This is the Roma Termini, the main railway station of Rome.

If you arrived in Rome via a cruise ship,

you will end up docking in Civitavecchia Cruise Port.

Civitavecchia is a medium-sized town and about 80 kms. away from Rome.

In order to go to the Italian Capital,

you will have to take the train from Civitavecchia to Roma Termini. 

    

Alighting from the train in Roma Termini,

you have the option to take the tourist bus that tours you around the capital

or like what any curious adventurer does,

get there by foot, which of course is the best way to explore any place,

unless you’re not fit to do it. 

    

   

    

   

This type of road engineering is typical of ancient Roman Roads.

They were popular and can be traced back to the age of the Great Roman Empire,

which alot of accounts say, neither great, nor Roman, nor an Empire.

Im not going deeper into that lol. 

   

Apparently, these roads were made in layers and stones (or other materials)

were laid out like this so the water will seep in between the materials.

This is to keep the roads from turning muddy when it rains.

The Romans were really ahead of their time- hands down to these brains!

   

In England, you will see alot of these types of ancient Roman Roads in towns and villages,

a reminder about the Roman settlement in UK. 

    

Whew, we’ve arrived where all the tourists are. It now feels safer with them around. 

We are now in front of perhaps one of the most famous icons in Roman Architecture,

the Roman Colosseum.

Tourists from all over the world flock here just to savour what Rome has to offer. 

The Roman Colosseum is a massive stone amphitheatre

commissioned by the then Emperor Vespasian around A.D 70-72

as his gift to the Roman People.

It was in  AD 80 where the Emperor’s son Titus

officially opened the amphitheatre and officially called it the Flavian Amphitheatre,

in honour of the Flavian Dynasty.

Source:  https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/colosseum

Lonely Planet has an amazing post about Rome: A Historical Powerhouse,

so please try and have a look: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome

We have now crossed the River Tiber

away from the mad crowd of the Roman Colosseum and the Roman Forum. 

If you have envisioned yourself some sort of a ‘romantic walk’,

maybe this is the perfect place to do it,

walking along the River Tiber as it is the quieter side of Rome.

Cheesy…

Which is a better walk, the Thames in Central London or this one?

It depends on your needs really.

But if your priority is to refresh your head

and dump out all the toxic stuff,

this is a good place to meditate as the pace is slower and it is generally quieter.

The Thames in Summer and Autumn is just too crowded,

unless you go there in Winter,

you’ll have the whole river for yourself lol. 

You might wish to quickly check out our blog:

A WALK ALONG THE RIVER THAMES IN CENTRAL LONDON

This is a rather perfect setting for The Godfather

with Don Corleone sitting rather comfortably in one of those chairs:)

Italians will never drive German cars…I don’t think so :).

In the fight for supremacy, here is their Red Roaring trophy- The Italian Ferrari.

Mercedes AMG is still a machine very dear to us. 

Here we are, The St. Peter’s Basilica facing St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. 

Vatican City is an independent City-State within the City of Rome.

It is a city within a city.

Here you can visit the famous Sistine Chapel, The Vatican Museums,

the Vatican Obelisk, St. Peter’s Square,

and of course the souvenir shops. 

After you have done all your wandering about,

it’s time to go hunt for the perfect italian pizza or pasta.

When in Rome, eat what the Romans eat (or drink).

Okay then, more red wine please, haha. 

Just a side note: if you are intending to go inside Sistine Chapel,

which of course most of the tourists do

be prepared to queue for 1-2 hours,

depending on the volume of tourists. 

We were rather lazy to do that,

and of course always short of time because of the ship boarding time,

so instead of wasting precious hours queuing,

we went for the hunt for the best Italian restaurant in town

(after wandering around St. Peter’s Square of course).

It’s now getting late so we better hurry up and walk back to Roma Termini Station

and catch the train back to Civitavecchia.

The ship is waiting and they won’t delay leaving just for 2 late souls.