CRUISE 2014

I have had some problems with the blog but that seems to be solved now. Yes, we got to Rome, very very jet lagged. There were various little incidents getting here and everyone seemed to have at least one "incident". Rome is breathtaking at first sight. The hugeness of the ruins. I love the trees. We arrived on a Tuesday and of course I slept after checking into the hotel. Had a nice dinner closeby and went to sleep again. Wednesday as you probably know the Pope waves from the Vatican. First we bought some tickets to various places and the Metro. We got on the open air bus to have a city orientation, made a complete circuit and then we made our way to the Red Line to go to the Vatican (along with about 200,000 others). Pete was pickpocketed by young girl getting on the Metro. The girl and her compatriots then hopped off just as the doors closed. Gone was the wallet. Oh, well. We made it to the Vatican anyway and witnessed the HUGE throng. Not being THAT interested we found our comfort in food and a place to sit along with the other masses. Happy masses. The weather is perfect, cool in the morning and just right in the afternoon. Thursday was the big day - after breakfast here at the hotel - we walked to the Colliseum. What an awesome building and a lot of it still left after 2000 years. And the viaduct in Seattle is 50 years and crumbling. Had a wonderful tour of the Colliseum and the Forum. So much information, I'll not relate here, you'll just have to come yourself or read your Geographics. Still awe inspiring and amazing. We did a lot of walking and were all hungry. We started at about 9:30 and it was 2:30 when we climbed out of the Forum. Took a taxi back to hotel and ate at a small restaurant outside our hotel. I rested and rested until this morning. Unbelieveable but I was out. No dinner and not caring . Much better today expecting to go to the Bogessese Museum and Spanish steps with everyone but Doug and Pete. They will do their own thing. Tomorrow we make our way to the Port and get on the Norwegean Jade to begin our cruise.