5/7/2010 - Civitavecchia (Port for Rome), Italy (Rome Elite Collection)
It was an early start this morning, we'd decided to try the "Elite" collection tour to see if there was much of a difference between it and the normal tours.
First thing to note on the Elite collection tours - the bus we were on seated about 40-45 people, there were only 20 or so people on the tour! so it was quite comfortable for the ride into Rome.
The drive itself was much longer than advertised, due to traffic problems, it took us nearly 2 & 1/2 hours to actually get into Rome. There were about a half dozen cruise ships in the harbour this morning so I'm sure the dozens of buses from that didn't help!
The countryside on the drive was quite nice, it reminded me of some of the hinterland areas of South East Queensland - it was quite a hot day so it felt like home! We passed through a lot of farmland, sunflowers is one of their bigger crops!
The drive through Rome to our first stop was full of things to see, the Hippodrome, many statues/columns/ruins.
Our first stop was the Colosseum (Of course!) - we had to line up for a while, but it was well worth it! -
One thing that I noticed - if you're in Rome or anywhere else, try to do an organised tour - you get to enter MUCH faster than the people who line up for their tickets - this happened everywhere we went!
Next was the Trevi fountain! massive press of people here, but we all managed to throw our coins in! 
Lunch was at the Bernini Hotel (featured in a number of movies, including Angels and Demons) - very impressive place, lunch was really nice! This was also an upgrade for the 'Elite' tour, well worth it!
The Vatican was next! we toured through the Vatican Museum, massive halls filled it historical statues/tapestries/paintings! They even had some egyption exhibits.
We visited the Sistine Chapel, although we couldn't take any photos inside - and we jamed in like sardines - it was a very pretty ceiling.
St Peter's Basilica was quite impressive, although again it was full of people!
St Peter's Square was nice, and yet again we find an item taken from Egypt!
Rome was an interesting day - but I think we could have spent a week there and not seen everything!
First thing to note on the Elite collection tours - the bus we were on seated about 40-45 people, there were only 20 or so people on the tour! so it was quite comfortable for the ride into Rome.
The drive itself was much longer than advertised, due to traffic problems, it took us nearly 2 & 1/2 hours to actually get into Rome. There were about a half dozen cruise ships in the harbour this morning so I'm sure the dozens of buses from that didn't help!
The countryside on the drive was quite nice, it reminded me of some of the hinterland areas of South East Queensland - it was quite a hot day so it felt like home! We passed through a lot of farmland, sunflowers is one of their bigger crops!The drive through Rome to our first stop was full of things to see, the Hippodrome, many statues/columns/ruins.
Our first stop was the Colosseum (Of course!) - we had to line up for a while, but it was well worth it! - One thing that I noticed - if you're in Rome or anywhere else, try to do an organised tour - you get to enter MUCH faster than the people who line up for their tickets - this happened everywhere we went!Next was the Trevi fountain! massive press of people here, but we all managed to throw our coins in! Lunch was at the Bernini Hotel (featured in a number of movies, including Angels and Demons) - very impressive place, lunch was really nice! This was also an upgrade for the 'Elite' tour, well worth it! The Vatican was next! we toured through the Vatican Museum, massive halls filled it historical statues/tapestries/paintings! They even had some egyption exhibits.We visited the Sistine Chapel, although we couldn't take any photos inside - and we jamed in like sardines - it was a very pretty ceiling.St Peter's Basilica was quite impressive, although again it was full of people!
St Peter's Square was nice, and yet again we find an item taken from Egypt!Rome was an interesting day - but I think we could have spent a week there and not seen everything!
Comments