April 25, 2018 - Civitavecchia, Italy

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We’re on board the Seabourn Quest on a lovely afternoon.  There are five ships in port today and we are the little one, or as the Italians would say the “piccola nave.”

Our cabin isn’t ready yet and after lunch we decided to come down and sit outside Seabourn Square on the aft veranda.  As I look out I see the new world’s largest cruise ship, the Symphony of the Seas which carries about 6500 passengers. To put it into perspective our ship can carry 450!

We had an uneventful drive from the hotel this morning with our driver Fabrizio.  Today is an Italian holiday – Liberation Day, commemorating the liberation from the Nazis in World War II.  There are many holidays here; apparently there’s another one coming in just a few days.  Most of the traffic was people on their way to the beaches near Rome.

Since there isn’t much else to write about for the moment I thought I’d say something about the Villa Spalletti Trivelli, the place we stayed.  The hotel occupies a prime piece of land next to a little park across the street from the Presidential Palace.  It seems that the original owner, widow of an earlier Count Spalletti Trivelli, was a niece of Carolina Buonaparte, Napoleon ‘s sister (yes, that Napoleon who conquered most of Europe).  I suspect that her family connection in the early 19^th century helped her to be able to buy this land and then build the palazzo.  Countess Rasponi (the lady was noble in her own right) evidently traveled in elite circles and every Thursday afternoon her home was a gathering place for important politicians, artists, poets and writers.  The house stayed in the family to the present. In 2004 the current count and his wife decided to convert the house into a boutique hotel.  The restoration took three years to complete and now it is the lovely little place which is really an oasis in the very center of Rome.

I took a few photos of the public rooms on the first floor to give you an idea of the beauty of the palazzo and so that I can remember it in the years to come.  It’s still lovely but it must have been quite something to see back in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

The parlor

The library

The afternoon serve yourself bar is set up here

We've settled into our cabin, unpacked, had the muster drill and now we're waiting to sail.  I took a few photos of our home away from home for the next 22 days.

Dining area

Living area

Bathroom

Conservatory