Day One Hundred Thirteen - April 28

Today we arrived at Civitavecchia, the port city of Rome. Approaching the port the huge Enel energy plant appears at the water's edge.

The port is serviced by several ferry companies including Grimaldi, Tirrenia and Moby.

Also in port today was a US Navy expeditionary ship. When any type of naval vessel is in port, all internet communications on our ship go down until we leave port.

Leslie our cruise director provided us with some bad news at Trivia last evening for us trivia buffs. Because the tours into Roma and Florence the following day were quite long there would be no Trivia for those two days.

Janice and I had not planned any ship tours today as most were travelling into Rome and a day in Rome is not enough time to see the sites. It is also a 3-4 hours return drive depending on the the traffic Our decision was to hop on a train to visit the medieval city of Tarquina.

Since we have been in Italy we have been told to bring our passports or a facsmile copy. Today was the first day that the local police at the train station wanted to see proof of identification. Janice brought her driver's license and I had a copy of my passport due to the fact that I lost my wallet in Phoenix three days before we were leaving on our cruise - so no driver's license! Janice's driver's license was not sufficient ID so luckily I had a copy of her passport on my telephone. So we've decided to both carry going forward copies of our passports.

Our cost was 3 Euros one way per person and 2 Euros per person for the bus from the train station. This was a bargain. It is surprising to see how inexpensive transportation is in Europe and also how efficient it is, especially on the trains who run on time pretty much all the time. While on the train Janice met a nun in her twenties or early thirties that was going to a convent in Tarquina. She was from Argentina and has a twin sister that is also becoming a nun. Janice had a nice conversation with her before we hopped on the bus. She had been home to celebrate her 7 years of service and graduation - as she was wearing a wedding band on her right hand. She was presently living in the Monastery in Tarquina.

The city of Tarquina with its population of roughly 17,000 inhabitants is chiefly known for its Etruscan tombs in the widespread cemetaries. While walking the city we found that these cemetaries were approximately 10 kilometers outside the city so we took a pass on them.

Like most medieval cities, it was surrounded by an impressive wall with limited shops and restaurants.

We spent several hours walking the streets before having lunch, then taking the bus and the train back to Civitavecchia. Sufficient time was available to wander along the boardwalk before returning to the ship. April 28 marks celebrations of the patron saint of the city and protector of sailors, Santa Fermina. Many vendors were also out on the boardwalk.

While waiting to leave the port, we were treated to a floatilla of ships and small pleasure crafts who continued the celebrations on water. All ships including ours were blowing their horns. The floatilla was led by an Italian coast guard vessel followed by tug boats with flags flying from bow to stern and many others vessels as well. It was quite the party and very exciting to watch. There was even two sea-doos zipping between the vessels. Closer look found that these were driven by the local polizia. A great sailaway and wonderful happy hour from our balcony.

Our final port in Italy is Livorno 172 natical miles away.