Day 10 - Rome

Today's port city was Civitavecchia, which was an hour outside of Rome.  Luckily, on this day we upgraded to a private tour and it was worth every penny - we wished we had done this on every excursion.  Our private driver, Roberto, picked us up at the ship and we hopped in our Mercedes van to begin our full day cram session of Rome.

Our guide started on the outskirts of town at the catacombs.  Although there are no bodies/bones left in them, it was still a little eerie being underground looking at tombs.

Then we headed in to town and got our first taste of Rome.  Circus Maximus...

One of the great things about having a private guide is that we also had a group photographer...

The Victor Emmanuel Monument (or as our guide said the Roman's called it "The Wedding Cake"). It truly was gleaming white and impressive.

The Pantheon...

...complete with Roman soldiers.

We were amazed and confused by these street performers...until we overheard another tour guide explaining the fake arm on the bottom guy.

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in the Piazza Novana

The Forum

Then we stopped for a quick bite to eat al fresco (that is Romulus and Remus nursing from the wolf in case you are wondering)

Today's wine...a local Frascati...

We got our Italian pasta fix...Tortellini for me (which were delicious, even if they don't appear to be)

Raviolis for Michael...

After lunch, it was time for the Coliseum.  The great thing about having the private guide was that he was able to zip us through town and take us to buy tickets for the Coliseum at a undisclosed location that no other tourists seem to know about.  So we literally walked right in.  The line, otherwise, was pretty atrocious and it was a hot day.  We were very thankful to Roberto that we didn't have to wait in that line - actually we probably wouldn't have had time to so we would have missed the amazing site that is the Coliseum.

Next up, we grabbed some gelatto to cool off and went to one of my favorite stops...Trevi Fountain...

And to end our Roman Holiday, we swung by the Vatican and walked through St Peters square (definitely didn't have time for the Sistine Chapel line...oh well, next trip!)

Rome really was a wonderful city...we covered a lot of ground and we left feeling like we had seen the city...but I know I will get back one day.  Arrivederci Rome!