Grocery Shopping - Rome, Italy

Supermarket

We had a day to burn in Rome after the cruise. Going out to eat was expensive so we decided to go to the grocery for dinner items.

Civitavecchia, Italy - Disembark Royal Caribbean Mariner Day 13

This is the final day and relaxing isn't so much on the mind. It's a chore to make sure we've collected everything. We eat breakfast and make it last as we don't have a flight to catch today.  The staff knows you're leaving and that they won't be gettng any more tips.  The service level provided is visibly less. We disembark, collect our luggage, and then look for the transportation.

The port has a shuttle bus that is about a five minute ride to the port gate. People are agitated in the heat and are fighting to get on the shuttle. The AC unit in the bus is set low because Italians don't believe in AC.  Handicapped and senior folks are making the bus ride even more onerous.

It's about a 15 minute walk from the port gate to the rail station. The queue is long because we are joined by many other cruisers headed to Rome. The man behind the ticket counter spends about 10 minutes talking to some women with their big boob cleavage exposed.  I tell the wife she needs to do the same if she wants to get respectful service. When we get up, we ask a question which he impatiently answers and dismisses us immediately. We don't even spend 1 minute with this guy.

The train is packed and we stand the entire 90 minutes to Roma Termini.  It's warm. The AC does not feel like its working.  Luckily some of the window locks have been disabled so we get some good airflow.
 

Naples, Italy - RC Mariner 2

Naples

St Francis Basilica

Castello Nuovo

The entrees for dinner at the Top Hats and Coat tails was week.  We had stateroom credit so we went for dinner at Portifino.  Price of admission was $20.

Beef Carpacio

Crostini Sampler

Seafood Soup. I forget the exact name but this was undoubtedly the best soup of the cruise. This was worth the price of admission.

Capri. A view from the dining area as the ship sailed along.

Shrimp and potatoes.

Veal Osso Bucco. This was the best entree of the cruise and worth the price of admission.

Shrimp Risotto

A sampler of Chocolate starting at 9' o clock, and moving clockwise Berry Mix, Tiramisu, and I believe panna cotta. The tiramisu was worth alone was worth the price of admission. It was unquestionably the best Tiramisu I've ever had and I've had alot now.

Dining at Portofino for $20 was well worth it. It was the best $20 full course meal I've ever had.  I was fortunate enough to order three outstanding world class preparations.

Pompeii to Sorrento, Italy

Driving along the coast from Pompeii to Sorrento.  We made a couple picture stops. Pictures don't do it justice

Now in Sorrento outside a market.

Sorrento is famous for lemons. Have you ever seen lemons this large?

Pompeii, Italy - Part 3 of 3

Continued

We've now exited Pompei. This is a photo outside looking in.

Civitaccehia, Italy - Embark Royal Caribbean Mariner Day 1

From S. Pietro station in Rome we took the Trenitalia train to Civitaccehia at a cost of slightly over 4 euros. The hour plus long ride drops you off at a station where you then walk about 1/2 mile to the Port gate. At the port gate, you load up on the free shuttle that takes about 5 minutes to get you to the ship.

Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas.

We boarded around noon and went straight to the Windjammer for lunch.  What can you expect on the first day before the cruise officially starts?  OK food.

Dinner:

What type of pastry appetizer was this?

Sea Bass

Mushroom pasta and prime rib

Savarin - sponge cake like soaked with liquer(?). Tasted stale.

Royal chocolate? All chocolate on this cruise would taste great.

Colosseo Metro - Rome, Italy

Exit at the Colosseo Metro to reach the Coliseum.

Arco di Constantino

   

Repubblica Metro - Rome, Italy

Piazza della Repubblica. Exit at the Repubblica station, walk up the stairs and this will be the view.

Santa Maria degll Angelli. Just across the street.

Spagna Metro - Rome, Italy

Spagna Metro is the closest Metro to reach Trinita dei Monti and the Spanish Stairs but starting from Flaminio wasn't that bad. 

I don't get the attraction of the Steps. Maybe I had to climb to the top but the heat was sapped any motivation I had to reach the top.

Fontana dei Trevi or Trevi Fountain. The saying goes that if you toss a coin in, you'll return to Rome.  We didn't toss a coin in during our first visit but we did return. The sculptures are magnificent. The crowd is akin to that encountered at Times Square on New Year's Eve.

Flaminio Metro - Rome, Italy

We decided to start the tour of the Rome sights exitng at Flaminio Metro.

Walking out of the Flaminio Metro a short distance, this is the view you see. Piazza dei Popolo

Piazza dei Popolo. Great sculptures.

From this point, we  continued walking down the main street.  We just followed the crowd, getting somewhat turned around, and the next major sight we saw was:

Tempio Andriano

Continuing on, we found the Pantheon.

Roman Pantheon. The architects and builders were magnificent.

I was expecting ruins rather than this new interior.