Cruises R Fun! - Reviews of Cruise Lines, Cruise Ships, Destinations, Ports And More!
Actually we didn't see much that looked like "ancient Rome", most of it looked pretty new. The coliseum however, does qualify as "ancient". Maybe the Trevi Fountain too.
Our cruise ship docked at the port of Civitavecchia which is the port that cruise ships use when visiting Rome. Apparently it's inland and doesn't have a port. We took a bus from the port city of Civitavecchia to the ancient historic Italian city.
We first visited the Vatican City, it's museum, and the Sistine Chapel, and then back on the bus to visit the coliseum.
The bus ride from the port is about 45 minutes as I recall. We were on one of the cruise ship excursions. It wasn't all that far but the traffic was horrendous.
After seeing movies such as "Ben Hur" and "The Gladiator", it was quite a thrill to actually be there and see the coliseum for myself. I think that one of the coolest parts was the maize of tunnels and rooms underneath the ground floor.
Apparently they really did have trap doors under the sand on the ground level that could be opened up to let lions and tigers out to attack the gladiators.
I wish I could remember the name of and the details about that huge arch just outside the stadium. I should really try to pay more attention to these places we visit... I usually rely on my wife Kathy to remember the details. She's good at that, but where is she when I build web sites?
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