Port days are tiring.  We’ve done four in a row. We’ve been to Rome before, so we declared today a rest day.  Civitavecchia, or Civ as the locals call it, is Rome’s port. As such it is pretty big, and the terminal is not unlike an airport departure lounge.  The town has nothing in particular to see, so everyone goes to Rome for the day. Except us.

Our agenda included sleeping late (and missing breakfast), then a spot of laundry.  It was like being on a ghost ship.  This is a transit port, and many passengers were disembarking.  The corridors were full of suitcases and trolleys, as the stewards frantically made up rooms for the next lot of guests, due on in a few short hours.  In the laundry I had my choice of washer and dryer – unheard of!  Note to self: transit days are excellent for getting your clothes washed and dried quickly.

Next we treated ourselves to lunch from the buffet. On port days we eat very little,, if anything (usually just something scrounged from breakfast) and are ravenous by the time we reboard in the late afternoon. This leads to rampant consumption of pizza, chips and choc chip cookies, or whatever gluten free sweet treats are available in the buffet, at around 5pm. But I digress.

The newbies started coming on board; you can pick them from the glazed look in their eyes as they try to decipher which way is forward or aft, and figure out how to dodge the casino on their way to the dining room (you can’t).  We left for a short exploratory excursion ashore.  The free shuttle bus dropped us next to the obligatory fort; this one is more intact than the older ones at Livorno, but is closed off so we couldn’t see inside.

Nope – no idea …

We walked along the obligatory seaside promenade to Pirgos, the local beach which has seen better days. Like all of these ports, it was mostly destroyed in WW2, and is yet to have any real investment made in restoring it to its former glory.

Pirgo Beach

We’ll be back here next year, as our 2020 cruise leaves from Rome, so we thought a bit of advance reconnaissance would stand us in good stead. We found the railway station, checked out how cobbly the footpaths are, the location of the hotels, and the size and gluten-freeness of the local supermarket.  Civ is a pleasant place, clean and safe, and everything is within easy walking distance. We agreed it would be suitable for a pre-cruise rest day; better to be here the night before sailing, rather than enduring some of the stories of rail strikes and general confusion experienced by those coming in from Rome on departure day.

Gotta love a town that has a giant blue egg in the main street

Five masted clipper

Are they having more fun on the Batman ship?

Back on board in good time for dinner, and the late night comedy show.  If you get the chance, check out Chris Bliss on Youtube – not only is he very funny, but he does the most amazing juggling act we’ve ever seen. He juggles to music, namely The Beatles. Tonight he performed to “Golden Slumbers”; he also does “A Day In the Life”.  All the juggling is in sync with the music, some of it the fastest juggling we’ve seen. It’s phenomenal, and unique.