Live(ish) Report - Celebrity Ascent - June 18, 2024 - Greece, Turkey & Italy

[StopTheWorld]

You had me at Tiramisu….. Looking forward to your review! 😍

[Miaminice]

Our next destination was the Spanish Steps. To get there we first walked through the park on the back of Sant Angelo and enjoyed the quietness just a block off the busy main street.

 

 

Contrary to other times, the Piazza de Spagna was relatively quiet. Police making sure people wouldn’t sit and linger on the stairs.

 

 

 

 

[Miaminice]

The sun burned down on us pretty hard, so jumping into the cool waters of the Trevi Fountain, which was next on our list of the usual suspects,  was tempting… we might have made the news 😁

 

 

 

 

 

[Miaminice]

However, we had a different reward in mind already. Close to Piazza Navona we know a small hole in the wall Porchetteria serving typical street food - delicious Porchetta Sandwiches. 

 

 

[Miaminice]

Filled by the delight and happy we continued our tour past the giant white marble Emanuele II monument at Piazza Venezia and climbed the steps up the Capitoline Hill. 

On top of the hill, just before you walk down to the Forum Romanum on the other side, there’s the Musei Capitolini. I turned to one of the staff at the entrance and asked for the Caffeteria and only answered Birgit‘s quizzing look by saying “you’ll see” 😉

A few minutes later we were having drinks on the rooftop terrace overlooking Rome from the Capitolini - the former epicenter of ancient Rome.

 

 

 

 

[Miaminice]

Saying hello to the statue of Romulus and Remus we walked down on the other side and headed towards the Colosseum.
 

 

 

Whenever I see this magnificent building I have to think about one of my all time favorite movies, Gladiator and its epic soundtrack. 

 

 

 

 

We turned right at the Colosseum and strolled along the Circus Maximus towards the old Jewish quarter.

 

 

Just another corner and we reached the hidden entrance of our hotel. Believe me, after 20000 steps in the heat, the cool hallway was a very welcome sight.

 

[Miaminice]

Following a good rest and cool shower we headed over to Trastevere once more and had dinner at the La Canonica Restaurant which we had noticed the evening before.
A nice signature Cacio e Pepe Pasta and a Pizza Diavola marked the end of our day. The 24k step count sure soothing our conscience.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[depplep]

Now you are killing me with the Cacio e Pepe!!!!

[Lena11033]

11 minutes ago, depplep said:

Now you are killing me with the Cacio e Pepe!!!!

 

Lol I just googled and saved the Porchetteria for future places to visit

[depplep]

Yep, I added La Canonica to my Trip Advisor trips!

[Ciaranaman]

Adding myself to those already tagging along!  Looking forward to reading about your newest adventures.  And making notes!  Thank you for adding the video clips!  

~Bernadette

[DaKahuna]

@Miaminice Your tour and photo's of Rome are bringing back so many memories from our first cruise to the Med years ago.  We did a "walking tour" of Rhome and when to many of the same locations you did, including a brief visit inside the Basilica.  Thank you so very much for refreshing those memories and once again sharing your and your lovely bride's adventures with us.  

[Spif Barwunkel]

A pleasant way to reminisce about cruises past as your succinct and unique style will no-doubt conjure up great memories of the ports-of-call. Our sailing ship was another vessel, but we did enjoy Ascent on a different itinerary. 

 

Putting that pizza, (post #32) out there for everyone to see shows total disregard for the resulting adverse mouthwatering effects that will be experienced by the viewers. It just looks too scrumptious.         

Edited June 18 by Spif Barwunkel

[Mark.Jules]

I am already loving this, thank you for bringing us along.

[Miaminice]

Thank you all for following along ☺️

I just like to add the reason why my narrative might sometimes be a bit short - besides the fact that after > 16 km in over 30C even I was beat. 🤣 

 

Birgit and I have a FB group where we post a daily recap. The texts are made for that group and I am trying to put it all into a nutshell. Depending on the time of the evening, and maybe the size of the pizza, a smaller or larger nutshell.
 

As long as I don’t have to use the slow ship‘s wifi I paste the text into Cruise Critic and add the photos. For another group I also translate the writing into German.

 

Anyway… if there’s anything you want to know, let me know!

[Scottishclover]

Another fantastic review. We spent 4 wonderful days last summer in Rome and also spent a lot of time in Travestere. I’m also looking forward to reading your thoughts on the Ascent as we have a cruise on her booked in August. Enjoy your cruise!😎

[Miaminice]

Celebrity Ascent - June 18, 2024 - Greece, Turkey & Italy - 3 - Embarkation Day

 

In the morning of this day we decided to have breakfast at a small cafe we had walked by the day before. It was just a street below Piazza Navona and not far from our hotel.

 

 

Being welcomed by a very friendly waitress we immediately knew that the decision wasn’t bad AT ALL but still made for a good story. The food was fresh and delicious. So we can highly recommend Molly‘s Garden Cafe to all of you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Texed]

Thanks for posting.  😊

[Tyskie]

@Miaminice

Thanks for your wonderful review!  We had planned to stay in Piazza Navona area but then everything was canceled (2020)  

 

Enjoying your wanderings and "step" count - impressive 😊

[Travelexpert35]

You always do a great review and your pictures are beautiful. Loved Rome when we were there and it certainly brings back wonderful memories. 
 

Enjoy your cruise and I’ll be following along!!

[vickykay]

Was so excited to see another wonderful review coming from Miaminice!   We’re on the Ascent in Sept so can wait to follow along!  Thanks for taking the time.  

[Mrs.Dukes]

Have a wonderful time on your cruise. I’m enjoying following along.

[hcat]

looks like nice sunny weather!  enjoy

[Miaminice]

As usual we had booked our transfer to Civitavecchia with Bob’s Limos and as usual they delivered… when we ca,e back from breakfast at 10am, the car was already there - even though we had arranged 10:30am. So we just got our luggage and hopped in.

 

When we got to the port around an hour later, we dropped our luggage and checked in. Not even ten minutes later we looked down on the Martini Bar.

 

[Miaminice]

As some of you might know fro our previous reports, we usually book Aqua Class because we simply enjoy the more personal ambiance of Blu restaurant.
 

However, to be honest we only allow ourselves a certain travel budget. The problem is that we love to travel … and we are privileged to do so. Traveling and seeing the world with open eyes and an open heart is like a never ending university for me which shaped my life. So in order to be able to keep paying for tuition, we scaled down a bit this time.
 

Edge class ships have a nice stateroom category offering a good compromise - PO, Panoramic Oceanview. A more affordable price but floor to ceiling windows giving us the light we like.

 

So let me introduce stateroom PO 6236 to you…