Civitavecchia: boats

The harbor is adjacent to the fort. 

First, we passed the sailboats.

Next, the fishing boats.

And finally, the big boats. The boat above was a car ferry headed to Palermo. The Coast Guard building is prominently situated along the harbor. It's possible that its presence plays a role in ensuring everything is in tip-top shape.

More fishing vessels.

And a boat with a big net!

Civitavecchia: Forte Michelangelo

We did not get to visit the inside of this fort which was commissioned by Pope Julius II to defend the port of Rome.  Such a shame, too, because it was designed by both Bramante and Michelangelo.  By the way, its walls range in thickness from 19 to 24 feet!  Now, I have visited lots of places in Italy, and without a doubt, this fort and its surroundings are the best maintained and cleanest that I have ever seen.

In case you wanted to see where the axis leads, 

I've included the second photo.

Civitavecchia: by the sea

Here I am with my finger in the Tyrrhenian Sea. 

And here is Bill!

Civitavecchia: lunch at Ristorante da Vitale

What a delight it was to find this restaurant. Although it is off-season at Civitavecchia, the locals were dining here--always a good sign. 

Doesn't Bill look dapper in his bow tie?

 

I opted for the zuppa al mare, or what San Franciscans would call cioppino. That is steam rising from the mountain of seafood.

I got a bib, too! My meal was messier than Bill's to eat and even required some brute force to open the little crustaceans! But it was oh-so good!

Civitavecchia: or what to do when the Catacombs are closed

For years now, Bill has wanted to visit the Catacombs. I saw them in '76, so it's not at the top of my to-do list. However, it seemed like a good thing to do. I checked the website for directions and learned that they are closed until late February. Awww, too bad! That left us with an opening for Saturday, Valentine's Day. In the middle of the night, it occurred to me to check out Civitavecchia. After all, Bill and I love to see the sea, and we seem to have a penchant for doing so in winter months. And there was a bonus...a castle-ly looking fort!

Since Saturday was Valentine's Day, we started off with a visit to the bar downstairs for our morning coffee. Francesco's wife makes all of the desserts herself, so why not start off the day with a Sacher torte and a cappuccino! The added treat was that his wife had also made heart-shaped packets out of felt that contained a heart-shaped sugar cookie and a handwritten note!

Next we headed to Termini to catch the train. You know how I love Termini, so here are the pictures.

As a side note, Termini had been looking a little run down when we were last here, three years ago. However, the restoration has given the station a much-needed face lift.

We left from a binario on the west side of the building, so far away from the transept that connects the two side streets that there were no longer any overhangs as you see here. We honestly thought we were walking to Civitavecchia!

About an hour later we arrived.

This next picture is related to this blog only insofar as it is 1) located in Civitavecchia; 2) has repetition of architectonic details; and 3) is related to transportation (Port of Civitavecchia). I liked the shot, so here it is.

Taking the cross-town bus

A week ago Bill and I saw some students hop off one bus and get onto another without first checking which bus they were getting on. The idea of Bus Roulette intrigued us, so late Friday afternoon we thought we'd give it a try. Being the grown-up that I am, I decided to check my Roma Bus app first. On second thought, it seemed a little risky--I still remember how in 2008 we got off the bus and ended up in a vacant Roma (i.e., gypsy) camp.

Currently, we reside in the most convenient part of town when it comes to public transportation. The Cipro metro stop is less than a block away, and now that we have tessere for the entire month of February, we can hop on any bus or metro without paying extra.

So, we boarded Bus 492 just a stone's throw from St. Peter's and left at 4:25 pm. Fortunately, the 492 terminates at the Cipro metro station, so we were assured of seats on the bus when we embarked. Our plan was to take the 492 from one terminus to the other. On the way, we passed San'Andrea della Valle, Largo Argentina, Via del Corso and Piazza Barberini before it heads east of Roma Termini to areas unknown to us. I will add that until we obtained our tessere on February 1st, we walked everywhere, including one day a trip from our place (20 minutes NW of the Vatican) all the way to the Piazza Barberini, down the Spanish Steps, along the Via del Corso, and back again!

Back to our bus ride...along the way, we passed il Ministero della Difesa dell'Aeronautica. What an example of Fascist era architecture!

An hour and two minutes later we arrived at the other terminus, Stazione Tiburtina. It is Roma's new train station which handles the new Italo trains. It lacks the elegance of Termini's simple plan, but it was fun to visit nevertheless.

After our little tour of the building, we decided we would take the metro back to Cipro with a change at Termini. We made it across town again in less than half the time!

Church of the Gesu': the big reveal