16. Rome-ing Around

31 July - 2 August 2026

I hear the ship grinding and groaning as it shudders to a halt alongside a long pier. Outside the balcony is an ancient watchtower on top of which stands a tarnished bronze statue of Santa Fermina, the patron saint of Civitavecchia and protector of sailors. She has certainly protected the passengers and crew of the Silversea Silver Muse. But it is now almost time to leave the ship, locate our luggage, and find the bus that will transfer us to Rome this morning.

Our group of thirty-three passengers that had arrived together at Lake Maggiore almost three weeks ago are together again for possibly the last time as the bus takes us on this last 90 minute journey to the city of Rome and our hotel.

We have a guide, who supervises our luggage being packed into the bus and who provides us with a short commentary as we enter the city limits of Rome. She points out some of the most important features of St Peter's Basilica as we skirt around the Vatican, provides a history of Castel Sant'Angelo, where Papa Ratsy served the remainder of his days after his retirement, the first time a Pope had retired in over 400 years. We follow the Tiber River for a time until we turn away from the river and it seems towards many more churches of significance along with other monuments of note. Our guide waves in general directions telling us that the Spanish Steps are over here, the Trevi Fountain is over there. A few minutes later she speaks in rapid Italian to the driver, pointing to a one-way street and gesticulating with her hands. Italians do that a lot.

But something is wrong.

She is shouting at the driver and waving madly to the right.

He is shouting back. I do not understand Italian but I do understand the term GPS. So, it seems the driver takes instruction from the GPS and not from the local guide.

Around a corner, the driver slams the brakes, shuts down the engine, stalks out of the bus, and disappears down the road. He returns a few minutes later. Another screaming match ensues. Of course, we are confused as we do not know what is going on. He opens the luggage compartment and unloads the luggage on the road right where we are parked. We get off, collect our luggage, and we are told to follow the guide down two blocks and around a corner to the hotel. I wonder whether Jacinta Allen has been in Rome because the footpaths and road are pockmarked with potholes and uneven ground, making it extremely difficult to negotiate the distance with heavy, and in my case, ill-packed suitcases. Mine has suddenly decided it has a mind of its own and wants to explore the side streets. It takes a great deal of willpower to keep it under control and to do what I want it to do.

But what about Peter and Sue? Sue has Parkinson's and uses a walker, whilst her husband Peter has to not only negotiate their luggage, but ensure that the walker does not get stuck on the uneven ground. I am relieved when two members of the hotel staff rush down the street to rescue them.

Well, that is exciting!

... perhaps not!

We make it into the airconditioned lobby of the hotel and are delighted to find that our rooms are ready to settle into.

The guide is not so delighted.

She gets our attention and advises that we need to meet her at 12:30 PM for instructions about our transfers to the airport in a couple of days time. She disappears. Perhaps she has gone in search of a stiff drink or two. I would not blame her since all of that kerfuffle could have been averted if the driver had followed her instruction and parked outside the hotel.

With our hotel to airport transfer confirmed, Tom and I disappear out the door of the airconditioned comfort of the hotel and we walk a few blocks in search of an Italian light lunch. We find a place that offers fresh bruschetta for me and tiramisu for Tom with cups of strong espresso. After lolling around for a while, we decide to take the plunge and do the Hop-on-Hop-off bus tour of Rome. I should always take my own advice and use the Sightseeing brand of bus, but not this time... I opt for the Big Bus. We walk to the Rome Termini, the railway station, which is conveniently located around the corner and jump on the open-top bus. Tom decides to sit downstairs in the airconditioned portion of the vehicle, whilst I climb the steep stairs and find myself a seat midway along the top tier.

I am sitting in the blazing sun and as the bus starts its route, I realise that it is unlikely that I will enjoy any shade along the way because there simply are no trees...

...anywhere.

I stay up there until the second last stop when I decide that enough is enough and I need to get out of the sun. Despite the exposure to the sun, I do get some great photos until something goes haywire with the camera. I think that it has decided to stop working because of the heat, but I find out later that I must have hit the burst button and the camera couldn't keep up, got very confused, and eventually gave up. I had taken over 600 shots altogether over the 90 minutes we are on the bus, each time I take a photo, forty or more photos are taken. I might have almost one hundred of the same perspective of the Coliseum, which is good enough for me! Perhaps I should not pretend to be a photographer!

I learn something else today. Despite sitting on the top of the bus in the full sun, I do not feel the sun's rays burning into my skin, nor do I even change colour - not even the tiniest bit.

On Saturday, 1 August 2026, I wake to the news that Naples had been hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4. First Mt Etna, now Naples. I hope natural disasters are not following us.

We only have this one day to explore Rome.

We consult the front desk and get instructions for walking to The Spanish Steps. The hotel staff assures me it is only a fifteen minute walk, but we are not really in a hurry and we do meander down the road, popping into shops (mostly cheap souvenir shops), stopping at monuments, pretending to consult the map to catch my breath, and eventually arriving at the top of the Spanish Steps. Getting our bearings, I don't think Tom is hugely impressed when I inform him that the streets we need to visit, the ones with lots of shops - Via del Corso and Via dei Condotti, are at the bottom of the steps. It's still quite early, so there is no overcrowding.

We make our way to the bottom as Tom's memory from our visit 10 years ago kicks in and he remembers that we had coffee all those years ago at a cafe to the left of the Spanish Steps. I cannot remember whether we actually had coffee here before or whether the extortionate prices had driven us elsewhere. But today we find ourselves in the centre of a beautifully airconditioned (necessary after a long walk) English-style tearooms with prices that would rival those of Harrods or Fortnum & Mason. Since this establishment has been in this location since 1893, there is a fair chance it was here ten years ago. Then reality steps in. What the hell! We have just spent the past three weeks on board a ship and we have spent very little money during that time. We can splurge on coffee today.

We wander down the two shopping streets. Via dei Condotti is very designer, not quite Rodeo Drive, but certainly has the best of the best of stores displaying the best of their season's offerings. We turn into Via Del Corso, where most shops are more affordable, and although I had planned to shop until I drop, it does not happen. Window shopping, we wander to the end of the street, which flows into Piazza del Popolo. This large but elegant square with an Egyptian obelisk in the centre is just a few steps from where we had stayed in January 2016. We wander around these familiar streets for a while before returning to the Spanish Steps.

If we walk up those steps, we would be compelled to walk back to the hotel and much of the return walk would be uphill. So, we look for a taxi rank, jump into a taxi and return to the hotel in style.

Tonight, I need to poke whatever I can into the suitcases. We don't have to leave early tomorrow, so we can take things easy in the morning. It's time to wander down to the bar to meet the other people who have been with us since we arrived. Many of them are leaving early, some by train, some by private car like us.

It's been a lovely holiday. The ten days on the lakes had been fun, our cruise had taken us to wonderful places that we had never seen before and our one-and-a-half days in Rome bring back many happy memories.

Life cannot provide anything better than being in a place where you can meet new people and visit new places and our Imagine Cruising holiday to the Italian Lakes coupled with the Silversea Silver Muse cruise from Venice to Rome via Croatia, Montenegro, and Sicily has been a highlight of 2026.

Now to plan our next holiday...