To Rome

Finally it was time to leave the Magic, but our vacation was not over yet, as we still had a couple of days in Rome ahead of us.

Off the Magic

We had decided at the last minute yesterday to let Disney take our bags off the ship instead of doing Express walk-off, so we had a leisurely breakfast at Cabana's and then sat out on the deck while Rebecca enjoyed one last mocha frappe from the Cove Cafe.

Touring Civitavecchia

They called for all passengers to disembark, and since we didn't know what type of lines there would be, we exited aroud 8AM even though our car service was not due to be there until 9AM. So we had to wait around outside for a while for Stefano's Rome Tours. We were doing their Post Cruise Castles and Lakes tour, which we highly recommend, except for the stop at the Necropolis, which we will discuss later. The tour would take us from the Civitavecchia cruise port and drop us off at our hotel in Rome.

We saw our tour guide arrive with a neon sign with J. R.'s name on it and made our way over. We were concered at first as the older gentleman did not seem to speak much English and were further worried when he told us we would have to pay him 450 EUR in cash at the end of the tour, even though we had prepaid. But he checked his paperwork and corrected himself and it turned out he spoke much better English than at the start and turned out to be very engaging throughout our tour. He even pointed out the Bank of Civitavecchia, founded in 1490, two years before Columbus 'discovered' America.

Bracciano

We drove on the motorway for awhile as our driver spoke about Rome and the countryside we would see. He was quite proud of his home and asked what type of sites we planned to visit. Our first stop was the town of Bracciano, about 20 miles outside of Rome. Our driver parked in the town square and directed us to walk to an overlook where we could see Lake Bracciano, a large volcanic lake, the eighth largest in Italy.

Castello Orsini-Odescalchi

We returned to the car and drove a short distance to the Odescalchi Castle, a 15th century structure where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were married. There was in fact preparations underway for a wedding ceremony as we toured, although we had no idea if it was anyone famous.

Papal Room

There were few people in the castle, save for one tour group, which we worked hard to get ahead of so they would not be in every room with us. We began our tour in the Papal Room where Pope Sixtus IV lived in 1481 when he fled Rome to escape the plague.

Sala della Trittico

Our next room was the Sala della Trittico, which takes its name from a 14th century triptych depicting the annunciation of the virgin and the crucifixion. We always chuckle whenever we see a triptych because our middle school always had a 'Triptych' concert featuring the band, chorus and orchestra. The boys' music teacher would open the concert each year with the same explanation of what is a triptych that after a few years we could recite it by heart.

Sala Umberto and Caesars

After Sala Umberto, the home of Italy's King Umberto, who lived here in 1900, the Room of the Caesars with busts of the twelve Caesars was next. Cue the "that's a bust" dad jokes from J. R.

Courtyard

We entered the courtyard next with its stone statues of bears, the symbol of the Orsini family who owned the castle.

Sala Leone

Back inside, we entered the Sala Leone. It took us a little while to find the room's namesake 16th century stone lion as we expected something a little larger if an entire room was named after it.

Rest of the Downstairs

We wandered our way through a few more rooms downstairs, which were all starting to look alike with cabinets and beds and paintings, before making our way up the staircase to the upper level.

Weapons

Upstairs, we found the weapons rooms with their collection of medieval swords and spears and other weaponry. One of the rooms, the Sala di Ercole, also featured a set of frescos depicting the twelve labors of Hercules. Rebecca was most interested in the medieval-era artifact in one of the room with the bright blue screen. We thought at first this electronic device was a gift from the Emporer of Japan or Korea, but turns out it was a Grundig TV, so it was of Germanic origin instead.

Upstairs

There were a few more rooms upstairs with more beds and artwork.

Overlook

Above the courtyard was a series of walkways connecting the castle's five towers that gave us some more great views of Lake Bracciano.

Tunnel

We went looking for the armory following the directions of the sign, but all we found was an empty tunnel with a locked gate, so we headed outside.

Lake Bracciano

Our driver confused us when he said he was taking us to "Lake Front", as we thought that would be different lake, but he instead drove us to 'the lakefront' of Lake Bracciano where we walked along the shore for a little while and took some family photos.

Ceri

A short distance down the road was the medieval town of Ceri, which dates back to the pre-Roman Etruscans. There was a lot of talk about Etruscans at our tour stops, but none of us really knew who they were, except they came before the Romans. After thankfully being driven up the tight street to the mountaintop city, we stopped in front of the Romanesque Church of the Madonna di Ceri, with its 12th century Old Testament frescos and lovely Nativity scene.

Lunch

We ate lunch at a place recommended by our driver, the Trattoria La Rocca. The restaurant received really good reviews online, and the food was very good, but the service was extremely slow. Our driver came over twice to see how we were doing and Janie had not even received her food yet even though both Rebecca and J. R. had already eaten. The view from the restaurant was fantastic, however.

Necropolis

The next stop on our tour was a major let down. Janie was interested in the Necropolis of the Banditaccia, an Etruscan necropolis near Cerveteri but the stop was not worth the time or cost (8 EUR per person). First, the introductory video is only shown once per hour, and since we arrived shortly after it started due to our lengthly lunch, we missed it. This meant we had to wander the necropolis for an hour, not knowing what we were looking at or for. They gave us a radio that only worked in a handful of the vaults, so the rest all just looked the same. We stayed for the video, but it was only played in Italian (which we understand, it is Italy, after all), but if we had known that we would not have waited around.

To Rome

Our driver was surprised we returned early to the car but we explained this stop was just not for us, so we drove on to Rome. We talked about sports a little, our driver being a Roma football fan lamenting Italy not making the World Cup. He also said he liked American football but especially American basketball. He joined Janie in his dislike for the 'boring' sport of baseball. Upon arrival in Rome, he drove us around the city to help us get our bearings. He took us to the top of Aventine Hill and showed us the Aventine Keyhole in the door to the Priory of the Knights of Malta. Looking through this keyhole, you are supposed to be able to see St. Peter's Basilica, but on this day, a large tent obscured part of the Basilica. We drove past the Altar of the Fatherland and Circus Maximus and arrived our hotel near the Colosseum, the Monti Palace Hotel. The hotel was a true gem with a perfect location, a pristine lobby and a spacious room with a nice shower.

The Spanish Steps

After settling in, we decided to walk to the Spanish Steps, as they did not appear to be that far away. One thing our HERE maps did not tell us, though, was we had to walk through a long tunnel with cars and buses zooming by the narrow sidewalks. This was a little unsettling, but we eventually arrived at the Spanish Steps, along with most of Rome, it seemed. (Side note, when in Barcelona, Rebecca asked us if we would be visiting the Spanish Steps. We told her, yes, when we were in Italy. She thought, perhaps naturally, that the Spanish Steps were in Spain).

Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain was on our way back to the hotel and allowed us to take a different path back that would avoid the tunnel. We found the other half of Rome in front of the fountain. J. R. handed Becca a euro cent and she pushed her way through the crowd to toss the penny over her left shoulder and walk away, thereby assuring she would return to Rome someday.

Piazza del Quirinale

On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped at the Palazzo del Quirinale, one of the three offical residences of the President of Italy. Quirinal Hill is the highest of the seven hills of Rome and the palace served as the home of thirty Popes, four Kings and twelve Presidents.

Night in Rome

We were pretty tired as we made it back near our hotel but also hungry, so we stopped at a pizzeria, the Antiche Maschere. The pizzas were just okay. Rebecca had to spit out a bite of J. R.'s porcini mushroom pizza as she could not stand the taste. The four cheese pizza was too heavy on the bleu cheese. But the local birra was good. Rebecca stopped for a gelato at a chain store nearby. It was not the best gelato in the world, but she said it was not too bad. A quick stop in a small convenience store got us some sodas for the night and we went back to the hotel to watch some World Cup in Italian and go to sleep.