Buongiorno Roma!

24 July 2026 – Finally in Roma, Italia!  – I had originally booked a night at an airport hotel in Rome, but with the cancelled and rebooked flight I missed that.  I will definitely write a letter to both airlines, politely but scathingly worded, about the experience – and hopefully I can be reimbursed for that hotel which was pre booked, prepaid, and they will not refund due to their cancellation fee.  (Ugh.)

I also pre booked a little place in Civitavecchia, the small seaport outside Rome and where out cruise would depart.  I made arrangements with our hostess, Amanda, to get a ride from the airport to her B&B – sometimes convenience is worth the price.

Amanda found me at the airport – not too many 70-something women with brown and pink curls wearing a turquoise batik jacket and black slacks!  Amanda was a sweetheart – she’s from Brazil, a tall and gorgeous former model who married an Italian man, and Civitavecchia is now home.  We conversed in a mixture of English-Italian-Spanish, with tiny bits of Portuguese and French if one of us didn’t know the word in another language that the other one spoke.  Lively and definitely stimulating after so many hours in airports or on flights!

I napped.  I showered.  I washed my two-days old clothing.  And I explored our neighborhood a bit, having a very late lunch or early dinner at a bar.  In Italy, a bar serves anything from beer to wine to mixed drinks, in addition to coffee drinks, pastries, sandwiches, and what North Americans call appetizers (but much of the rest of the world calls entrées, because it’s the small bites before the actual meal – as it preparing to enter a meal).  I had a sandwich and doppio (double) espresso, wandered a bit, and called it an early night.

 

25 July 2026 – Civitavecchia, Italia – This is the ancient seaport outside Rome, and the name literally means Old City.  (It’s pronounced chee-vee-tah-VEH-kee-ah.  Practice it enough and it rolls off the tongue!)

Anyway, Civitavecchia is near Ostia Antica, the ruins of the old Roman seaport from about 600 BCE.  Archaeological evidence shows that the area was inhabited roughly 2000 before that, so the town really is roughly 4000 years old.  Boggles the mind, especially for we North Americans, where buildings go back possibly 200 years and we think that’s ancient.  (We really are a new continent.  Even the Native American/First Nations structures that are still visible are babies compared to European buildings.)

I’ve visited Ostia Antica, but never really had a chance to explore Civitavecchia.  So I set aside Saturday to do that.  Had a delightful Italian breakfast of a cappuccino and a slice of crostata (sort of a slice of jam tart – this was square, not a wedge, and maybe about 4 inches square – so roughly 10 or 12 cm square?).

My destination was the Fortaleza di Michelangelo – the Michelangelo Fort, right at the waterfront.  It was a straight shot down from the main street that crossed the small quiet street our B&B is on – through residential areas, business areas, and several blocks closed to traffic so the cafés could have expanded outdoor table areas.  Possibly a bit over a mile, roughly 1.3 km or so.  The street changed names, but I’m used to that from Bellingham.  I love the final name – Corso Centrocelle – pronounced CORSE-oh chen-troe-CHEH-lay.  No idea what it means other than vaguely the central course or concourse – I’m not sure what the “celle” part means since it sounds like the word “cello,” and that doesn’t seem to fit a street.  But with travel, one just accepts that one usually is somewhat clueless – I’ve learned to be fine with that.

Here’s the website about the Fortaleza Michelangelo:  https://civitavecchia.portmobility.it/en/fort-michelangelo

 

Quick history of the building – there was an ancient Roman fort at this site guarding the harbor.  In the 15^th century, the pope of that time commissioned the building of the current fort.  A number of different architects and sculptors worked on the basic fort, a huge square building with round towers at each corner.  But along one side is a taller tower that is sort of hexagonal or octagonal – hard to tell since only part of it extends beyond the fortress walls.  But this taller tower, the maschio, was designed and built by Michelangelo Buonarotti, and thus the entire fort now bears his name.

The fort is now used for military intelligence or protection or something, mostly likely naval.  Tourists can’t go inside the fort.  But we are able to walk around roughly 85% of the building – one section of the piazza or plaza around the fort is obstructed by an iron fence, but the sidewalk still offers a great view.

So of course I walked around the entire fort, admiring each view of the towers, the decorative blocks of marble, and Michelangelo’s lovely tower.  Occasional blocks of marble looked to be “repurposed” from Roman ruins, with worn carvings.  Or maybe ancient graffiti – the letter A with the cross-bar being a downward pointing V seemed to be popular.  I have no clue what it may mean, nor what era, but it was just interesting to note.

The far side of the fort overlooks the sea, with cooler breezes and splashing waves in addition to the gorgeous turquoise water.  It was a lovely was to spend a half day, just wandering and admiring the skill and ingenuity of Renaissance architects.  Well, plus the genius of Michelangelo.

A quick lunch at one of the cafés with umbrella tables – chicken schnitzel (crumbed and fried) on a roll with tons of salad on top, and on iced coffee.  Then walking back up the long slow hill to our B&B, arriving just as J, my sister-in-law and travel buddy, showed up.  Perfect timing!

We both needed showers, J to wash off that dusty travel feeling, me because central to southern Europe seems to be feeling the effects of climate change more and more each summer.  Decidedly hot and humid!

Eventually, we wandered toward the shore again, down Corso Centrocelle, and had a fabulous dinner at a restaurant recommended by our hostess, Amanda – it’s called “My Lord,” oddly, but is not religious.  J had seared tuna in a crust with a yogurt and pistachio crust.  I had cavatelle pasta (little rolled or folded circles) with fresh tuna and cherry tomatoes.  SO delicious.  Our vouchers from Amanda covered a large bottle of acqua frizzante – sparkling water.  I also had a small tiramisu in a jar.  Perfect dinner!

Claudio at the restaurant knew Amanda, he’s a neighbor – he called a taxi for us, and Octavio (or was it Oratio?) came by with a friend.  They had just finished dinner, were rather tipsy, and were also quite funny as they drove us back to our B&B.

What a full day en Italia!

 

More photos for the people who want to see everything: 

Inauspicious Beginnings

21 July 2026 – I’ve been planning this trip for a while, but neglected to book the train ticket from Bellingham, WA, to Vancouver, BC (Canada).  My flight was scheduled to leave in the afternoon on 22 July, and by the time I went to book the train the time I needed was sold out.  There are only two passenger trains each day in and out of Bellingham.  The later train would not arrive in time for my flight.  Oh well, that meant an afternoon/evening in Vancouver.  I found what looked like an interesting hotel for one night, and all was set.

Hopped on the train, arrived in Vancouver a little late, but no problem.  Found a taxi to my hotel, settled into my room, went to the Chinese restaurant downstairs – again, no problems.  Had dinner later that night, again in the Chinese restaurant – it was a decidedly authentic Chinese restaurant, with some menu items that most North Americans never see (and I personally am fine with that).  Really, I don’t know what was worse, innards or blood or feet.  Not my foods, anyway.

As I was readying for bed about midnight, I thought I’d check for last minute emails.  (Bad idea.)  I’ve learned to build in an extra day or two at the beginning and end of trips because something inevitably goes wrong.  And there it was, in my inbox, an email from the airline – my flight was cancelled.  I was rerouted from Vancouver to Montreal to Rome, but would arrive a day late.  Phone numbers to call, but no email nor way to talk to an agent via text.

Turned out the toll-free number didn’t work on my US phone – I suspect it may be a Canada only toll-free number.  I couldn’t call England on my phone.  This was a British Air flight, though it was a code share with American Airlines.  So I called American, and spent nearly an hour on the phone with an agent.  (Huge sigh of weariness, not relief.)

I managed to get rebooked – Vancouver to O’Hare Chicago, onward to Rome.  But the first flight would leave at 11:59 PM the night I was scheduled to fly, seven hours later than my original flight – and then I’d have a 12 hour layover before the flight to Rome.  That was the best she could do, and she booked me into decent seats.

Emotionally exhausted, I fell asleep.

 

22 to 23 July 2026 – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – I had to check out of my hotel by 11 AM, so what else could I do but head to the airport.  Yes, that meant 12 hours hanging around Vancouver International.  Plus I couldn’t check my luggage until something like 6 PM for that almost-midnight flight.  So I had to stay in the front waiting area for about six hours. 

The agent at American did try to get food vouchers for me, but since it was a British Airways flight that was disrupted (even though it was a code share flight), her machine wouldn’t print food vouchers.  And of course, British Air wouldn’t print food vouchers because I was rebooked on American, even though it was their original flight that they cancelled.  Catch 22 all around.

On the other hand, it could have been worse.  I met two people from Bermuda who had travelled to Vancouver for a cruise to Alaska, then some travel in British Columbia.  They were due to fly out on the previous Saturday, and this was now Wednesday – their flight and rebooked flights kept being cancelled!  So yes, it could have been worse.

My flight from Vancouver to Chicago was fine.  I still had a 12 hour layover in Chicago, but at least they had an American Airlines lounge where I could hang out, get a bite or a hot drink.  Actually, they had a really wonderful Earl Grey tea, so I enjoyed that immensely.  Chatted with Richard on the phone, played on my iPad, and napped a bit. 

And wonder of wonders, my flight to Rome left on time, landed on time, and ecco fatto, there I was in Roma!!!