Alghero

Recovering from the hard walking around Rome, the next day we arrived off of the port of Alghero in Sardinia.

Alghero is a charming town of about 45,000 people, on the upper west side of the Island of Sardinia, with quite a bit of history, nice architecture, and a really nice beach in walking distance of the port.

We decided not to do a shore excursion but explore it on our own, as it is rather small and easy to navigate and we felt like wandering about on our own time.  I used the GPSMycity App to create a custom walking tour.

First we had to get to Alghero.  The port cannot dock a cruise ship, so we went by ship tenders, which were actually the lifeboats (note the empty davits in the picture above).

The good:  It was a really neat ride and well organized.

The bad: You got in a tight line to get on the tender with people who were going to be on the tender with you, on the tender you then had to put on an N94 type mask in a rather hot and stuffy interior, and then as soon as you hit the dock you could take the mask off.  This didn't make a heckuva lot of sense, but that's covid regs for you.  Had a nice chat with a British family on board the tender - their eldest and ours were going off to colleges after the cruise and it was a very pleasant chat. 

So we arrived and got off the tenders on what would be yet another sunny and really hot day:

 A nice historic tower greets you at the port:

This used to be the entrance and exit to the walled city of Alghero from the port, and it is now a museum and visitor's center.

We walked through the streets and visited quite a few shops:

And saw the central market with lots of produce, including fresh caught fish from the sea:

We walked along and saw a memorial to Italy's Airmen:

The inscription translates to: "In memory of all the aviators who in arms and in service for the supreme ideal of the homeland."

After that the walking tour was cut short due to the heat and a 3-1 vote to hit the beach immediately to cool off, and so we walked to the beach, which was a short walk from town and the port.

It's a very nice beach and we had a great time swimming in the Mediterranean, lying on the sand, and sipping some cold beverages. 

We then wandered back to the port and got in line for the tenders taking poeple back to the ship.

We waited by the Torre Della Madalina, also known as Garibaldi's tower, as the famous Giuseppe Garibaldi had visited Alghero, arriving at this point in 1855.

 

The long line gave us time to admire the city walls and try to get some shade. 

 Princess crew members came along offering people umbrellas/parasols/or sunshades (Actually they all the same thing but the game with the crew member was you got to pick which one you wanted) for shade as we stood waiting to board.

On the upside, for the tender on the way back we got to go on top of the tender and enjoy some fresh air and get a good look at the city and harbor as we motored away:

 

A nice and very relaxed day, especially compared the almost endless amount of walking throughout the rest of Italy under a very hot sun.

Rome IV - The Vatican

We then walked back to the bus and drove on to our next stop.

We passed the Tiber, which is rather low this year:

 

We then reached the Vatican parking lot - a very large underground parking garage setup for tour buses of all types.

We then walked to St. Peter's Square. Unfortunately, it was still a hot enough walk that another lady in our tour group dropped out before even reaching the square. I really cannot recommend visiting Rome in August. If you do, stay hydrated.

 We had apparently missed the Pope's appearance by a few hours that day.

The square is impressively large.

 

We also saw some of the walls of the Vatican, click to embiggen and see the many inscriptions on the wall.

 

We saw a few Carabinieri about:

 

And a nice display by the Italian Army by the Vatican wall:

A street vendor saw me looking the vehicle over. and offered to sell it to me for 100 Euro.

I said "If you've got the keys, and it runs you've got a deal".

He didn't, so we both got a laugh out of it.  

There are a ton of street vendors both within and without the Vatican area selling all sorts of stuff - mainly religious items and hats for protection from the sun. Unfortunately, there's lots of pickpockets about as well so you need to watch your wallet.

We then got some free time and the options were to hang around the Vatican, or take a rather long walk over a bridge to a shopping area.  The family's answer may surprise you - they were fried so further long walks and shopping was out.

So we stayed around the Vatican and went to a find a place for lunch.

First we went to the Caffe San Pietro which has been operating since 1775. Yes, 1775.

 

It's a cafeteria-style restaurant but it unfortunately was packed and not even standing room only, so we headed out to try and find somewhere else to eat.

We wandered about and with some Apple Maps help did manage to find a restaurant somewhat nearby with a table available and then had a real Italian lunch.  The place was rather packed, but we had a most delightful lunch of real fresh Roman-style pasta that was amazing.

We then headed back to the Vatican, bought a few gifts in the many gift shops in the area for some Catholic friends of ours, and then went to the pickup point and tried to find some shade and then got on the bus and headed back for the long drive to the port.

Rome III - The Colosseum and Constantine's Arch

We continued walking along the Forum until we reached the Flavian Amphitheater.

Yes, thew Colosseum is not actually the Colosseum, its the Flavian Amphitheater.

It became misnamed as the Colosseum as a true colossus - a giant statue of the Emperor Nero, the Colossus of Nero, was located here after he was deposed it was changed to represent the Sun God and become the Colossus solis - so People on their way to see the statue were off to see the Colossus, and the name then got applied to the Flavian Amphitheater itself. It was built by Vespasian and completed under his son Titus.

With a capacity of 80,000 spectators the amphitheater is truly a colossus.

The multiple levels are neat to see:

 

Roman numerals identify the various entryways into seating areas, much as stadium entries are marked today.

A papal sign marks the Colosseum:

By the time we reached the Colosseum however, one of the ladies in our tour group had had enough of the sun and almost collapsed. We helped find her a place to sit in the shade and brought her water to drink and she recovered after a bit.

We then admired the Arch of Constantine: 

Built to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, the inscription on top of the arch can still be easily read 1707 years after it was dedicated.

Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity, which made for a logical transition on our way to our next stop.

Rome II - The Way To the Forum

In Rome, history surrounds you, and being an aficionado of Ancient Roman history, this was awesome.

Leaving the Trevi fountain, we walked to the Forum.

 

 

Lots of ongoing archaeological activity was happening at the forum:

Things keep being discovered every day, as the ancient city is mainly buried under the dust and debris of history.

Many statues were on display along the Forum's edges. 

Julius Caesar:

 Augustus, as of course, there had to be a statue of Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome, who found Rome made of bricks and left it made of marble. 

Not all were Emperors that would be readily recognized by many:

I mean the Nerva that guy. 

Yes, that's a statue of the Emperor Nerva Caesar Augustus, who was emperor from September 96 AD to December 98 AD. He succeeded Domitian, who was the second son of Vespasian and was emperor after Vespasian's elder son Titus died.  Nerva then adopted Trajan to succeed him as emperor, which leads us to:

Trajan's Column!  After viewing pictures of it only in books it was amazing to see it in person.

The column commemorates Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars.

The entire column is caved with images from the campaign.

The column provides exquisite detail of the Roman Army in the first century AD.

Interestingly, the very top of the column is not original.

It used to have a statue of Trajan on top, but the statue was removed in the middle ages, and then  adorned by Pope Sixtus V in 1587 with a bronze statue of Saint Peter which has been there ever since.

It was a really amazing feeling to be able to see Trajan's column in person. Truly a highlight of the visit to Rome.

Then we strolled down the Forum to our next stop.

Rome I

The next morning the ship docked at Civitavecchia, the old port of Rome.

We boarded a bus and headed to Rome, which was about an hour away.

It was going to be a hot day in Rome, over 95 degrees F in the shade, and there pretty much was no shade.

We walked until we reached our first stop, the Trevi fountain.

The fountain, completed in 1762 is rather famous, starring in multiple movies including Roman Holiday. 

Very crowded, but we made our way down and did the traditional coin toss with the right hand over our left shoulders into the waters of the fountain.  The single coin over the shoulder allegedly means we will return to Rome some day.  All four of us scored with hits in the fountain, which is really hard to miss, but a few tourists managed it.

Coins worth about 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain each day, or over 1.5 million dollars a year.

The papal coat of arms surmounts the fountain:

Lots of fountains and water fountains in Rome, with lots of free water to drink as you wander to cool you off.

By the second fountain, I decided to douse my hat to cool off.  By the third fountain, the hat was almost completely dry.  It was that kind of hot day.

Such a hot day called for reinforcement to the water:

Gelato!:

The real Italian stuff, wonderfully creamy and tasty and just the thing to help you cool down.  I highly recommend the classic Limone flavor, but the others were awesome too.

So we continued our walk through Rome admiring the huge Palazzo Inail:

The building is absolutely huge.

Then we walked on to see some ancient Roman sites.

Pisa

The bus took us to the outskirts of Pisa and we had a decent sized walk in the sun to get to the old city.

You then cross some railroad tracks (complete with a delay from a train going by) and get to the old city walls.

Tons of permanent tent-like structures are setup selling all sorts of kitsch, hats of all sorts to handle the sun, leather goods, and drinks.

Then past all the kitsch, you get to see Pisa's number 1 attraction:

 

Yes, it's the leaning tower of Pisa.

Our tour guide was rather hilarious when she said, deadpan, that:

"I'm from Livorno and Livorno is less than happy with Pisa.  After all, Livorno isn't famous but we know how to work and build things.  Pisa gets to be famous because the people of Pisa don't know how to properly build a tower, seriously."

After seeing the tower we got some free time to wander around in the heat.

We sat in an outdoor cafe (which did not have any public restrooms) under some umbrellas and got out of the sun and hydrated.

We were joined at our table by a dog who was also happy to get a little shade.

 

We then wandered around the streets of Pisa some more, and public restrooms were rather hard to find.  So we found a McDonald's.  Even at McDonald's however, you need to buy something to use the washroom.

However, the McDonald's of Pisa, being highly civilized, offered cold beer for sale.

Problem solved.

We then took the long walk back to the bus, got on,  and headed back to the ship rather exhausted after a long hot, yet very eventful day.

Florence - Statues And The Ponte Vecchio

As we walked along, we passed along an alley at the Galleria Degli Uffizi which lined with statues of the great men and artists of Italy and Florence:

Of course, Cosimo was there:

 As was Macchiavelli:

Amerigo Vespucci:

Leonardo da Vinci

Donatello:

Galileo:

And many more.  All of the Ninja Turtles were well represented.

We then got to see and admire the Ponte Vecchio:

First built in Roman times, it was rebuilt on multiple occasions with the present bridge dating to a rebuild in 1345. Then off to the Academy.