Civitavecchia for Tarquinia, Italy

Day 43 - Civitavecchia for Tarquinia, Italy

Since we had spent a week in Rome a few years ago we decided to go on an adventure to Tarquinia off the beaten path. We took off with Ros and Arnold on a local bus to Tarquinia, it was an experience in its self (See Ros's Blog). Tarquinia is a quaint village with many examples of the Etruscan and Medieval era. Just outside of the medieval walls is the Etruscan Necropolis with tombs from around 500 BC. It is amazing to see the tombs. The archeologists have built shelters over the tombs to protect them from the elements. So you enter a doorway and climb down stairs to see the tombs behind glass with fresco painting on the wall. There are hundreds of these tombs in the area. They are still excavating, they have preserved around 40 of them so far. When we went back to the village, we went to the Museo di Tarquinia which is in a Medieval Palace. There were many artifacts from the tombs, the surrounding areas and artifacts from the medieval era. There were many elaborately carved tombs, pottery and jewelry from the Necropolis. After touring the Museum and Necropolis we went in search of a pizzeria. We found a wonderful place and again indulged in Caprese and Pizza. There is only one country in the world to get Caprese, the mozzarella is the best so fresh. They we took a leisurely stroll around the village and headed back to the bus. We caught the bus for a quick and uneventful trip back to Civitavecchia. Strolled around Civitavecchia and had a gelato before heading back to the ship. Next Port Livorno for Florence, Italy and our last chance for Caprese.