Civitavecchia, Rome Day 6

Civitavecchia is a sea port in the province of Rome in the region of Lazio in Italy.  The harbor is formed by two piers and a breakwater on which is a lighthouse.  Situated north west of Rome, the name means “ancient town”.  The city was built over the pre-existing Etruscan settlement around AD 107.  Today, Civitavecchia is a major cruise and ferry port; in fact where our mini cruise terminates.

The massive Forte Michelangelo was commissioned to defend the port of Rome.  Michelangelo, did in fact, design the upper part of the “maschio” tower.  In December 2012, the network, “Civitavecchia WiFi” was opened to allow its citizens free internet access.

What a night!  I have never known such a rough sea before, and we have had some bad ones.  It started when we left port at lunchtime and didn't stop until around 8am the following day.  I managed to have lunch with Claire, Andy and Jeanette and it was quite nice.  We had a drink after dinner and a cup of coffee at the chocolate bar and then went to bed.  As our bed is at the back corner it was unbelievable.  I could hardly read I felt so bad.  We had our leaving talk at 4.30pm so we went down to meet the others for that and I felt so bad I came straight back to bed and didn't get up until 6am the following morning.  Even then I didn't get up.

Claire went down to dinner on her own and was supposed to bring me something to eat back with her.  When she came back, not only had she forgot to get me anything but had lost her Costa card again.  I had to finish packing the bags and put them outside in my state.  They had to be out by 1am to take down to the disembark storage station.  I tried to get some sleep but it was like trying to sleep on a roller coaster.  The draws and cupboard doors have poppers so they don’t keep opening and closing but it was so bad they did anyway.  The tv bracket was quite stiff but it swung freely all night; I was sure that something would break.  A couple of times I feared for our lives; well mine anyway.  It was almost as if we hit something several times, incredible power.  Just think how big and heavy these cruise liners are and the waves thrash us around like a rag doll.  I can’t imagine the amount of power needed to do that.  Just think what machine you would need to even lift one.

Morning eventually came and it got quieter the closer we got to port.  I noticed a little tug pushing us sideways just below us.  I was starving so I went to breakfast while Claire had a shower.  Best breakfast since we got here, I found someone frying eggs to order so I had a couple with some crispy bacon and had one of their nice rolls with it.  I took a plateful of fruit and yoghurt back for Claire.  We had t0 be out of our room by 8am and we still hadn't docked by then but I took my back and things and we sat up on the pool deck and read until our shuttle bus was ready at 10.30am.

The shuttle took about an hour to get us to the airport but our flight didn’t leave until 9pm.  We found the left luggage place and got shut of that then found a free bus to the coast at a little one horse town called ?.  We walked around wondering which way it was to the coast; there were no clues from the signs or what the roads looked like.  I decided that sea level was always lower than the land and that in the day the breeze came from the sea, so we walked downhill into the wind.  The tactic worked but it was quite a walk and when we got there there was nothing to see but a big pile of boulders anyway.  We walked back to a reasonable restaurant we had spotted for lunch and settled for a pizza.  Not one of my favorites but my stomach was still a little dodgy and I didn't fancy the fish that our chosen place specialized in.  We should have had one between us as they were gianourmous.  We did share a starter which was lovely;  sliced tomato, mozzarella and basil leaves with wonderful crusty bread, oil and balsamic.  Proper Italian food.

 

 We walked back to where the bus stop was but it didnt mention the airport so I flagged a taxi down back to the airport where I am writing this waiting for another 7 hours for our flight.  Who organized this trip?

 No more news about my dad as mum couldn’t get to see him until today.  Last news was that he was in the middle of test but they still hadn’t diagnosed anything.  Only that the areas of concentration were his kidney and liver still.  They are hoping that once they know what is wrong that they can treat him at Melton hospital so that mum can get there.  Claire and I will probably drive to Melton on Saturday (when this blog is posted) and stay the night so we can take mum to visit him.  I had an answer phone message from Rexam today (Friday) so it looks like they are ready for me.  Still I cant phone back until Monday now anyway.  I had better start work there soon other wise we will be on holiday in Corfu again in about a month.  Great value for money cruise, we wouldn’t be frightened of going with Costa again.

Just a quick catchup as its now Saturday morning.  The drama continued, our flight was delayed and Claire got stopped getting on the plane and told that her luggage had to go in the hold but I’m sure she will tell you more about that.  When we got back to London Gatwick there was a horrendous queue. for immigration which must have taken us a couple of hours.  Anyway, we finally got to bed around 2.30am this morning and I still feel like I am on a boat today.  I had a phone message from Rexam so it looks like I will be starting back to work soon.  Just about to phone my mum and we are going there for the weekend.  See you next month.