Thursday, October 25, 2012 – Civitavecchia, Italy – Sunny – 75 F

Distance from Florence to Civitavecchia, Italy: 141 Nautical Miles

A beautiful day in the Port of Rome

Not going to Rome as most of the ship is doing – we are going to spend the day in Civitavecchia.  Usually, we arrive in Civitavecchia tired and jet lagged.  Not this time – rested and ready to go.

There are several ships here today so the town is buzzing with passengers and locals.  All the shops are open and everyone is contributing to the Italian economy.

We started our walk on the main commercial street heading away from the beach.  This street, starting at the McDonald’s at the foot of the hill, is lined with shops and restaurants and also has very wide sidewalks.

Monument – Central Civitavecchia

From there, we headed back to the McDonalds for a facility visit and to check out their WiFi.  McDonalds in Italy is not very WiFi friendly since they require sign-in via a cell phone number (they send you a text message with your password).  We were told a while ago that that was a security requirement – you know, terrorists planning their activities at a McDs – who would suspect?

Before we searched further for WiFi, we went down to the beach area at the foot of the hill.  The city has done a terrific job of improving the beach area by putting in seating, interesting elevations, and one particularly fascinating art installation.  We spotted in from a distance – a sailor kissing a woman.

The pose is, of course, familiar – it looks like a three dimensional rendering of the iconic photograph - “The Kiss” – that appeared in the newspaper when the end of WWII was announced.  This version, called “Unconditional Surrender”, also features a sailor and a nurse.  It was constructed in 2004 by Seward Johnson.  It couldn’t have been installed here until recently or we would have seen it on one of our earlier trips.  Up close, it is even more interesting.

“Unconditional Surrender”

I wonder if this statue is related somehow to the “Marilyn” statue that was displayed in Chicago earlier this year (I will need to check on that).  The only down side is the fact that street vendors use the statue to draw tourists – some spiffy positioning almost eliminates them from the picture.

From the statue to the beach.

   

From the beach we headed back to the stores on the main street fronting the beach to look for WiFi and souvenirs.  We found both.  We noticed some girls using their computer at a place called Mister G.  They kindly share their password with us and we caught up on things back home.

Ellen headed back to the ship and I did some more walking in the city.  When we were here last, the hotel recommended some Solarium-Spas for a nice massage.  I had made a reservation for the early afternoon at one of them (located off the main Pedestrian Walkway).  For 40 Euros, I had a very nice relaxing massage.

The rest of the day was spent aboard the Reflection relaxing and reading.

After dinner, we walked up on the open deck – it was still warm and calm.  We could see the ships leave in the order they arrived.  Below the Oceania departs the port.

  

Adam Trent is the headliner tonight.  We have seen him several times on previous cruises so we pass on the show and instead spend some semi-quiet time in the Ensemble Lounge.

A nice day…

Pedometer: 10,070 steps; 5.2 miles; 542 calories