Corsica/Tuscany Day 13

Day 13:  Goodbyes to our Santana friends and Hello Rome

We arrived this morning at the Port of Rome (Civitevecchia) which is nowhere near Rome.  We pulled in behind the largest cruise ship we'd ever seen.  Probably could be aboard with the entire population of the Upper Valley!l  I counted about 14 stories but couldn't see the waterline. 

Sadly said our goodbyes to Erik and Beth (going to see them soon, though, in Tahiti and on the pre Eastern Tandem Rally Cohen bike tour of the Upper Valley). 

It took about an hour to get to our hotel, Starshotel Metropole, located near the Roma Termini train station (our pick up spot tomorrow for the BackRoads trip).  Since it was starting to get a bit late, we decided a good way to get an overview of Rome was the Hop On-Hop Off bus.  

First glimpse of the Colosseum

Arch of Constantine

Palatine Hill and Circus Maximus

Palatine Hill

The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo

Capital Roma

                                   

We started out with Santana friends George and Marty, and George and Pat, and left them when they decided to eat lunch and we continued around again to the Spanish Steps.  We started at the top of the steps at the church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, (the Trinità dei Monti), a Roman Catholic late Renaissance church  above the so called "Spanish Steps" which lead down to the Piazza di Spagna.  This will be the first of MANY churches we will visit in Rome, Florence, and surrounds.

                                     

We thought the Spanish Steps were crowded until we arrived at the Trevi Fountain (think the old movie "Three Coins in a Fountain" with Clifton Webb and Dorothy McGuire circa 1954-classic)

It is amazing how Photoshop can eliminate crowds!

Jeri making a wish by throwing a coin over her shoulder

Santa Maria Maggiore as the sunsets

After walking a couple of miles, we found our way back to the hotel.  Found a tiny hole-in-the-wall trattoria around the corner from the hotel with great food at reasonable prices.  Good thing we were close-a huge thunderstorm came up with torrential rain just as we were getting ready to leave.  A judicious pause at the entrance and quick jumps from one overhang to the next kept us relatively dry.

Tomorrow we start bike trip #2.