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Published: July 26th 2010
Well there isn’t much to talk about as far as onboard life goes. I’m basically finished doing deck work which means no more early mornings spent swabbing the decks. This week I’m working with the deck repairman, he is in charge of finding creative repair solutions for deck equipment, completing hot work (welding, grinding, etc), and checking inspecting things like tanks and structures. On the 31st I’ll be starting work in the engine room, and I have no idea what I’ll be doing. A week later I’ll finally be working on the bridge.
When we were in Civitavecchia 4 of us took the train to Rome. We accidentally boarded an Intercity Train instead of a Regional train which caused us to pay 8 euros more than our 9 euro ticket when our tickets got checked. Rome is by far the nicest big European city I’ve been to. As soon as we walked off the train we walked to the Forum, as we heard that we could buy tickets for the Colosseum there and skip the 2-3 hour lineup that most people stand in. Upon entering the Colosseum I was immediately blown away by just how big of a place it
was and it’s nearly 2000 years old. Having never seen modern buildings and seeing it back in its prime must have blown minds.
After the Colosseum we walked through Ancient Rome on our way to find something to eat. Ancient Rome as nothing really impressive, just ruins really. But it was on the way to the most delicious gnocchi I have ever eaten. We ate at this small little hole in the wall place facing the Palazza Venezia. This plaza has an incredible white marble structure dating only back to 1911 as a Monument to one of Italy’s Kings. It is also where Mussolini gave many of his public speeches.
Seeing as that we only had a limited amount of time in Rome, as missing the ship would be far from a good thing we had arranged our day to end at a metro station that would take us back to the train station. Next stop on the journey was the Pantheon, a building I had always adored because of its engineering ingenuity and impressive styling. Needless to say, I was blown away. By far one of the coolest buildings I have ever been in, I couldn’t point
Romans
This is completely historically accurate... Right?my camera at a bad picture really. The Oculous in the ceiling is not only seen as an engineering necessity to stop the dome from collapsing on itself, but also the only source of interior light. Something that most people don’t think about is the fact that because there is a hole in the ceiling, rain does indeed come in. Because of this, the floor is higher in the middle than on the outside so water can run off into a drainage system.
On our way to the Trevi Fountain we stopped to get something to drink as it was crazy hot out and we hadn’t planned on stopping yet. The place we walked into also gave out free samples of Limoncello. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s somewhat of an Italian Specialty; a sweet lemon liqueur with a fantastic taste, I think it would go really well on some ice cream. But one drink wasn’t enough apparently and we were quickly handed another of Melloncello, and then yet another of Pistachiocello. All were delicious and despite the womans obvious attempt at selling us some alcohol we carried on to the fountain. The fountain is beyond impressive; I
saw some crazy fountains in Germany, but those were all bronze castings. The Trevi is on a completely different level, It’s one of things you just need to see to understand. There is a legend attached to the Trevi that states “if you throw a coin into the fountain, you will one day return to Rome” Needless to say, I guess I’ll be coming back one day, probably in a month when I come back to see the Vatican.
Our last stop took us to the Spanish steps, something I expected to be much more interesting really. Even the church at the top was nothing out of the ordinary, but alas we though we were out of the heat and back into the cool underground metro system… So we thought. When we boarded our train, the fancy screen inside informed us that it was a scorching 36 degrees outside, and a slightly cooler 30 inside the train. Let’s just say that it was far from a comfortable train ride.
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mom
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Wish I was there!
Glad you had a chance to see the Colliseum and the other sites around Rome. It is a very beautiful city and when I see the pictures it makes me want to go back sooner rather than later. Make sure you get to the Vatican next time around as the Sistene Chapel is pretty unbelievable. Enjoy the world while you have the time off. Glad you are doing well. I am sure that you will have fun Navigating on the bridge soon.