• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
  • Home Tour
  • Read By Category
  • Sources
    • Life On Virginia Street Paint Colors
    • Shop Our Home
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Amazon
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • HOME DECOR
    • Decorating Ideas, Tips and Trends
    • Home Tour
    • Look for Less
    • Outdoor Spaces
    • Room Makeovers + Design Plans
  • DIY Projects
    • Cleaning and Organization Tips
    • Crafts
    • Paint Projects
    • Rental Properties
    • Room Makeovers
    • Tutorials
  • TRAVEL
    • 30A Florida
    • Cruises
    • European Travel
    • Mexico & The Caribbean
    • U.S. Travel
    • Packing Ideas
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Fashion Posts
    • Hair & Beauty Posts
    • Recent Outfit Ideas
  • Entertaining
    • Entertaining and Party Ideas
    • Food & Drink Recipes
    • Tablescapes
  • Shop
    • Shop Our Home
    • Shop My Instagram Feed
    • Gift Guides
    • My Amazon Storefront
    • Sale Alerts
    • Wednesday Watch List
Life On Virginia Street

Life On Virginia Street

DIY . Home Decor . Travel . Style . Life

Travel Files: Rome and The Vatican

Travel

8 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

This is a continuation of my travel series covering our Mediterranean cruise in July of 2010. See my Mediterranean Cruise Day 1 post for the introduction and the end of the post for links to each port of call on the cruise. Today focuses on our day in port of call Civitavecchia. We took an excursion with the cruise line and visited Rome and The Vatican. I’ll be outlining the highlights below.

Day 6 Highlights:
  • The Colosseum
  • The scenic drive around Rome
  • St. Peter’s Basilica
  • Lunch with two Norwegian couples
  • Witnessing the pure chaos at Trevi Fountain
  • St. Peter’s Square
I may need some extra energy for this post.  Rome was by far the most exhausting day but also one of the best.  In my mind, I expected to like this day least, although knowing it would likely be my husband’s favorite.  Again, he loves history and I could take it or leave it.  However, similar to Pompeii, I was blown away.  Everywhere you look you are seeing things unlike anything in the U.S.  The rich history of this area is just mind boggling.  We have affectionately called Italy “sensory overload.”  Every day there was just SO much to take in and it was all SO different.
 
We started the morning off with a visit to the Colosseum.  I was definitely not expecting to be so impressed.  It is much larger than I expected and it is amazing how much of it remains {even though the Romans used it as a marble quarry for several years and it was partially destroyed by an earthquake}.  The best part of being part of the excursion, we got to bypass the several hour line to get inside!
 
 
Piazza Venezia {also known as the wedding cake building}
The Roman Forum {the ancient five-story high shopping mall}


The beautiful buildings we passed on our stroll to Trevi Fountain.


Trevi Fountain – aka the craziest tourist site I have EVER seen.  We are talking wall to wall crazy people.  Trevi Fountain really was beautiful but the crowds were REALLY starting to annoy me.  Thankfully, we were only there for about 20 minutes.  We both threw our coins in {the proper way – backwards over our left shoulders with our right hands} to ensure a return visit to Rome!

Our walk from Trevi Fountain to Hotel Savoy for lunch.  I love the little glass encased restaurants along the sidewalk.  There are two shown in this collage.

We had lunch on the top floor of Hotel Savoy and dined with two Norwegian couples.  One of the women was Dutch {from Holland originally} and told me they have a famous television star in Holland with the last name DeGooyer {my maiden name}.  Both couples were a lot of fun to talk to and it is always interesting to get other viewpoints on Americans and how citizens of other countries view us.

After lunch we went to Vatican City.  Hence the reason we are wearing pants and short sleeve shirts.  Your shoulders and knees must be fully covered while inside.  We are not Catholic but this is still such an amazing place to visit.  I was completely shocked at the volume of art/sculptures/paintings/tapestries that the Vatican owns.  Again, this was 100% sensory overload.  Between the thousands of tourists {they average 25,000 visitors per day} and the thousands of pieces of art it was REALLY overwhelming.  We also got to visit the Sistine Chapel while in the Vatican, which personally, for me was a letdown.  There are no photos allowed and it is just a wing off of the museum.  I guess I always thought it was a stand alone building.  It was also cool to say we visited another country while in the walls of Vatican City.Rome and The Vatican


St. Peter’s Basilica {still inside the Vatican} is the world’s largest church.  I found this much more impressive than the Sistine Chapel.  We went at the perfect time because the sun was shining through some of the windows creating a really majestic look in the basilica.  Its hard to believe this is where the Pope stands.

The interior of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

Just outside the doors of St. Peter’s Basilica is the impressive St. Peter’s Square.  This place is massive and is just unlike anything I have seen before. We also got to see the Swiss Guard.

 

Thus ends the tour of Rome and Vatican City.  So hard to believe we fit all of this into one day!  Needless to say we slept the majority of the bus ride home. 
We really bonded with our dinner table mates this particular night.  Royal Caribbean randomly matches who you sit with for dinner for the entire trip.  I must say they did an excellent job matching us with our group.  We had SO much fun with these guys and they really made our trip that much more enjoyable!  It was funny how reserved we all were the first night but after the next two nights, everyone pretty much said whatever was on their mind.  They were all so much fun.
 
Next stop, Livorno, Italy to visit Tuscany!
8 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

February 28, 2013 · 1 Comment

free email course!

5 Secrets to Re-Designing a Room You Love

Learn my foolproof system for designing a room you’ll love that you can enjoy for many years to come!

Previous Post: « Travel: Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri, Italy
Next Post: Travel Files: Volterra and San Gimignano, Italy »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. kevin Chan says

    May 3, 2013 at 1:24 am

    Thanks for sharing such great post! I love your blog! I like the Surveillance DVR.

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Welcome To Life On Virginia Street!

  • Amazon
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe By Email

Receive an email each time a new post goes live on Life On Virginia Street!

Tour Our Home

Footer

Disclosures + Photo Usage Policies
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Farmhouse Theme by Restored 316

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT