Civitavecchia, Italy

About 6:30 am a few of the items on John’s nightstand tipped over.  He does precariously stack things up!  We were docking in Civitavecchia!  It was fun to watch and we were docked by the appointed time of 7:00 am.  Our coffee, etc. was due to arrive between 8-8:30 am so we called and had it delivered right away.  (it was tasty fresh!) It is 66* at 7:30 am, winds seem to fluctuate from 19-30 MPH and sprinkling.  The captain made the announcement we could begin to disembark. There are numerous buses parked below but no taxis or other types of shuttles yet. It seems far from civilization out near the mouth of the port.  The water is very rough beyond the sea wall. 

If I didn’t mention it before, our captain has a nice little sense of humor.  Yesterday he talked about the it being a lovely day with the sun being out “above the clouds” and he was “working” on the weather.  Today he reminded us that 7:00 pm was departure time but if we were late not to worry but get our cameras out because it makes a fantastic photo of the Brilliance of the Sea departing the port.

In the morning we took the free shuttle from the ship and walked through and around the top of Fort Michelangelo.  It was interesting and not too cold despite the strong wind and sprinkling off and on.  There is a relatively new statue of this sailor kissing a girl.  Our guide later said she had not seen it yet.  Interesting…

We’ve opted for a ship tour to Lake Bracciano and wine tasting that began at 2pm on the pier.  The majority of the tours are, of course, headed to Rome.  We had such a lovely time there in 2009, and saw so much that to us it is not worth the couple hour trek into the city for just a few hours.  However, had we not been there it would be the perfect opportunity, rain or shine, to see the “Eternal” City.  I think my favorite site there was the Forum, but the Sistine Chapel was breathtaking.  Anyway, off to Lake Bracciano for us!

Anyway, our trip to Lake Bracciano was lovely.  Though it was overcast it did not rain for our visit.  We had a lovely drive through the countryside.  We saw a castle, which I did not write down the name of, but Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were married there, along with other “famous” people. The castle had a long history but I cannot recall it right now.  It is privately owned now.  We saw a solar farm and out guide told us about family dynamics in this area.  It is expensive to live here so young people remain living at home with parents until close to middle age to have the funds saved to buy a home or condo.  Men typically live at home until age 45, women age 37. The average home, a simple 800-900 sq ft home, costs around E$330,000.  All her facts were very interesting.  Children eat pasta at least twice a day and adults at least once a day.  How do they stay slim?  I guess it is the olive oil as the average family uses 1 liter a week.  They also buy their wine directly from the vintners and use approximately 5-6 liters a week.  The cost is from E$1,30 to 1,60 per liter, less for white, more for red.  Most people drink white in the summer months and red in winter months.   

For our first stop we drove went to a small town called Anguillara, which was charming, I could spend a week there and pick up a bit of Italian!  If you watch “Everybody Loves Raymond” and have seen the trip to Italy on that, it was filmed in Anguillara.  Our small bus load were the ONLY tourists in town.  We had about 30 minutes and managed to walk to the top of the little town to their church and back down, grab a quick espresso, and use the WC.  Then it was back on the bus, back toward our ship, and our final stop for unlimited wine tasting at Casale Centro Corvi complete with appetizers to go with the multiple tastes of wine.  Because of the unlimited nature of the wine tasting there was even singing in the back of the bus on the way back to the ship!  It was a lovely excursion.  On the way back from Lake Bracciano we went on a highway that was the site of a Roman road in 200 BC.  Of course it is not the same road, but the same location.  In ancient times this road went from the south of France to Rome (Roma)! 

Back to the ship for dinner with Stuart and Darlene and new friends from England, George and Tawny. I had shrimp and John had steak.  By evening and departure the winds are 80 knots and the outside areas are closed again, with more rough seas ahead.  However, we are well and other than not being able to walk the decks all is well.  It was a great day and we are on our way to Sicily!