Our arrival at Civitavecchia was delayed because of the rough seas and even our big ship couldn't get close to the port until the wind calmed down. Almost two hours late we managed to dock and our adventure to Rome could begin.

Our guide Santi gave us maps and offered suggestions for our "Rome on your own" trip that we had booked. The coach journey took two hours to Rome from Civitavecchia and we were dropped at St Peters Basilica (Square) just in time to see the Pope making his Wednesday morning speech. We were very lucky because it is only on Wednesday that he actually comes out and addresses the crowds in person, the Sunday speech is made from inside the building.

We headed out of the crowded square to take the hop on - hop off bus for a comprehensive tour of the city. The city is full of great architecture and buildings. The monuments and historic buildings are just as we imagined and in amazingly good repair, it just felt like we had stepped back in time.

Our first stop was at the Piazza Venezia or Venice Square from here we walked to the Trevi Fountain to throw our coins in for luck. At the Fountain we met up with some friends from the Queen Elizabeth, a nice suprise! On our way to the Spanish Steps we stopped to buy some real Italian Gelato for our lunch break, we had rum bhaba, cherry, profiterole and mint flavours, yum!

A little shopping was next and we bought some Italian made, Murano coloured wine glasses for our souvenirs. A quick ride to the Pantheon for a picture stop and then back on the bus to continue the tour. We saw the rest of historic Rome from the bus because our time was running out and from upstairs we had excellent views of the historic buildings and the Colosseum along with the Circus Maximus, the Roman Forum, Castel Sant Angelo and the Arch of Constantine, Campidoglio and Trojans Column.

The afternoon went very quickly and we headed back to St Peter's Square to catch our bus back to the ship. On our way we stopped at a small church and met the many nuns and monks in the streets, we had a quick drink and snack at an Italian eatery and sat with the locals having a late afternoon snack.

Our coach ride dropped us at the port and we headed back into Civitavecchia for pizza and drinks with Liz, Judy and Tony. We met more friends from the ship and it turned out to be quite a party! We certainly enjoyed our quick stop in Rome and there was so much more we didn't have time to explore this time. Another destination we'll be coming back to!