We’ve had such a nice time on the cruise we don’t want to go back to a great city like Rome. Odd how that works. But I figured out why. At breakfast this morning the theme of the cruise ship finally sank in. Told you everyone here shut their brain off when they came aboard. The secret is in the name. We’re celebrities.
And I realized that, this morning, when the crew didn’t smile and say hello and bend over backward to do every little thing for you. They weren’t bad, by any means, they were just getting ready for the next cruise and we barely registered for them.
So we’ve played the role of the low maintenance, B or D list celebrities who don’t need anyone to fuss over them overly much. Now, in port and ready to leave, you notice that the crew have let the illusion go. Not that I blame them, some people come on the ship and really try to abuse the concept to a shameful degree. We met a few of those unfortunate folks. I’m sure, in crew quarters in the bowel of the ship and at the crew bar late at night, they all secretly loathe the passengers.
“He wanted another towel. That was the ninth one of the day, I think.”
We got to know the assistant maitre’ d who told us a few stories about some of the experiences he’s endured over the course of his long career. It’s just a job, but creating the illusion for some people can be a chore, I’m sure. He was going on vacation himself — “Anywhere but a ship,” he said — when he was done with our trip. He was ready to share a few stories.
So we had breakfast, lingered a bit and then finally worked our way down to the gangway. We picked up our luggage in a confused free for all — it is true what they say, embarkation and disembarkation at this port aren’t very well organized — and then tried to catch a bus in a Paris, June, 1940 atmosphere. It was almost comical, people have spent 11 days relaxing on a cruise and the moment everyone gets back off the ship they are jostling into semi-aggressive, anxious people again.
After about three rounds of buses we manage to sneak onto that will hold our luggage. The bus takes us to the port entrance and then we are on our own. We tote luggage to the train station, get tickets and then work our way to the proper line.
We had to go down a flight of stairs, walk 25 yards and then go up a separate flight of stairs. Architects here are funny, funny people.
So we rode back down to Rome. We carried our luggage through the terminal and to our hotel. I’m really tired of carrying luggage, by now. On the way I’m performing the mental calculations to see if it is possible to bring less stuff. The formal nights really kill you here, but I think we could have removed one bag from the equation.
This afternoon we wondered around to take the last few items off of our Rome list. We stopped by the Trevi Fountain, which was designed by Bernini among others. Took forever to create, but it was worth it.
Trevi Fountain
If you throw coins in the fountain, you come back to Rome, so the legend goes. We visited a pharmacy next to the fountain and also bought some art nearby, but I don’t recall if we threw anything in the fountain or not. I did see this guy, though:
What kind of apps do gladiators have on their iPhones?
We hung out on the Spanish Steps, the widest, longest, tallest and just gosh darn adventurous stairs in Europe. The guide books say this is one of the fine places to see and be seen in Rome, so I made a slideshow.
We walked around the squares, passing where the president of Italy lives purely by accident — there was a car fire that detoured us — shopped for gifts, watched a few street performers and enjoyed the lovely cobblestone streets and beautiful weather of a spring day in Rome. The weather has been great. My feet really hurt.
We had dinner at a place called Osteria de Mario. The fare was traditional Roman, so if you wanted ox tail you were in luck. We split a chicken meal, which was good, but we thought we’d ordered two. They messed up the change, though, so it all works out.
We caught a bus back to the room. (On our last day in Rome we’ve figured out the bus system, how’s that for more than 40 years of formal education between us?) We’re staying in the Hotel Margaret again, where we spent our first three nights in Rome. The owner, thinking The Yankee was by herself, booked us into her smallest room. She was very upset and apologetic about this, but the room was cute, big enough, didn’t face the road and had a softer bed. The discount she gave us just made it that much nicer.
They told us to come back on our next visit to Rome. We just might, it is a casual, low key place that’s relatively inexpensive and convenient to most everything. It is low frills, but it is clean and everything you need for a hotel room in Rome. Our recommendation, check out Hotel Margaret.
We’re just beat. After an 11-day luxury cruise there’s no reason to be exhausted, but today, somehow, took it all out of me.
We’re catching a taxi to the airport in the morning. We figured, after our walk from the terminal to the hotel today that we just didn’t want to carry the luggage back down there again. We’re staring at an absolutely full day of travel, this is a good investment, I think.
She put together a perfect trip.
You couldn’t ask for a better adventure, a more wonderful experience or a more charming companion. We booked for a great price a long time ago when no one was cruising — indeed, the ship wasn’t at capacity.
We saw an incredible amount of history and culture. We ducked a British Airways strike to get to Europe. We had good timing in missing the unrest in Athens. We had great weather and perfect seas. We met wild donkeys, smiling, helpful locals and people from all over the world. We scaled volcanoes, swam in the Aegean Sea and prayed at St. Peter’s. We laughed and smiled and created countless memories.
