(See Part I here.)
It was 8AM local time. We had just departed the overnight ferry from Sicily, and were standing in the parking lot of the Civitavecchia Port, 45 miles northwest of central Rome.
Now, which way do we go?
With our luggage in tow—including a rolling suitcase, a duffle bag, a backpack, a carry-on tote, and supermarket bag filled with 10 softball-sized lemons from Christina’s cousins in Sicily—we began the walk from the port to the train station, where we’d catch first a train and then a taxi to our hotel, The Corner Townhouse, located almost exactly at the center of the city.
It was a longer walk than we’d anticipated, made longer by the luggage we were, um, lugging, but soon we were in a taxi, zig-zagging through the European streets and peering out the window at the sheer age of this place. (In case you weren’t aware, this city is ancient!) Around every corner, crumbling ruins appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The juxtaposition of the modern alongside the archaic felt like Manhattan had been somehow overlaid on top of Game of Thrones’ King’s Landing.
When we arrived at our hotel, our room was not yet ready, so we dropped our bags, and used the time to sample some caffè freddo from the outdoor bar downstairs. We took a walk and then just sat down for some people-watching.