Record of Day 8 of the Western Mediterranean Cruise: Rome and Civitavecchia

Colosseum

Travel Dates: September 8, 2023 – September 18, 2023

Places Visited: Vatican City, unnamed Korean restaurant, Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, Capitoline Museums, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon

Western Mediterranean Cruise 9 nights 11 days, Day 8

Notes Before Watching the Rome Cruise

I personally found the local guide’s style quite disappointing.

This write-up is primarily focused on photos of the tourist spots, so please refer to that…

(It means there are many photos rather than information Haha)

If the local guide isn’t fixed, I think changing to another guide would greatly influence the overall satisfaction of tourists.

Costa Smeralda

We bought flat peaches at the Palermo market the day before.

They were sold at 1.75 euros for 4? They were sold by weight…

Anyway, it was a cheap price that made me hesitant to accept change.

After getting off at Civitavecchia port, we headed towards the Vatican.

In Rome, we initially traveled by tour bus, but after lunch, we decided to split into vans for movement.

This was the beginning of the hellish tour… I didn’t know at the time…

Civitavecchia

I saw Swiss Guards who are part of the Vatican’s military force.

They are said to be composed only of Swiss nationals.

The reason lies in history.

I was too lazy to write about it, but roughly, during the medieval wars,

the guards who protected the Pope and perished were Swiss soldiers. 🤔

Piazza San Pietro

Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City

We took a picture with the obelisk at St. Peter’s Square.

This photo clearly shows the cone head…

And for some reason, it made me think of the Tower of Darkness from Digimon Kaiser. 😎

Anyway, we split into teams for entering Vatican City and those who would tour the surroundings.

The line was way too long, and the sun was too hot, so I thought I couldn’t wait…

But to my memory, I think we were the only ones who didn’t go inside while everyone else did… Haha.

Of course, I did feel a slight regret later on that I should have gone inside…

But at that moment, I really couldn’t wait…

Civitavecchia

Civitavecchia

It seems that since it’s a Catholic country, I saw nuns around.

And there were soldiers too…

Feeling a bit nervous, I rushed to the souvenir shop. Haha.

Civitavecchia

After strolling around, we headed back when it was meeting time.

I couldn’t resist buying this super soft and cute bunny plushie…

I usually don’t buy stuff like this… There were so many colors it was hard to choose. 😭

I don’t remember if it cost 12 or 20 euros….

We returned to the square to take some aesthetic shots of the Bernini Fountain.

Civitavecchia

Korean Restaurant in Rome

Then we arrived at a Korean restaurant…

No matter how much I tried to find it, I couldn’t figure out the name of the restaurant… 😭

(I suspect it might be somewhere called Seoul Restaurant, but I’m not sure…)

In general, Korean restaurants abroad tend to be quite strong in flavor, but…

the stir-fried potato strings, instead of the red pepper paste, was really tasty! Haha

But I can’t recall if the side dishes were refilled for free…

I think they probably weren’t, as I don’t recall refilling them…

The menu included kimchi stew, stir-fried squid, and bulgogi,

and true to form, the kimchi stew here was incredibly thick and flavorful.

Although it was also quite oily and very spicy. Haha

I still enjoyed it, but older folks might not appreciate the flavor.

After lunch, we headed to the Colosseum.

I think we switched to vans then, and it was honestly so cramped and hot that it was exhausting… 🥺

Colosseum

Piazza del Colosseo, 1, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

Wow, I can’t believe the day has come when I can see this with my own eyes…

Honestly, it was one of the most exhilarating moments of the trip.

Haha, and the guide… boasted that he takes great photos, but…

I ended up deleting all of them and had to ask my mom to take the photos…

I understand that he couldn’t take good pictures, but after that,

he kept saying, ‘Let’s move quickly! Take the photo quickly!!’

and told us to move to the next spot!! At that point, I started to feel bad…

I came to travel and enjoy, but it felt like I was just there to take pictures…

Despite that, I was still able to hold it together.

Arch of Constantine

Via di S. Gregorio, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

Indeed, Rome is the ultimate tourist destination…

There were a ton of people.

The arch is right next to the Colosseum, so I could take photos of both.

I gave up on getting other people out of the shots and just clicked away!

Civitavecchia

After taking photos at the arch, we quickly hopped back in the van to move to the next location…

No time for leisure!!!

They said it’s a spot with an amazing view.

Civitavecchia

It’s so close…

Capitoline Museums… I had no idea what it was about…

I didn’t go inside and just snapped tons of photos before moving on.

Although I’m smiling in the photos, as soon as the camera was down, my face was all grim.

Piazza Venezia

Piazza Venezia, Roma RM, Italy

Then we took another van to Venice Square and took a photo with the palace.

It didn’t take even two minutes to get there, so I was thinking why we even took the van…

I was already sweating to death, and getting on and off was annoying.

Regardless, I got the photo….

Trevi Fountain

Piazza di Trevi, 00187 Roma RM, Italy

The fountain where tossing a coin means a wish will come true…

It’s not just that; tossing one coin means you will return to Rome,

two coins mean new love, and three mean a breakup.

So I tossed only one coin and left!

I’d like to come back later for a leisurely trip without a guide.

Bar Fontana di Trevi

Piazza di Trevi, 90, 00187 Roma RM, Italy

At a gelato shop right in front of the Trevi Fountain,

I tried the tiramisu flavor.

But it was so crowded that I ended up eating it while standing on the street.

The gelato melted super quickly, so it was a challenge to finish it…

On the way to the Pantheon, I found the same bunny plushies I bought at a souvenir shop.

Thankfully, they were the same price.

Pantheon

Piazza della Rotonda, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

I just took a photo of the Pantheon from the outside…

Then I was so hot that I went to grab an iced coffee.

Tazza d’Oro Coffee

Via degli Orfani, 84, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

Tazza d’Oro Coffee

This place is famous for iced Americanos…

Honestly, it was not that great.

They served pre-made coffee from the fridge over ice,

and there were coffee grounds at the bottom, so the taste was bleh…

In terms of iced Americano, Korea wins! Haha

They probably rushed to make this menu due to the tourists, so it was made quickly.

Civitavecchia

We moved again by van Haha.

Mom’s eyes look glazed over…

Terrazza Belvedere

Via Cristoforo Colombo, 74, 19031 Ameglia SP, Italy

I’m not sure what this was, but it seemed to be a viewpoint.

They brought us here for the pretty view.

But honestly, by this time, I just wanted to ditch the whole tour…

I wanted to take a taxi or find my own way back to the ship.

It was pretty, though… I did get some nice profile pictures…

Fortunately, this was the last stop.

However, I really struggled, and my impression of Rome tourism went downhill…

Costa Smeralda

For starters, we had a mozzarella cheese salad and cod in bean cream.

Main dish 1 was ragù pasta and tomato cream soup.

Main dish 2 was beef loin steak and sea bass dish.

Additional main was Bolognese pasta.

That day, I ate so much, possibly due to exhaustion.

Dessert was orange mocha and tiramisu.

This was our last dinner on the cruise, and it was the tastiest meal we had.

Just when I was finally getting used to the cruise, it was already the last day…

Despite the regret of such a tight schedule,

I ended up doing nothing and just rested in my room…

After dinner, when we returned, our room steward left us a note. 😭

I want to go on another cruise trip… But next time,

I’ll do a lot less sightseeing…