So, where we left off, I was sitting in the lobby drinking a Prosecco and Jason was taking a nap. We had 24 hours more or less in Rome, and I am confident that if you were full of energy, enthusiasm, and spunk, you could see a whole lot of room in 24 hours. In fact, last time I was here I did see a whole lot of Rome in 24 hours. So what I’m about to tell you about this 24 hours is not really a recommendation for how to proceed, should you ever be given this chance. But it is exactly what we needed.
When I finished the Prosecco, I went back up to the room to check on Jason. Mostly because I figured if he didn’t get up soon, he again would not be able to sleep all night. But when I got into the room, he was up and in the shower.
I decided to walk around and check out the executive lounge which we get access to because of Jason’s status with Marriott. If you remember in some of our recent travels, we love having this access because we can often eat 1 to 2 meals a day for free in there and especially when traveling internationally get free drinks in the evening. This saves us hundreds if not thousands of dollars over the course of longer trips. So this executive lounge was down in the basement and it wasn’t very big, but it was well appointed. They had a really nice coffee machine so we got some delicious fancy Italian coffee. They had a bucket of ice so we were able to get ice water which is sometimes a feat over in Europe. They had several bowls of fruit out and multiple glass jars of nuts and savory snacks. We weren’t quite hungry enough for a snack, but figured we’d pop in later and see what they were serving for dinner.
Sure enough, later when we went there was a full spread. Certainly enough to make a meal out of. We had gone to the lobby bar first because they gave us a free drink coupon when we checked in so we thought we would see what they had. When we’re in Europe, we’d love to just say give us a local white or red because we’ve never had a bad one yet. So we went with a local White and it was delicious. Back down in the executive lounge. It was now so crowded. We had to go outside to sit. But the fresh air honestly it’s probably exactly what we needed, and there were only one or two other tables sitting outside. We sort of appreciated the garden area in the back for lack of a better word which was not perfectly maintained. it just looked like a regular grassy area with lots of trees. But of course it’s Italy so the trees are oranges olives, lemons, some other fruit trees we couldn’t quite identify. And while we were sitting there eating this plate of delicious free food and drinking some delicious free wine all of a sudden we noticed that there were a bunch of cats.
Yes, cats. So we decided to walk around the property looking for cats. We found this cute little guy laying under an orange tree.
We called it early and headed to the room to relax and attempt a good night’s sleep. One thing I can say about all this travel disruption, we weren’t jet lagged. We didn’t know what day or time it was but whatever it was, we were ok.
The next morning, we had to be up and at it because we hired a private car to pick us up at the hotel at 9:30 to make the drive to the port city where we’d catch the ship. We did ok with sleep- not great, but better. We enjoyed an amazing European breakfast spread- something we have learned to absolutely love over here. So much fresh goodness. Every bite delicious! Always some massive vat of Nutella. Coffee- amazing. US hotels have so much to learn with their powdered eggs, subpar coffee, and store packaged danishes and bagels with no flavor.
Our man Emanuele was there 15 minutes early with his car. I know this because he started texting me a lot in WhatsApp. Are you here? Are you out here? You know - I appreciate that he’s early and he’s eager. I’m not mad!!
The drive was only an hour. Traffic - nope. As we cruised into Civitavecchia, I was looking around and could remember parts of it from our days here before. Precious memories, for sure. Fun fact, it was in Rome- when a freak snow storm popped up while we stood at the Coliseum, when I believe I came down with COVID. By the end of that day, my teeth were chattering so hard I couldn’t stand it. So glad to be back having a completely different experience.
The most amazing thing then happened - we got out of the car at 10:45 or so. Boarding begins at 11 and if you’ve ever seen or heard or been a part of this, you know that sometimes it’s just a disaster. Well. Joyfully, this wasn’t that.
We walked in, got in line, and immediately Jason noticed we were right behind Diane and Mike, and Jerry and Sue- most of our beloved Malbec crew. YAY for great reunions. Hugs all around. We all went through security and check in and then we were literally walking on the ship by 11. The best check in EVER.
I’ll write about our first days on the ship tomorrow.
Oh man does it feel good to have made it ship side!
That "jar" of Nutella!
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