We woke up
around 3am again this morning and waited until a reasonable hour to actually
get out of bed. Jessie and I decided to
do some last minute touring and went to Saint Angelo Castle to explore for an
hour before heading out. The grounds
were beautiful and we were surprised by the number of dogs running around with
their owners. Jessie and I strolled
along the pathways, stopping to take pictures and then walked along the tree-lined
boulevard which was filled with souvenir stalls. There was a merry-go-round set up at the end,
but since it was so early in the morning, it wasn’t yet running.
On our way
back, we noticed how much the line for the Vatican entrance had grown in the
mere hour we had been touring. If we
were to come back, purchasing a skip-the-line ticket would be the best choice.
Once we were
home again, we returned the keys, checked out and made our way to the train
station. It took about 5 minutes to walk
there and was problem free. I purchased
our tickets from a nice man at the counter and then we just had to carry the
bags down a flight of stairs and then back up again to platform 5 (there were
no elevators at this train station either).
Although the lifting was a bit strenuous, we were soon waiting at our
platform talking to a Catholic Priest from Toronto.
The train
arrived a short while later and took us on our 50 minute journey to
Civitavecchia. It was hassle free and
provided a beautiful tour of Roman scenery.
Once the train stopped we were shocked to see the number of fellow
cruise passengers who were also onboard with their luggage (we thought we’d be
the only ones but there were several hundred).
Again there were no elevators, so we carried our suitcases down and up
and then headed to the pier.
Once we
arrived, a shuttle bus picked us up and brought us to a tent in front of the
ship where we completed our check in procedures. This went flawlessly and soon we were
checking into our stateroom: 1106! Hildy
was impressed with the size of our room and our beautiful window. Our luggage came soon after and when we had
unpacked, we went up for food.
The buffet
restaurant probably got the biggest reaction from Hildy… she was amazed at the
amount of food and the choices available.
We filled our hungry tummies and then took a brief tour of the ship;
stopping to soak up some sun on deck (Hildy with her entire upper body covered
in a towel).
The next
little while was spent resting in the room and recovering from the busy
morning. One surprise that greeted us
when we came on board was a complimentary dinner at the specialty restaurant on
board called Tamarind. This restaurant
typically has a surcharge but we had a complementary reservation for the
evening. I think this may have been due
to the fact that I had to complain about a error with the room previously.
Jessie and I
were so excited to try this restaurant and Hildy (who isn’t nearly as
passionate about food) was also fairly positive about trying something
new. When we arrived at the restaurant
we were impressed by the elegant décor and we were given the best seat in the
house—right by the big windows looking out at the water. Our servers were so kind and referred to us
as Jessie, Laura and Hildy.
The food was
phenomenal! It was mainly Thai and
Japanese but tasted better than any dishes we had in Asia. My favourite dishes were the Satays served
with Peanut sauce, Coconut Chicken Pho soup, Chicken Curry with Coconut and
Lime and finally a Tamarind Chocolate Cup with Ginger Mousse for desert. Even Hildy was impressed and exclaimed that
she could drink buckets of the soup!
After
dinner, we were all pleasantly full, so we headed back to the room instead of
seeing the show. Jessie read a book for
a while whereas Oma and I passed out. It
was a great day transitioning from Rome to shipboard life.
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