Today we arrived into Civitavecchia, which is a port city that many cruise ships use to visit Rome.   Rome is about a one hour train or bus ride from Civitavecchia.  Nana and Papa love train rides so that is how we got to Rome today.  Today was different because Pope Francis passed away yesterday and nobody was sure what Rome would be like today.

No ship excursions today, we did Rome on your own. We took a shuttle from our ship to the train station and then took the train into Rome.  

It is always interesting using the tools of technology to plan out train schedules, which train station to get off, and then do you take the Metro or trolley or bus or walk to get to you planned location.  Nana really wanted to visit some restaurant to make reservations for our upcoming family trip in July to Italy.  We will have 26 family members with us so finding a restaurant that would make this kind of reservation has been a challenge.  In addition we have several in our family that are gluten free so we need to find restaurants that will accommodate that.  Our son, Tony had previously done some research on which restaurants supported gluten free and could possibly accommodate such large group.  Papa took that list mapped it out and was ready with a plan to visit 7 restaurants.  

But typical Nana (who does not like the structure of an excursion) decided on the train that we should visit the AirBNB where we will be staying.  I had only a GPS location, not an address or any other information but Nana was intent on seeing it.  Apple maps said the best way from the train station was to take the trolley but when exited the station, no one was in the trolley, finally someone saw our confusion and said that there was an accident blocking the tracks so only buses were running.  Well we got in the vicinity but we could not find it.  Then Nana decided she wanted to visit the church where Pope Francis will be buried in, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.  We found the church after a long walk and found a long line of people waiting to get in.  The Italian police had set up a metal scanner that you had to walk through before entering.  The line went fast and we were inside the church, which was unbelievable.  We walked through the Jubilee Door which Nana, Haley, and my Mom did 25 years ago.  They only open these doors every 25 years.  it was a moving experience for both of us.

Well then it was off to visit some restaurants as it was past lunch time and we were hungry.  We navigated through the Metro system and more walking and found the first restaurant by the Pantheon.  When we first talked to the manager she said that it would be almost impossible to accommodate 26 people but Nana told her the story of our family and then convinced the manager to help us out….. our first reservation was secured.  Then off to the next restaurant and Nana worked her charm and secured a second reservation.  Off to the 3rd and 4th and secured both of the those reservations.  We had some great food, beer, and wine along the way to top it off.  

We also walked around Rome and saw some great sights and buildings.  

Then bus back to the train and we arrived back into Civitavecchia.    Nana was still in a walking mood so we tagged along with some other people from our ship and walked back to the ship.  We hadn’t realized just how far it was (almost 2 miles) and after walking 6 miles in Rome, it was a lot.  Well we made it back to the ship with plenty of time to spare and then collapsed in our room.

Tomorrow is Sardinia, Italy and visit to a wine estate, hopefully not much walking.