Fri, June 28

This morning we arrived in the port of Civitavecchia to set off on our city drive, and when we got into Rome were absolutely amazed at the wide variety of historic, cultural and religious sites, including the Colosseum, the historic Roman Forum, the beautiful Castel Sant’Angelo and gardens of the Villa Borghese. We didn’t know which way to look first as we drove along such famous streets as the Via Vittorio Veneto and the Piazza Venezia to experience the many religious monuments, basilicas and churches.

Our tour of the Eternal City concluded in St Peter’s Square at the core of Vatican City in the ornate piazza where the masses receive the Pope’s weekly blessings. This gave us the opportunity to spend some time strolling around the many shops to pick up some souvenirs and then to enjoy the view of the magnificent basilica whilst sampling some real Italian pizza!

The beautiful mosaic caught our eye – check out the gold!

Lots of umbrella pines – grown for the pine nuts

Colosseum

Colosseum

Colosseum

St Peter’s Square

Basilica