After what seemed like forty minutes or so of everyone looking at each other but saying nothing we finally broke into conversation with a German couple from Cologne called Martin and Michael. Really nice people and they speak exceptional English so conversation was very easy. A few drinks later and it was time for us to call it a night as we have a really early morning tomorrow with an organised trip with a pick up time of 0815.

Really nice to talk to some new people tonight and great to soak up a bit of Rome.

A great day.