Rome – Transatlantic 2009 Day 6 – Last Full Day In Rome
November 29, 2009
Yesterday was our last full day in Rome on this wonderful vacation. This morning we will be boarding the Celebrity Solstice for our Transatlantic cruise back to the US. We decided to scale back our ambitious site seeing yesterday and take in a few of the larger piazzas.
We got a slow start on the day by sleeping in. After a breakfast of bacon and sausage, we made our way down to Piazza Popolo. We strolled around there for a bit and check out the three churches that are on the piazza. Suzanne really had wanted to visit one of them (can’t recall the name) because of a couple of really old painting that the church has. The church dates back to the late 1400s.
We then proceeded to head over to Piazza Novona (my favorite piazza). Along the way, we stopped at a new monument/museum. I say recent because it was only recently discovered and put back together. It was a former monument/temple to peace. When it was rebuilt, it was housed inside of a building which seemed really odd. I guess it gave them an easier way to charge an admittance fee for viewing.
At Piazza Novona, we were able to enjoy a nice pasta lunch will taking in some people watching. This piazza is very large and usually has an array of artists and street performers there. At this time of year, most of those had been replaced by a Christmas Market. There were still a couple of street performers there too. Suzanne was able to find a couple of souvenirs at the street market.
This was also the first time we got a bit wet on the trip. As previously mentioned, it had been threatening rain the entire trip which made the weather actually quite enjoyable. There was a slight drizzle falling while we ate lunch and for a few minutes afterwards, but we still managed to stay pretty much dry.
After leaving Piazza Novona, Sean wanted to visit the Spanish Steps again since he still hadn’t actually climbed up the steps. So I guided us back there but took a path back over there that went past the Pantheon. The kids still had not seen the inside during daylight hours. After seeing it, the nighttime view was still preferred. It also gave us an opportunity to get our Gelato for the day! We also visited the Trevi Fountain another time on the way back to the Spanish Steps. Savannah wanted to throw another coin in the fountain since she said she had already left Rome and then returned. Now, personally, I think visiting the Vatican doesn’t really qualify as such, but what the heck.
Finally, we hit the Spanish Steps and the kids were able to climb to the top and view them from above. After a short stay, we headed back to the apartment. I picked up a bottle of my favorite Italian wine, Barolo, for us to enjoy in the evening/night in the apartment.
We enjoyed a final Roman meal and reminisced about the trip to Rome. The girls were a bit sad, but were cheered up by the fact that tomorrow we would be getting on a cruise ship!
This has been a great way to start the vacation. The fact that we gave ourselves four days in Rome was really good. It would have been hard to see all we did in less time. Luckily, having been here many times on business myself, also gave us a pretty good idea ahead of time what to see and how to get there since I still find navigating room on foot very easy. The food has been fantastic. The people have been wonderful. The apartment couldn’t have been better. The price was right and we were ideally located in old Rome with easy access to most things we wanted to visit. All of us have enjoyed the pre-cruise stay in Rome much better than last years pre-cruise stay in Barcelona, Spain.
Be sure to follow our travel exploits on this blog as I try to make a daily update of our Rome and transatlantic cruise. Today, as previously mentioned, we will be boarding the Celebrity Solstice to begin our transatlantic cruise. This should be an interesting cruise as the Solstice is a bigger ship than we normally cruise. It will be another fun day!
Next Cruise Booked
June 29, 2009
Well, we have done it. As discussed in a previous post, we have been planning our next cruise. Now, we have gone and booked the cruise. Its going to be another transatlantic cruise. This time, from Rome, Italy to Ft Lauderdale, FL.
It may seem odd to do a transatlantic for a second year in a row, but we absolutely loved the one last year. This one will be completely different – except for the sea days which are our favorite days anyway! The cruise will again be on Celebrity Cruises. This time on the Solstice. Its once of Celebrity’s new ships and at almost 2800 passengers, a bit bigger than we normally cruise on. And Celebrity is going to be starting a combination of traditional dining and anytime dining. So, we will get to try out a few new things regarding Celebrity.
Also, we are going to add 4 days before the cruise in Rome for site seeing. I have been to Rome maybe 6 or 8 times on business travel and really like the city. I look forward to showing Suzanne (who has been there once) and the kids the town. Then, we will be visiting different ports of call than last year before making the crossing. Its going to be a great cruise.
Actually, the planning has just started – lots more to do. We have already booked our flights to Rome using frequent flier miles so that helps defray the costs. We will even stop over for 1 night in Dallas on the way to Rome to sort of have a quick, early family Thanksgiving with Suzanne’s family.
We still need a place to stay in Rome. We are evaluating apartments and hotels in the city to stay. I have a variety of points that could be used to pay for the hotel. Or perhaps I can put the points to better use for ship board credit on the cruise. We have requested info on about 8 apts that are for rent for the four days. We are evaluating location and amenities compared to hotels which might not be quite as nicely located. We will probably book our accommodations in the next week or two.
We also need to book our return air from Ft Lauderdale. Suzanne wants to return on the same day the boat docks, but the date is already sold out of frequent flier tickets. So, if I want to use miles, we need to come back the day after the cruise which I kind of like anyways, but Suzanne has a show to do the weekend following our return so wants to get back. There are some first class tickets available on the day the cruise ends, but I am a bit short on miles for four first class tickets. I have a couple business trips which might put me over the top. Or perhaps we can use the rewards points that we were thinking about for the hotel or shipboard credit. Again, probably will finalize return trip plans in the next week or two.
More on the next cruise as it develops.
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