In Civitavecchia, the Port for Rome, Italy

'The Kiss', an enormous statue on the promenade at Civitavecchia

On our arrival at Civitavecchia, most of the ship's passengers were whisked away early to go to Rome, a 90 minute coach ride away. We had a more leisurely breakfast then got the free shuttle bus from the ship to the entrance of the port and explored the town on foot.
  There were 6 cruise ships of various sizes in port that day and I heard one of the officials say that meant 16,000 visitors in 12 hours. The mind boggles!!!
   Civitavecchia is a pretty town with a wide paved promenade along the shore, a fortress tower built by Michaelangelo and this much photographed statue of "The Kiss". It is a 3 dimensional representation of the iconic photo taken in Times Square, New York, when the news broke that World War 2 had ended. Now visitors queue up to be photographed with it.

Big statue, little people!

 Civitavecchia was easy to walk around, with part of the main street being a pedestrian mall. We found the fantastic food market - fruit and vegetables outside on stalls, meat and fish and cheese inside a purpose-built building. All so fresh and colourful at cheap prices we can only dream about at home!

Seasonal produce at the market in Civitavecchia

In the fish hall at Civitavecchia market

  I like roaming round new places, exploring on my own rather than being herded around on a pressured guided tour. I like to sit and watch the people and absorb the atmosphere, the sights and smells and sounds of somewhere different. Sometimes I'll go on city sightseeing buses, the hop on, hop off, type. But I don't listen to the commentaries! It's important to me that I use all my senses and having a tinny voice in my ear is off-putting. I take photos and make notes and if I want to know more about a statue or a building or a local legend, I'll research them after.