We were up at 5:40 am to get ready for our long – 10 1/2 hour – tour to Rome.  The ship docked at 7 and we were on the bus by 7:15.  Because it was a Sunday, there was light traffic and we made the drive in about 90 minutes – it usually takes about 2 hours.  We drove through a lot of farm land from the port of Civitavecchia to Rome.  The bus took us directly to a street near the famous Trevi Fountain.  We did the traditional thing and threw one coin into the fountain, thus ensuring our return to Rome someday. (Two coins in the fountain means you will find love (again) and three coins says you will get a divorce).  We had two hours of free time to wander wherever we wanted. Within walking distance of Trevi Fountain are the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the Venetian Plaza and the rich commercial street of Via Del Corso.  We managed to see them all.Marcus Aurelius Column completed, it is estimated, by AD 193 and modeled after Trajan’s Column that was erected to commemorate that Emperors’s victory in the Dacian Wars.

 Immacola Column (1854)                               The Spanish Steps There is obviously some iron in the water.  A model shoot was taking place on the steps.  What you see from the front is very different from what is the reality – as shown by the back.                                                                                       Temple of Hadrian, a Roman temple from 145 AD and now the facade for a conference center.

The Pantheon was a former Roman temple, now a Catholic Church. It was built on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus. It was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated around 126 AD.                                 The back of the Pantheon The Piazza Venetia (Venetian Plaza), the hub of Rome – memorial to King Victor Emmanuel, first king of Italy  and  memorial  to  WWI  soldiers. After our wandering time was concluded we were taken to a restaurant for lunch and then driven to Vatican City (the smallest ‘country’ in the world at 109 acres, population 800) for a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica. Emperor Hadrian’s Mausoleum, also known as the Castle of St. Angelo is famous for the 10 Bernini  angel statues on the bridge.          Northern gateway entrance to Rome at Piazza del Popolo.  Bernini’s Colonnade – entrance to St. Peter’s Square and Vatican City.