I planned most of our Rome trip from using the Rick Steves Italy and Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise ports books. These books are serious lifesavers, and they provide you with so much information to get you through a vacation almost flawlessly while learning something along the way.
Once we arrived at the airport, we had booked a Terravision
bus to Termini station in Rome. This was
4 Euro per person each way. We also used
Terravision to go back to the airport on the day of our departure. Our Airbnb was called Martina’s Place and
located about a 5-minute walk from the Termini station. We used this location as our home base and
overall it seemed to work out well.
That first night we started with the Rick Steve’s Dolce Vita
Walk. This was a great start to the trip
and a good way to orient to the city. On
this walk we saw:
-Popolo Square
-Entrance to Borghese Gardens
-Walked Via Del Corso
-Spanish Steps and Sinking Boat Fountain
We ended near the Victor Emmanuel Monument and had a liter of wine and yummy pasta at L'Antica Birreria Peroni. It was pretty good food, but I've had better Italian food for sure.
The next day we had until noon before we had to head
to the cruise terminal so we hit up several churches that we wanted to
see: Laterno, Maggiore, St. Peter in
Chains/Moses. Holy Stairs
-San Giovanni in Laterano: Built by Constantine, across the street are the Holy Stairs that Jesus walked with Pilot. Jesus' blood is still on the steps.
-Santa Maria Maggiore: Beautiful church filled with mosaics
-St. Peter in Chains: Michaelangelo's Moses Sculpture, and the chains that held Peter
We met our friends back at Martina’s and headed to the
Termini station. We all bought our train
tickets at a kiosk and started our journey to Civitavecchia. Once we got to the end of the line, we walked
about 15 minutes down the coastline to the port. There was a Norwegian bus that took us from
there to the check in line further inside the port. Check in was quick and easy and then it was
time to explore the ship!!! We cruised
on the Norwegian Jade and I have to say we liked this ship much better than the
Carnival Valor we took several years ago.
The only downside was they didn’t have a free sauna or stand up comedy on
the Jade.
It was a super fun time playing the Newlywed Game, using the thermal suite, working out, watching movies, doing Zumba, shuffleboard, trivia, the piano bar, and really awful art auction, and more!! We really like cruises. I wouldn't do them as our only source of vacation, but it is a fun way to see lots of places, especially here in Europe!
When the cruise landed back in Civitavecchia we took a bus back to the train station and headed back to Termini. We stayed with Martina again for the last 2 nights of trip. She made a mean cappuccino! That day was Valentine's Day, so we made plans for a nice dinner but started with lunch. We wanted to see the Churches in Popolo Piazza so we stopped along the way for some yummy pizza. Once we got to the church we were able to see some awesome Carravagio's there. From there we started the Rick Steve's Heart of Rome Walking tour that took us to:
-Campo De Fiori: nice market and square with lots of shopping
-Piazza Navona, where we saw the 4 rivers fountain
-Church of San Luigi dei Francesi: Carravagio Paintings
-The Pantheon
-Saint Maria Minerva: Michaelangelo of Jesus bearing the cross- touched a Michelangelo YAY!
-San Ignazio Church: 3D illusion paintings and dome roof
-Trevi Fountain
-Parliament Building
-Galleria Shopping and Egyptian Obelisk
-Piazza Colonna
-Walked down Via del Corso
-Giolotti's Famous Gelato pit stop for gelato, um YES please!
At the end of the walk we ended at the Victor Emmaneul Monument so we meandered over that direction. We saw Trajan's Column and the Imperial Forum and watched the sun start to set from there. After a long day and walking 10+ miles (NOT KIDDING), we settled down for a great Valentine's Dinner at Alessio. It was really close to our hotel and delicious food! We even ran into people from our cruise there that recognized us from being on TV every single day (from the Newlywed Game). Small little world there in Roma!
On Sunday we had an aggressive schedule. We hit up Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Arch of Constantine, Colosseum, Capitoline Hill, Michelangelo staircase, and Piazza del Campidoglio. We also got to hear the Pope offer a blessing in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. We met up with some friends we met on our cruise for lunch and said goodbye since it was their last day in Rome. I have to say getting to see the Pope was a surprisingly cool thing! It was not on my radar or agenda, but ended up being a pretty cool deal.
The last day of the trip we had a ambitious schedule. We got up early, packed, and hit the metro to the Vatican at an early 7:15 am. We booked an 8:30 tour with the Vatican website that lasted about 3 hours. We got to see most of the exhibits, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica and Square. It was all gorgeous, ornate, breathtaking, and cool all wrapped into one. Even though we aren't Catholic, so much of Christianity stems from here, so there really is something for everyone. After our tour we headed down to the crypt to see St. Peter's tomb as well as many other Popes that are buried there.
After the tour we had time to grab a quick bite to eat and hit the Metro back to Termini. We picked up our bags from Martina and went to the Terravision Cafe to catch our bus back to the airport. It was a crazy fast but fun time in Rome and I can really see why it is called the Eternal City. We really loved everything about it from the atmosphere, to the music, to the food, and the people. Maybe we will see you again Rome, but at least we saw the most important things while we were there!
Lodging: Cruise Ship/ Airbnb (Martina’s Place near Termini Station)
Transportation: Cruise ship, Metro, Train to Cruise port
Flight: To Rome Ciampiano via Ryanair
Guidebook: Rick Steve’s Italy and Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruiseports, Rick Steve’s Audioguide on our iPhone
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