Ocean princess venice to rome

[Bimmer09]

I am grateful that the ruins still stand. Always strange to think of how much time has passed. Always a reminder on how young the US is.

 

I purchased a Rome Reconstructed book after our tours on Sunday. In the back of the book it has a video you can watch about what it looked like back in the day. Check it out.

 

http://www.archeolibri.it/it/video/roma-ric.html The password is eay12avx

 

A great tool ! Thanks for going to the trouble of adding that to this review.

 

Our guide Franco carried a little book which had current photos of the sites and clear plastic sheets with representations in color of what they would have looked like back in time. These he could superimpose on what we were seeing- is that the book you bought? If so I want one!

 

Much thanks!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Thanks for the amazing photos around Rome.

Good memories of a couple of week long visits we had on some land vacations.

 

(a) you are most welcome!

 

(b) stick around

 

I have a video of us having dinner at night in Rome, which has some great local flavor. It's later in the story of course as everything is happening sequentially but it brings back great memories for us.

 

A week long visit is something that we must do-or split a week with Lake Como or such (or Tuscany, or Florence, or Cinque Terra....you get the idea)

 

Viva Italia!

 

Norris

[MGnut]

I am grateful that the ruins still stand.

 

I purchased a Rome Reconstructed book after our tours on Sunday. In the back of the book it has a video you can watch about what it looked like back in the day. Check it out.

 

http://www.archeolibri.it/it/video/roma-ric.html The password is eay12avx

 

That was really neat! Thanks for giving us the link. That and Bimmer's posts are bringing back fond memories of our 2009 Grand Med/TA 30-day B2B on the Ruby. Wish we could do it again.

[Bimmer09]

After taking photos of the Forum we headed along a short street and found ourselves in a large square designed by Michaelangelo who was an over-achiever from way back-the kind of guy who makes you feel like you are still in your pajamas and need a lot more coffee to get going.

 

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Rome is one ugly shanty-town

 

[Bimmer09]

That was really neat! Thanks for giving us the link. That and Bimmer's posts are bringing back fond memories of our 2009 Grand Med/TA 30-day B2B on the Ruby. Wish we could do it again.

 

Why don't you!!?

 

30 days....wow that is really inconceivable to me, with my piddly 7 day cruises.

 

Still-what we just experienced, a month ago now, has fired the imagination and desire for more-certainly a lot more Italy for sure.

 

MG I am glad you are still reading along. We are only 5 hours into our 2 days in Rome so lots to come, including our great hotel, night video and food porn.

 

Norris

[SpinnerCOyyy]

A great tool ! Thanks for going to the trouble of adding that to this review.

 

Our guide Franco carried a little book which had current photos of the sites and clear plastic sheets with representations in color of what they would have looked like back in time. These he could superimpose on what we were seeing- is that the book you bought? If so I want one!

 

Much thanks!

 

Norris

 

It is the same book indeed! They had several different versions of it in different sizes. I purchased the smaller one because I was worried about how much my luggage was going to weigh when we headed home. I had also purchased the same kind of book for Pompeii. The Pompeii version also had color layovers so you could picture what it looked like originally. I snagged that one from the gift shop on OP.

[Bimmer09]

Franco would be waiting for us at the bottom of these steps

 

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Further down the stairs as I was setting the pace knowing that somewhere in this great city was a restaurant with a frying pan and some boiled water standing ready, waiting for me. I would have gone down on my face and eaten some of the grass if it wasn't for all the tourists and their damned cameras.

 

 

View from the bottom of the stairs where Franco was waiting with the car

 

 

Pasta, wine, olive oil, cheese, meat....my brain was thinking lunch. Not quite yet.

[Bimmer09]

It is the same book indeed! They had several different versions of it in different sizes. I purchased the smaller one because I was worried about how much my luggage was going to weigh when we headed home. I had also purchased the same kind of book for Pompeii. The Pompeii version also had color layovers so you could picture what it looked like originally. I snagged that one from the gift shop on OP.

 

OK! Now I have to hunt it down and get it, subito!

 

Rome Reconstructed?

 

Thanks!

 

Norris,excited.

[SpinnerCOyyy]

OK! Now I have to hunt it down and get it, subito!

 

Rome Reconstructed?

 

Thanks!

 

Norris,excited.

 

ISBN# 978-88-6668-024-6 Archeolibri :D

[windsor26]

Maria is a guide used by Princess (and others I imagine) to do Pompeii (and Positano) working out of Sorrento. She does Pompeii 5 days a week in season.

 

If you need Rome then there are many tour companies. We were using Rome In Limo. I can't link you to RIL but Google can.

 

Norris

 

Thank you I did not realise you were on a Princess tour. Thanks Yvonne

[p0240]

All your photos have been great, but the Rome photos are amazing, the clarity of the detail in the ruins photos has come up really well, thanks heaps for sharing them with us.

Like everyone has been saying, you tell a great story and I am loving each episode, I wish your holiday was longer - as no doubt you do too!

Pat

[Bimmer09]

All your photos have been great, but the Rome photos are amazing, the clarity of the detail in the ruins photos has come up really well, thanks heaps for sharing them with us.

Like everyone has been saying, you tell a great story and I am loving each episode, I wish your holiday was longer - as no doubt you do too!

Pat

 

Pat-good to see you here and thanks of the kind comments on the photos. I took so many that I haven't had time to correct some of them and have put them up without tweaking. In Rome all of the photos were taken in automatic mode for the sake of speed. The sun is too strong in many for my taste-LOL, I wish I could see the sun now in Chicago.

 

Still perfectionism aside I have photos to remind us of our time abroad and can share them with others-which is what matters.

 

Many on our ship were doing 3 cruises back to back as they had come so far (from Australia) We were gone for 11 days which is a stretch for us (work and the fact that we had to leave our cats at home with a daily sitter to feed them)

 

The cruise introduced us to some fine new places and renewed our acqaintance with Italy. Rome will see us again.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

At the foot of the steps we saw a 2,000 year old home

 

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[enidcruiser]

Norris, all of these pics in Rome remind me of the walking, walking, walking we did to see the sites on one of the 3 days we were there.

We did not have a guide to tell us what we saw so this is so great.

On to the Vatican. We were also there on a holiday so all of Italy was in there with us.

We too would like to go back, we had so much more to see.

Thanks for sharing. Love to travel with you.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Bimmer09]

The word LUNCH was now mentioned (by me of course) but on the way there-a place we asked Franco to choose- we had more great looking buildings to look at.

Not buildings from antiquity this time but impressive nonetheless.

 

Photo taken through the car window while driving

 

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The Victor Emmanuel II Monument (finished 1925). No time to stop and linger today so it can keep until the next time. It was visible from the roof of our hotel I would later find out and brilliantly lit at night. It has an elevator since 2007 and you can go to the top for panoramic views of Rome.

 

 

As we were close enough for a quick visit Franco hit the narrow alleys to show us the Trevi Fountain. We knew it was under refurbishment and had no water in it (one of the prerequisites before you start calling yourself a fountain) but it was on the tour and got crossed off the list. It was swarming with people and there was a long line to cross the dry fountain on a catwalk. It was close to our hotel and next time we can see the wet version and toss a coin in.

 

 

People on the catwalk

 

 

The narrow streets were jammed with people. Franco had to drop us off and circle the block. He picked us up and got us out onto big wide streets again and we headed up towards the Vatican, passing through a long tunnel on the way until we came to a wide street where our restaurant was waiting.

 

It was called Osteria dei Pontefici. Franco came along with us to talk to the owner I presume to tell him we only had an hour to spend. They obviously knew him.

 

LUNCH!!!

[homeinboca]

Norris,

 

Your pictures of Rome are stunning! Thank you so much for taking along your journey. You have seen so much and it's not even lunch yet! As I said Rome was our first European city we visited and has a special place in our hearts.

 

Too bad about Trevi, but your attitude is great, just have to back one day. I've read so many others who were mad and bitter that they had the audacity to clean and repair the fountain during their trip.

 

Ron

[Bimmer09]

Another highlight in a day full of them-and we still had a Vatican tour to come followed by actually being in our hotel room for the first time-was lunch.

We were ready for it.

 

Carol visited the restrooms inside while I ordered drinks. The restaurant as the name would suggest is (a) near the Vatican and (b) decorated inside in purple and red with photos of Pontiffs around the walls. We sat outside where I could smoke and enjoy the perfect weather.

 

Imagine my joy when this tall glass of beer came to the table...

 

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A hedge screens the tables from the sidewalk. The restaurant has been around since 1959 and is not on a tourist street so must be doing something right.

 

 

Bruschetta (Broo-sketta) came to the table and was dispatched in a matter of seconds. So simple, so fresh the tomatoes were practically singing with joy. Or it might have been me.

 

 

For signora, prosciutto and melon

 

 

What didn't get photographed was my secondi- a bowl of spaghetti ala pomodoro which I figured would be a nice small portion to tide me over until my prima entree. Yikes I screamed when a huge mound of pasta landed on the table.

I checked my watch, fearing that eating this (if at all possible) would make us late for the Vatican. I ordered another beer from the attentive waiter as I was going to need it. I asked for a spoon to help me twirl the pasta and once suitably armed I dug in. First bite was delicious (Italians have a knack of cooking pasta-who knew?) and so were the next 100 or so. Clean plate.

 

Then the entrees. Oven baked veal with roast potatoes. Simple. Delicious.

If there are potatoes (patate) on the menu then I am having those.

 

 

Veal Marsala for Carol

 

 

No time for dessert nor room in stomachs to put it so I had the waiter bring us the bill. We had about 5 minutes to make it to the Vatican and arrived on time. Hooray!!

A wonderful satisfying meal with friendly and efficient service. Cost 63E.

[Bimmer09]

Before we get to the Vatican portion of the tour I'll show you a video of the story so far with glimpses of the places we'd been already.

 

 

 

On the sidewalk by the Vatican Museum entrance we met Massimo who would be our guide. Franco made the introductions and left us in Massimo's care for the next two hours.

 

Massimo was a huge guy- maybe 6' 3, broad shouldered, long thick shoulder length hair, mustache and a booming voice. An imposing figure who talked fast and certainly must have had time for a double espresso or two before the tour. He carried a bag on his shoulder which held an iPad. He was a wild gesticulator-arms everywhere acting out his points. Passionate? Oh, yes.

 

He led the way...

[Bimmer09]

Scale model of Vatican City

 

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The Museum occupies several levels. We took the elevators up or down.

 



 

There are opportunities during the tour to step outside for some sun and fresh air

 

[tigerbeth]

Norris, your photos and memories are wonderful ,thanks for sharing.

I have been reading furiously and have finally caught up to the latest episode ,came across this after I read your Alaska reviews, we are off to US, Canada & Alaska next year.

Brings back memories for me as we did a med cruise on the Ruby Princess back in 2011 ,flew to Paris first for 5 days, then 3 in Barcelona, finishing in Venice for 3 days. Loved, loved Venice !!

Our day in Rome was also with Rome in Limo , we did private tours with strangers(now friends) that we met on CC. Had a great time in all ports and saw so much ,it was lovely to explore with only 4 or 6 people on our tours.

Italy is amazing and I would love to go back to explore at a leisurely pace .

But for now I will travel with you & Carol.

Thanks so much for that .:)

[Bimmer09]

Norris, all of these pics in Rome remind me of the walking, walking, walking we did to see the sites on one of the 3 days we were there.

We did not have a guide to tell us what we saw so this is so great.

On to the Vatican. We were also there on a holiday so all of Italy was in there with us.

We too would like to go back, we had so much more to see.

Thanks for sharing. Love to travel with you.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

You are not kidding about "so much to see'. We had to keep up a pace to see as much as we did but we just caught "glimpses" of everything. Walking through an art gallery with your head on a swivel and your feet always moving isn't really absorbing what you see. It's a start though. We can't just "pop over to Rome" when we feel like it in the way that say British people can (they can drive!)

 

Next time will be a land holiday with Rome as the focus and a do-able schedule.

 

Just looking down on the Forum as I did made me realize that is a day's worth of walking by itself.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Norris, your photos and memories are wonderful ,thanks for sharing.

I have been reading furiously and have finally caught up to the latest episode ,came across this after I read your Alaska reviews, we are off to US, Canada & Alaska next year.

Brings back memories for me as we did a med cruise on the Ruby Princess back in 2011 ,flew to Paris first for 5 days, then 3 in Barcelona, finishing in Venice for 3 days. Loved, loved Venice !!

Our day in Rome was also with Rome in Limo , we did private tours with strangers(now friends) that we met on CC. Had a great time in all ports and saw so much ,it was lovely to explore with only 4 or 6 people on our tours.

Italy is amazing and I would love to go back to explore at a leisurely pace .

But for now I will travel with you & Carol.

Thanks so much for that .:)

 

Another Aussie! Gidday! Carol has many Australian relatives (cousins) and we have hosted some in Chicago over the years. I lived with some when I was younger in London (Kiwis too). The Ocean Princess was half-Aussies on our cruise and they were a fun group no matter which 4 you got into an elevator with.

The bars did good business.

 

I am glad you read the Alaska reviews- Alaska is special to us as is Italy now.

 

I gave RIL a great review on Trip Advisor (Oct 6th) and will have them on my speed dial for ever. My hope is that we will be back in Rome within the next two years-no cruise.

 

More Rome to come-Vatican then our hotel, then dinner at a great restaurant followed by the wonderfully lively Piazza Navona.

 

Next day will include Castel Sant' Angelo and the Borghese Gallery.

 

Thanks for stopping by-stay until the end!

 

Norris

[SpinnerCOyyy]

If your guide was the big one, our guide was the little one. Alessia was 4'11 but a little pack of dynamite.

But she did manage to spin this ball by herself!

[Bimmer09]

I saw that sculpture from a distance so thanks for the close-up.

 

 

Scaffolding- yes it is everywhere in Europe in summer (had our share in Germany last year).

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Within a few minutes of being inside the Vatican Museum our guide, Massimo, found out, much to his obvious delight, that he had someone who knew her art history in his group. Carol's questions and enthusiasm made him even more excited (his amp went up to 11)

 

Not a dry speaker, reciting what he knew, more of an actor who was living his role and he had prepared well.

 

He was very deft with the iPad, holding it upside down (from his view) and explaining what we would see later in the Sistene where he would be unable to narrate (no photos, no videos, no talking). He could zoom-in on details that we wouldn't see from down below the ceiling.

 

Like so-iPad image

 

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So-a great fount of knowledge, good English speaker and did I mention witty? He had a great sense of humor and we had a lot of chuckles. Despite the crowds it was a great informative and enriching tour. Cost 150 E.

 

I was taking photos as we walked -no flash- often having to catch up if Carol and Massimo had moved on, so I took the shots as quickly as I could.

 

 

 

A sarcophagus

 



 

Delicate mosaic