MAR-30: Civitavecchia, Italy

Civitavecchia is the seaport for Rome.  It is amusing to listen to non-Italians trying to pronounce it.

The weather on our arrival was cool, windy and cloudy with occasional drops of rain.  It was the first time since Singapore that I have worn a long-sleeved shirt during the day.

Tour Description:  Ostia Antica

Founded by King Anco Marzio around the 4th century BC, Ostia Antica was Rome’s main commercial port and military base, with a population at its peak of nearly 100,000 inhabitants. Barbarian invasions and malaria led to the decline of city and eventually all the inhabitants abandoned it. Buried for centuries by sand, the city is remarkably well preserved and, although less spectacular than Pompeii or Herculaneum, it gives a more complete picture of the life in the Roman Empire. Your visit starts at Via delle Tombe, which leads to the Porta Romana—one of the city’s three gates. This is the beginning of Decumanus Maximus, the main road through the town. From the Neptune and Amphitride Baths, walk to the theater built by Agrippa and to the Forum, which formed the center of the city. Discover the main public buildings—the Capitolium and the Temple of Rome and Augustus. There are no fewer than 18 temples dedicated to the Persian god Mithras as well as a Jewish Synagogue dating from the 1st century BC and a Christian basilica. See the House of Diana and the Termopolium, an ancient Roman bar with a marble counter and a fresco representing the fruits and foodstuffs that were sold there. After this fascinating stroll through the past, board on your coach and proceed to the seaside resort of Ostia Lido to enjoy a gelato (included).  At the end of your tour, you will transfer back to the ship.

Tour Experience

It was still raining when we boarded the bus, but the weather got somewhat better during the course of our tour before devolving again as we headed back to the ship.  

An hour after leaving Civitavecchia we arrived at Ostia Antica, an archeological site some experts believe as or more important than Pompeii.  They argue Pompeii simply gets better press because of the violent way its inhabitants died.

It was an interesting site well presented by our guide.  That said, trying to explain what a given ruin looked like back in the day would be like pouring some flour on a table and asking you to envision a loaf of bread.  If you are interested in the history of Ostia Antica, there is a good website.  For this post, I am limiting myself to pictures and a few notations. 

As you look at the pictures it is important to understand that these ruins were sophisticated buildings.  Some had four stories.  The walls, floors and ceilings were covered with sheets of marble or mosaics.  This was an advanced society.  Running water, sewers, theaters, bars and restaurants, shops, a commercial laundry and more were here.  At its apex, the population was estimated at about 100,000 people.

Mosaics covered entire walls of some buildings. To prevent further deterioration, some ruins receive a capof cement to protect them.  In Italy, ruins are not

restored, just preserved.

We visited a bar where urns were buried in the ground to keep wine cool.

At the end of our visit to Ostia Antica we bought a book that shows key ruins as they appear now with an overlay to show how the entire structure once looked.  We should have gotten it before we started the tour.

From Ostia Antica the bus took us a short distance to Lido di Ostia where we had a gelato in a town square that is hopefully a bit more vibrant when the weather is better.  Some of the buildings were interesting.  Vendors were setting up booths for Easter.   Their presence did not add to the ambiance of the square.  They looked forlorn, there being a conspicuous absence of potential buyers.  Even the lone panhandler working the square wasn’t having any luck.  The guide did not have trouble motivating us to return to the bus. 

Back on ROTTERDAM we had lunch and debated whether to go into Civitavecchia to explore some of it.  Our reference material did not suggest much of interest to see.  It was windy and chilly.  We opted not to go.  Good call – thirty minutes later the rain arrived.

This was our last port call in Italy.  ROTTERDAM will now angle southwest towards Spain.  We are setting our clocks ahead an hour tonight.  This is strange given that we have been setting them back ever since Singapore and since we are continuing west logic dictates that we would remain in the same time zone or be setting our clocks back an hour.  I will let you ponder why we are setting our clocks ahead while proceeding westward.

APR-01: Alicante, Spain

Although the ROTTERDAM had to slow down going through the straits between Corsica and Sardinia due to high seas, the Captain was able to make up the lost time.  The ship arrived in Alicante on schedule. 

Tour Description:  Canelobre Caves & Alicante

Leaving the port area of Alicante you will discover that, despite the small matter of the Mediterranean Sea, the city of Alicante is historically and economically more in step with North Africa than with Spain. Your coach will cross the center of town en route to the Castle of Santa Barbara. You will stop here to visit the castle standing on Mt Benacantil—a rocky mass bordering the sea. Over the centuries, this area has been of enormous strategic value to Spain. From the beach, the mountain resembles a face and, for this reason, it is locally known as "the face of the Moor." It is an icon of the city of Alicante. Inside the castle, admire some interesting Iberian archeological findings and visit the best-preserved areas such as the Main Tower (Torre del Homenaje) and the Englishmen's bastions. Next, a walking tour leads you through Alicante’s charming Old Town, located at the foot of the imposing castle. From there, you will drive to Busot to visit the Canelobre Caves—a heritage site of the Valencian Autonomous Region. Within the cave is one of the highest vaulted ceilings of Spain—about 210 feet tall—similar to that of a cathedral. Admired the strange and beautiful natural works of art, including Medusa, the candelabros (from which the name of the caves derive) and a multitude of spectacular forms. Returning to Alicante, relax during a brief panoramic drive as you catch a glimpse of this bustling Mediterranean city and head back to the ship.

Tour Experience

The itinerary was reversed, so we drove through the countryside to Busot and up the mountain to the Canelobre Caves.  Having been fortunate enough to visit more impressive caves, we found the caves only modestly interesting.  There was a sign showing a camera with a red circle around it and a diagonal red line through it.  Unfortunately, I don’t speak Spanish.  (And the guide told us not to worry about the sign, it was a ploy to sell postcards.)

We wound our way down one mountain and back to Alicante where the bus climbed up another mountain to the Castle of Saint Barbara.  Between the two we passed vast greenhouses used to grow tomatoes. 

The best part of our visit to the castle was the views from the top.  Getting to the top was a significant climb from where the bus deposited us, but a lot better than walking up from the beach.

From the fort we went to the old section of Alicante, wandering some of the streets and squares.  We thanked our guide and bailed out of the tour to explore on our own.  We found a sidewalk restaurant where we ate paella and watched the locals.  Today was a Spanish holiday, so people were relaxed and enjoying the great weather.

We walked to the main boulevard along the waterfront, then along it to the beach where Pam put her feet in what she declared to be very cold water.  From there we walked back to the ship passing the Volvo Ocean Racing Museum and a dreadful open air marketplace.

When it came time to leave the tight quarters where ROTTERDAM was berthed and a 20 knot wind abeam holding her on the dock necessitated the help of two tugboats to get underway and clear the harbor entrance, stirring up a lot of bottom dirt while doing so.  Outside the harbor seas were calm and the evening warm with the sun setting later because European daylight savings time when into effect yesterday.