Today we docked in in the city of Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, and once again, we were off the ship as soon as the ramp was in place, this time at 7:00 am. There was a free shuttle bus to the town, and from there we walked about 6 blocks to the train station. We purchased our tickets for the trip to Rome and the return. It was a double deck train, and we “commuted” to Rome with all of the regulars heading for work. We did get on early enough to get seats for the 55 minute ride. We got off at the station near St. Peter’s Basilica and walked to the square. We went through security and entered the church.
It is a beautiful sight inside, and since we arrived there early, it was not crowded at all. We walked around the entire church and then went back outside to enter another line (no waiting) to see all of the tombs of the Pope’s. It was a very moving experience. We then went back out and got in another line (again no waiting) to go to the top of the Dome.
It was another wonderful experience to go to the top and see Rome. We went back inside and took some more pictures since the high cloud layer was gone, allowing more natural lighting inside the Basillica.
We left St. Peter’s and walked down to the Tiber River.
We then walked back to the train station and got an early train back to the port. We spent some time walking around Civitavecchia before heading back to the ship.
