Steps today: 24 041 / 15.85 km
Back on the day tripping trail and over to Civitavecchia. This is the jumping off point for European Cruises and I think I'm probably the only person you know who's been to Civitavecchia and hasn't taken a cruise!
We were happy to go because the forecast called for occasional showers in Rome, but clear skies in Civitavecchia - this meant no dragging the umbrellas along.
We arrived around 11 and I was immediately surprised by the number of restaurants!! I swear you could fit all 3000 people from a cruise into all the restaurants and still have room left over! It seemed to go on for as far as the eye could see.
Finding a place to have lunch later was not going to be a problem!
We started with the old Victorian Pier and the beautiful views over the sea
Next, the Church of the Holy Martyrs of Japan
We walked passed the initial Restaurant Row to get closer to Piazza della Vita and stopped for an Aperol Spritz where I was the victim of a heinous crime. WHAT KIND OF GLASS IS THIS!?!? Needless to say a do-over was on the agenda.
This is the Embracing Peace Statue and it's a whopping 25 feet tall! No, I didn't look up her skirt.
Fort of Michelangelo
Somehow, in my research, I was under the impressions there would be more restaurants beyond this point - closer to the boats over there....
But there weren't, and we wanted to eat so we stopped on the spot and ate here. It was getting too windy to eat outside and I didn't want to go all the way back to "Restaurant Row" even though it was only a 10 minute walk away.
This place looked promising, but I didn't care for my meal. To add insult to injury, the items Frank wanted on the menu were not even available.... we should have hoofed it back to the beginning.
Next, I wanted to keep walking to get closer to the Cruise Ships which is only a 20 minute walk away, but in this city that's not possible. The restricted passenger zone is very large compared to other places where I could get up close, and there wasn't really all that much to see anyway - we started to feel like we were walking in an industrial zone. Too bad. We then walked "in" the city instead of along the water and I was so unimpressed I left with only one picture.
The little girl playing with the fish was so cute!
We turned back to the waterfront where the views were better
The wind was really picking up now, and I was trying to get a shot of the spray against the rocks.
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Then it was time for my Aperol Spritz do-over before heading back to Rome
We made it back sometime after 4PM and had a wander around town...
Stopped for a drink around 5PM
Then we made our way to the Trevi Fountain.... which was as chaotic as ever! It's ALWAYS like this, a total madhouse... and it's only April. Gawd, imagine it at the height of tourist season!! PASS!
From here, we walked to the Spanish Steps (which is also a chaotic mosh pit of people) with the intention of having supper in the area.
We found an EMPTY restaurant tucked away in a corner around 6:30... how could it be?? With all those people only 3 minutes away! In hindsight, I wonder if they just opened because it was jammed-packed in short order. We arrived just in time!
We ate outside under the heat lamps and it was it was very comfortable.
We walked back to the hotel after supper, getting back by about 8:30 to settle in after another great day!
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