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Published: October 15th 2013
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I woke early as one does flying west to east. I set out on foot before shops were opened. I stopped for coffee and a pastry, mmm, Italians can do breakfast pastries well, not quite up to French standards, but a nice second place. They have lattes far and a way ahead of the rest of the world however. As I sat and people watched on the other side of the Tiber, I heard racing cars come zooming back. Police women who had been standing on the corner topped pedestrians from crossing the road, the hundred or so Lamborghinis were back! And they had the right of way again in the city, and all traffic was frozen as these rich folks played their little rally game on a Friday morning as people were trying to get to work. All tolled it took only twenty minutes or so, but I'm sure it seemed like an hour to the poor souls who were late to work or had to skip their morning espressos because of the rally.
My Holland America transfer was set to leave the hotel lobby at 11:00am, so I shopped around near the Spanish Steps a while longer. Not
really in the mood to buy anything so early in the trip, I just observed the new colors they were showing. Royal blue would be the "it" color in Seattle next season. Rome is always a season ahead of us, we get their leftovers, I think. The skinny leg is still very in, but pallazo pants were making a comeback, with ankle boots. We'll see if that fashion hits the unconscious west coast ever again. Ugh!
The hour or so ride to Civitavecchia, which I'd made several times before, was about the same. I reflected on how happy I was that I had taken the Holland America transfers on this trip. The first time I'd lost my bags in a long time, and I had someone to help me figure it out. Also no hassle figuring out how to get to the ship in the morning. The Eurodam had had a Norovirus outbreak on the sailing prior to ours, so they had taken all travelers off the ship, given them a tour of Rome and a shore side lunch, and done a top down disinfection. Our transfer arrived at EXACTLY the time we were allowed to re-board the ship
and we were the first group to board all day. Check-in took 15 minutes from the bus to my cabin, as smooth as could be. I was very cautious throughout the trip to follow sanitizing and hand washing procedures, and so was HAL. No self service until after the 3rd day. No one I met on board had any problems.
I called the two ladies I had met on Cruise Critic message boards to meet for a cocktail before dinner. We got along quite well and had dinner every night after that. We took several shore trips as well. Nora is from Kentucky and Marilyn from Connecticut. We solo travelers have to stick together to make sure everyone stays safe. It was an early night for me, still not used to the time schedule, and the lull of the ocean is wonderful for promoting a deep sleep.
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