Rome Rome Rome! Soo excited! Once we were peirside they promised maximized liberty and my liberty group booked 2 rooms at a five-star hotel called Sofitiel, which was right next to the Spanish Steps and the Fountana Di Trevi (Yes this is the fountain you throw a coin in for the first time you visit Rome, the second time for love, etc.) ROME is Gorgeous!!!

We packed our ball room attire ready for this evenings event and impatiently awaited for our liberty call to be put down. It did not come as early as expected (This is very typical),  but we were excited none the less and made a beeline for the train station which was actually right by where the ship was. Catching the train into Rome it was easy to flag down a taxi to get to the hotel.

It was mesmerizing. I have big plans for when I visit Rome again, which I absolutely will, it was by far the best port. There’s so MANY MANY things to see and do.

We arrived at the hotel and immediately we bought a round of drinks to be sent to our rooms while we were getting ready. H and I were in a room together and we got all doled up for the wardroom event they were holding.

We both had fancy dresses and high heels, it felt very good to be a girl again. We then took a taxi to the restaurant but the problem was the taxi driver didn’t understand us and he ended up dropping us off right at the Coliseum!

Walking around the coliseum looking at Roman ruins at night, beautified, staying at an extremely ritzy hotel in downtown Rome, it was so surreal! It was one of the best times of my life. Unfortunately we did get lost and we ended up walking around for quite some time looking for the restaurant (high heels on cobblestone streets = very bad idea), but eventually after some confusion and a lot of hand motions (translations between Italian and English) we did get pointed in the right direction and we found the restaurant.

We arrived extremely fashionably late which is our style and started playing catch up since everyone was already on course 3 of a 4 course meal. We starting drinking the wine that comes with each course immediately and ate the food which was quite delicious.

Afterwards we walked back up the street to the café that we got directions from, which was located directly across from the coliseum and we drank some drinks and smoked cigars and it was glorious. We were right there beside the coliseum! Dieter, one of the pilots, took a picture of me smoking a cigar with the coliseum in the background!

Quite a while passed and we were deciding if we should head back to the hotel because it was late, when fireworks started out of nowhere right above the coliseum. I have no idea what the occasion was, but we stayed and watched them till the end. I threw in a few Oooo’s and Ahhhhh’s for old times sake (My dad used to do that every time we saw fireworks when I was growing up).

When we got back to the hotel we went straight to the seventh floor and continued our party a little longer out on a terrace above Rome and it was just a fantastic evening and such a beautiful night.

Looking Spiffy in the Suit

The next morning, we went to brunch and started off with a few mimosa’s to help with the headache and then we got showers, packed our bags, and went back up to the terrace from the night before to get some pictures overlooking the city.

I just love the old style shutters on all the windows and how everything is made around rock formations. We had much to do, so afterwards we asked the hotel to check our bags for us since we had checked out of the hotel and we headed out for the day.

We walked to the spanish steps which are gorgeous and we shopped around that area for the better part of the day checking out all of the BIG TIME stores like Gucci, Burberry, etc.. 🙂 We stopped for a light lunch and then ventured farther out where we ended up at a café buying more bottles of wine and enjoying appetizers right in front of this huge museum.

About to ICE a guy

This guy to be precise

Unfortunately I did not get to go to the Vatican because most of my liberty group had already been there, but I saw it and it was breath-taking to say the least. Many people from the ship went on tours there and one of the officer’s knows a guy that lives and does research at the Vatican so he was able to get a much more in-depth tour then you would normally receive.

I thought there were tons of historical things to see in London, but Rome tops that times 10. There’s SO SO SO many things to see. It’s all on my list when I go back. I can’t wait!

Walking down past the Spanish Steps

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By the time we got back to the hotel to pick up our stuff, it was getting pretty late so we had to go eat dinner, which was delicious, I mean it is Rome, and then we caught the train back to the ship. For duty the next day I got to go out for shore patrol and I bought 3 bottles of Italian wine and Lemon Cello which is an alcohol you drink when its cold and you can put it on things such as ice cream. The captain told me about it.

We stopped for a few hours of wi-fi and stayed in Civeteveechia, eating some very good homeaid pizza for dinner. That closes out my first Rome trip. We were underway the very next morning, transited the straits of Bonefacio which are located to the North of Italy and we are now out in open ocean coming across the Atlantic.

We will be pulling into Mayport FL in a few days where I will be meeting M, whom is sailing back to Norfolk with us, and that should be a very good time, there’s a few big events in store such as an air show by the carrier. I am SOO happy to be back to reality soon! It’s very exciting.

For a complete listing of all of my deployment articles Click the Link: MY FIRST DEPLOYMENT

This article appeared first on Dynamic Soarer.