Civitavecchi (Rome) & At Sea - April 21-22, 2012

In sailing to Civitavecchia, up the western Tyrrhenian Sea coast of Italy, we passed a few islands.  One of which was Stromboli.  It is one of the active volcanoes in Italy and is still smoking today.  Steve takes some great pictures as the ship is sailing nearby.

Stromboli

Port Civitavecchi

The port of Civitavecchia has always been the port and docks for Rome.  It is primarily a commercial port (aka containers) with a large fishing fleet and heavy ferry traffic between the adjacent isles and the mainland.  It is Saturday, the fishing and ferry fleets are idle, and the primary ships coming and going are cruise ships – Cunard, Holland America, P&O and a large and striking passenger sailing ship.  The tours all leave early in the morning, the majority of people headed to Rome.  A few tours go into the Italian countryside and that is what we choose – Tuscany – since we immersed in Rome five years back.

Italian Countryside

As we drive along the road, there is much to view in the rolling hillside.  There are farm fields with durum wheat heading out and anticipating its golden metamorphosis, red poppies along the road and fields of canola plants with their neon yellow flowers.  It is so nice to see “green” after the sands of the Sahara!  Sheep are lazily grazing and there are small towns along the way with a mix of old and new buildings.

Some Sheep Grazing

The tour’s first stop is to a small farm which also happens to have a B&B and Restaurant – Cerrosughero.  The farm’s product is olive oil and we have a sampling with a nice morning snack and then are shown the various machines that are used to make olive oil.  This particular brand has won top ratings for the past 10 years.  The views of the surrounding area are spectacular.  You can even catch a glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea.

Scene from Farm Restaurant

Yummy

Awards

Olive shaker

Ruins - old Tuscania

Tour guide “Mickey” fills us with history and stories as we travel from the farm to the walled city of Tuscania, named after the ancient Etruscans who first settled the area.  This town is one of the many still maintaining its charm as a walled city.  The buildings all look old but we learn many had to be renovated following a devastating earthquake that hit this area of Italy in February, 1971 (does anyone remember this?).  We have the opportunity to just walk around and experience the cobblestone roads and lovely views to the ruins of two churches where the original city was located.  This original city was destroyed by the French in the 1490s and the walled city we are walking was built soon thereafter.  As always, Italy will charm you and make you want to stay.

Quaint house

Friendly Italians

City Gate w/clock

Town water fountain

The back gate to the city

Small doorways everywhere

Nice fountain near cafe

Too bad - back on the bus and home to the ship. 

The weather is coolish (60 degrees) and the air is refreshing.  We take a long walk along the pier, and along with many other passengers, check out the other docked cruise ships.  The sea is right behind a huge breakwater, recently built to protect the harbor area from tsunamis and make room for more ships.

Now the ship will sail to Lisbon through the straits of Gibraltar and up the west coast of Europe.

Our days will be filled with lectures, laundry and packing.  

Today, Sir David Frost will be speaking to us about his life interviewing people.  The movie based on his interview, “Frost/Nixon.” is being screened this afternoon.

And, yesterday, being named as it is, the ship celebrated the actual, not official (which falls in June) birthday of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth!