4/30/09: Day 187: Civitevecchia, Italy

We have to do a boat drill once a month, which is better than most who do it weekly. Our participation is minimal because we have no real responsibility other than that of a passenger…get to where you would load onto a life boat. Well, it was scheduled for today.

If you want to see Rome while in CV you have to leave pretty much right when we dock at 7:00am. It can take a maximum of 2 hours to get to Rome via train (so, on a bad day) which lops 4 hours off your day right there. This gives you from 9:00am-2or3:00pm to see Rome. The safety drill was at 10:00am. Rome=out of the question.

Deanna checked things out a few days ago when we heard we’d have the drill and found a city called Tarquinia that was nearby. The whole cast went on this adventure! It helped that we all had to get up for the drill.

It was a short train and a E.60 bus to get to an old walled city. Another bonus is that everyone is getting ready for some national holiday that happens on May 1st so there were a lot of tents selling stuff. Like Saturday Market in Portland, but less “hippy.”

We walked around. There was a SPECTACULAR view at the top of the city wall. The sky was blue and sunny with huge, billowy clouds in the distance. We didn’t take any time for breakfast on the ship so I was starting to get hangry. That is a term I got from Katie Rich. It’s when you’re so hungry you get angry. Deanna and I ate at the top of the hill by the wall…this was a debacle.

The café had these sandwiches that were basically a fried chicken breast in a baguette. All that Rosetta Stone Italian failed me I said “pollo?” and pointed, but I said it in spanish like po-yo. She grabbed a chicken salad sandwich. I said “no” and pointed to the back row where the chicken sandwiches were. She grabbed a different one from the front. This went on a bit. Once I finally got her to grab the sandwich I wanted she also grabbed a salami sandwich. I couldn’t figure out how to tell her I only wanted the chicken sandwich. We were both frustrated in the end, but left on a good note when she asked if I wanted mayo and I only had to say “si.”

As we walked outside to sit we noticed the front of the café. It said “coffee time,” “sandwiches” and two other things I forget. And I’m not translating. All in English.

After much walking and nearing our 3:45 meet time Deanna and I stopped for sit down lunch. We ordered pizza…she ordered wine. She also learned she only needs a glass of it and not half a liter. How? While at the bus stop waiting she went of to use the restroom. On her way she tripped hard on this big black metal frame that looked like it used to hold a closet door sized piece of glass, but now was just an empty piece of the bus stop. She slammed both ankles into it, fell onto her hands, and somehow hit the top of her head too. Wine.

What we do tomorrow will depend on how sore Deanna is. Pisa? Florence? Lucca? Livorno? Possibilities!