Roma [Rome], Latium (Italy)

With plans already a day behind, Gerald and I went down the stern at 0500 to try to get on the first boat ashore. It didn't look good at first, but the Admiral's barge was doing a test run and they let us get on! We were pretty lucky, since I heard later that the boating was secured again... Then I really blew it, though. Nicky told me to meet her at "the hotel we stayed in last time" and I started over to the train station with Gerald because that's where I thought we had stayed.  When we got there, though, it was not the right hotel. The only thing that eventually helped me was that I remembered that Nicky had stayed at a place right next to the pier (Hotel Gran Duca).  Yes, that's the one where she was staying. Gerald was a good sport and didn't kill me, but it was about a mile, round trip, with bags... We met Nicky and Angie at the correct hotel and then walked all the way back to the train station (another half mile). Needless to say, I was quite frustrated by all the confusion and extra walking... By this point, Nicky was afraid to tell me, but she admitted that she had "messed up" our Eurorail passes - or, to be more accurate, mine. From the Livorno Centrale Station, we got on the train to Roma Termini and hoped that we could make it there without encountering a conductor. Once in Rome, I had to visit a ticket booth at the main train station and listen to a little Italian man yell at me for about half an hour. "You are a very stupid man!" he kept saying.  Nicky had signed my ticket and he didn't want to fix the problem (i.e. replace it with a new ticket). Eventually, I said I was sorry for being an idiot enough times that he gave me what I wanted. We struggled with our bags over to the Hotel Alimandi (near the Vatican) where Gerald and Angie had already checked in. Late dinner - just enough time to explore tomorrow before we take another train south...