We signed up for the excursion Rome on Your Own, which meant that we got a bus ride to Rome from Civitavecchia (an hour-and-a-half ride). But we didn't do Rome on our own at all. We had been communicating with Francesca, a friend of the family through Kristal's Uncle Barry and Aunt Eunice. She took a two-hour train ride from her home to Rome just to meet us and tour us around for a day. She is our new favorite person in the world.Meeting up was a neat story. We had only sporadic e-mail contact with her on the ship, so we settled on meeting her at "the arches" at the Colosseum. We arrived at the Colosseum and saw hundreds of arches in the Colosseum and around. We didn't know what she looked like or how we were going to find her. Kristal had made a sign with her name on it and, as we walked toward two arches, she saw a young Italian woman making a sign as well. It was to have our names on it, since it was Francesca.
Francesca was energetic, bubbly, and super friendly to two people she didn't know at all. She showed us everything and knew as much about Rome and its offerings as most professional tour guides. We saw the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, and Vatican City. We also saw Rome's subway system, ate the only pizza we ended up having in Italy, joked about the goofy Vatican police unis, and had some incredible gelatto.
We hooked up with Kevin and Tasha for supper at the Grand Pacific ballroom. Then we went with them to a top-notch magic show.Then off to bed for another early day awaited.
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