Rome
The coliseum in all it's grandeur
The coliseum in all it's grandeurThe 14.80 euro train ride to the city of Rome was the last leg of our journey. We reached at almost 12 am to our hostel that was situated by the seaside, called Hostel Lido. Your next question should be - "Since when did Rome have a seaside?" And yes, it does not. It was a 30 minute tube ride away from Rome and Whatever you do, DO NOT STAY OUTSIDE OF ROME if you ever travel there.
That aside.
Rome is a busy city with ruins situated all around and in it. Rather weird to be exactly honest but if they took down the ruins, they would run out of business in tourism pronto.
So the essential things to cover would be:
1. The Coliseum
From the Coliseum we walked past the Palantine and Roman ruins to a Food Market where we planned to have lunch. Only when we reached the Food Market, we realised it was like any other Pasar Pagi in Malaysia which sold fruits, vege and not even Kuih that we could buy.
Tomatoes are pretty I know - but I am hungry and it is not proper FOOD!!
That aside.
Rome is a busy city with ruins situated all around and in it. Rather weird to be exactly honest but if they took down the ruins, they would run out of business in tourism pronto.
So the essential things to cover would be:
1. The Coliseum
From the Coliseum we walked past the Palantine and Roman ruins to a Food Market where we planned to have lunch. Only when we reached the Food Market, we realised it was like any other Pasar Pagi in Malaysia which sold fruits, vege and not even Kuih that we could buy.
Tomatoes are pretty I know - but I am hungry and it is not proper FOOD!!
As Ven Gee and Daniel consulted our next course of action, Wei Lun decided to steal my bag. Spotted by Darren, he failed miserably in his attempt and instead was banned from eating for the rest of the day.
The Pantheon
Met this random guy who was a minister from China or was it South Korea? He gave us his name card. My friends scrambled to be in the picture as you can see and left me out.
But let's not forget our main focus - the Pantheon. That was built in 19-- and has 16 pillars on the outside. On the inside, it has a hole on its dome, built to let in natural sun rays and 28 holes punched into the ground to drain water away when it rains. That is about as much as I can remember about it.
The altar in the Pantheon. All lighting is natural from above.
As Ven Gee and Victoria disappeared to goodness-knows-where (AGAIN), we took advantage of the lighting to make up for the album-cover-quality shots that were lost in my camera.
After lunch we made a start towards the Pantheon but on the way stopped by Piazza Nationale.
One thing about European countries, not only are there churches everywhere, but fountains too
If you look behind Ven Gee.. do you see Angelina Jolie??
Street artists selling their wares
2. The PantheonWe passed by an artist fair and man, some of them ARE GOOD.
If you look behind Ven Gee.. do you see Angelina Jolie??
Street artists selling their wares
The Pantheon
Met this random guy who was a minister from China or was it South Korea? He gave us his name card. My friends scrambled to be in the picture as you can see and left me out.But let's not forget our main focus - the Pantheon. That was built in 19-- and has 16 pillars on the outside. On the inside, it has a hole on its dome, built to let in natural sun rays and 28 holes punched into the ground to drain water away when it rains. That is about as much as I can remember about it.
The altar in the Pantheon. All lighting is natural from above.As Ven Gee and Victoria disappeared to goodness-knows-where (AGAIN), we took advantage of the lighting to make up for the album-cover-quality shots that were lost in my camera.
When the 2 lovebirds finally resurfaced, we went on to try:
3. Italian Coffee
In a place called Sant Eustachio, Italy's oldest coffee parlour, Daniel and I tried it's trademark coffee called.. em.. Cafe Grande, which was a shot of expresso and sugar stirred into almost a paste like consistency. Sweet. Slurps.
4. Fontana De Trevi
Breathtakingly beautiful. Except for the massive crowds which dropped its appeal down by a notch.
Throwing coins into the fountain. 1st time - ensures your return to Rome. 2nd time - you will fall in love with a Roman. 3rd time - well I am not too sure anymore. However, I have reached the 2nd step, I threw a coin into the fountain about 10 years ago on my first trip to Italy.
This is what alcohol does to you.
3. Italian Coffee
In a place called Sant Eustachio, Italy's oldest coffee parlour, Daniel and I tried it's trademark coffee called.. em.. Cafe Grande, which was a shot of expresso and sugar stirred into almost a paste like consistency. Sweet. Slurps.The next day, we went off to Camilloni A. S.Eustachio, a cafe just around the corner for Sant Eustachio.
House Coffee this time..
4. Fontana De Trevi
Breathtakingly beautiful. Except for the massive crowds which dropped its appeal down by a notch.
Throwing coins into the fountain. 1st time - ensures your return to Rome. 2nd time - you will fall in love with a Roman. 3rd time - well I am not too sure anymore. However, I have reached the 2nd step, I threw a coin into the fountain about 10 years ago on my first trip to Italy.Dinner was at Al Picchio, a restaurant that seemed more like a cafeteria. However, the food was fairly priced and it was near the Fountain. Between Daniel, Darren and I, we finished 1 litre of wine that drove us over to the 'tipsy state' that caused Ven Gee, Wei Lun and Victoria to ditch us. Friends indeed..
This is what alcohol does to you.The best part was Darren tried to get a blonde girl to take a photo with him (Daniel as photographer) outside the restaurant toilet only to be given a resounding 'No' and 'You Must Be Kidding Me' answer. Luckily by then I had already escaped down the stairs only to have both boys running out almost immediately after, yelling 'RUN! WE'VE GOTTA GO!!!'
my 6th gelati:
At San Crispino. The best in my trip! Honey flavour and banana flavour. Honey flavour absolutely rocks.
5. The Palantine and Roman Ruins
Spent about 2 hours just wondering among the ruins and taking pictures. The weather was good, the place was good, aah...
Looks small but the building behind is HUGE.
Ven Gee showing how flexible he is in getting the best angle possible
Towards the end of the day, when Ven Gee gets a bit frisky.
Which is really nothing but steps. Loads of designer shops around though.
my 6th gelati:
At San Crispino. The best in my trip! Honey flavour and banana flavour. Honey flavour absolutely rocks.
5. The Palantine and Roman Ruins
Spent about 2 hours just wondering among the ruins and taking pictures. The weather was good, the place was good, aah...
Looks small but the building behind is HUGE.
Ven Gee showing how flexible he is in getting the best angle possible
Towards the end of the day, when Ven Gee gets a bit frisky.6. The Spanish Steps
Which is really nothing but steps. Loads of designer shops around though.Victoria and I had this really pretty dessert:
It was a cheese strudel. 6 euros. YUM
We then went to a church near the Trevi Fountain which was filled with human bones. Bones covered the ceiling, the walls, everywhere. I did not know that human bones could be arranged so prettily - it was a mosaic of patterns everywhere. True to our medical studies, we had a rather intellectual time discussing the different bones in the body and we also threw in a Find Me This Bone quiz. Hey, we are medical students after all. And you'd better be nice to me, one day I'll be your doctor. Them lovely bones leaves you with a phrase though: "What you are now we once were, what we are now you will be."
Returned to the San Crispino again for my 7th gelati! Took the Honey flavour (can't get enough of it) and tried Meringue and Chocolate flavour too. Absolutely heavenly.
While walking down the shopping streets of Rome, we chanced upon this street artist. She spray painted the entire picture under 5 minutes, and her performance always ends with a round of applause from the crowd. They are sold for 10 euros per piece. Makes me wonder why I am paying RM 1 mil to study in university when I can just sit by the road side, Wow people with my fantastic talent and earn loads of tax free cash.
7. Don't know what it is called
It is the fortune teller thing you find in shopping malls across Malaysia. So now I know.. the real one is in Rome. and it is barricaded off and certainly does not tell any fortunes at all. I've been cheated my whole life. Not that I have used the fake ones in 1U before BUT...
8. Villa Borghese
A large garden. Situated north of Rome. Pretty indeed. We then decided to rent the 3 seater bike. It was fun. Truly relaxing and enjoyable. That is until we found out that it was extremely difficult trying to cycle up a small incline. Despite 2 people pedalling with all our weight. However, the landscape remained pretty. Until we decided to make a final turn downhill before returning the bike. And found ourselves at the metro station entrance. Which is way, way off from where the garden is. Then things weren't as pretty. We had to push the bike uphill as we cannot, even with all our weights combined, cycle up the slope. And things got uglier as Victoria dropped her shades and it got run over by a car.
Mm. Not pretty at all. But, we survived. And the garden, not us with our sweaty faces, remained as pretty as before.
my 8th and final gelati of the trip!
Of Melon, Tiramisu, and Mango flavour
Absolutely worth it.
You cannot go your own way and pace, the crowd moves as ONE. So do you. We entered countless rooms decked with paintings and drapes etc that were magnificent!! The end of the museum is the Sistine Chapel where Michaelangelo's painting "The Last Judgment" stands. I totally recommend the Vatican Museum after the Louvre in Paris.
The outside of the Vatican
Returned to the San Crispino again for my 7th gelati! Took the Honey flavour (can't get enough of it) and tried Meringue and Chocolate flavour too. Absolutely heavenly.
While walking down the shopping streets of Rome, we chanced upon this street artist. She spray painted the entire picture under 5 minutes, and her performance always ends with a round of applause from the crowd. They are sold for 10 euros per piece. Makes me wonder why I am paying RM 1 mil to study in university when I can just sit by the road side, Wow people with my fantastic talent and earn loads of tax free cash.
7. Don't know what it is called
It is the fortune teller thing you find in shopping malls across Malaysia. So now I know.. the real one is in Rome. and it is barricaded off and certainly does not tell any fortunes at all. I've been cheated my whole life. Not that I have used the fake ones in 1U before BUT...8. Villa Borghese
A large garden. Situated north of Rome. Pretty indeed. We then decided to rent the 3 seater bike. It was fun. Truly relaxing and enjoyable. That is until we found out that it was extremely difficult trying to cycle up a small incline. Despite 2 people pedalling with all our weight. However, the landscape remained pretty. Until we decided to make a final turn downhill before returning the bike. And found ourselves at the metro station entrance. Which is way, way off from where the garden is. Then things weren't as pretty. We had to push the bike uphill as we cannot, even with all our weights combined, cycle up the slope. And things got uglier as Victoria dropped her shades and it got run over by a car.Mm. Not pretty at all. But, we survived. And the garden, not us with our sweaty faces, remained as pretty as before.
my 8th and final gelati of the trip!
Of Melon, Tiramisu, and Mango flavourVatican
Plan to miss the mile long queues in theVatican : Wake up at 7 am, be out by 8 am and be there by 9 am.
7 am worked, 8 am worked but things stopped working just about there. The bus was late, the train was late and we met an American student who was travelling to the Vatican too and claimed that she knew the way by bus. The latter should be just about better news, as our original plan was to take the metro to San Pietro and find our way from there. But since said American girl mentioned that someone told her the fastest and best way is by bus, us being the submissive Asian followed her to the bus stop. Only to discover she was about as clueless as we were on which bus to take. Upon boarding the bus, we realised that we were going the wrong way a few stops too late, and when we finally reached the Vatican it was 11 am.
So we queued for about 40 minutes in line to enter the Dome only to find out that the Vatican Museum closes at 1.30 pm. Left the line and made our way to the Vatican Museum instead where we stood for 2 hours (I HATE Qs!!!) until we were finally permitted entry.
7 am worked, 8 am worked but things stopped working just about there. The bus was late, the train was late and we met an American student who was travelling to the Vatican too and claimed that she knew the way by bus. The latter should be just about better news, as our original plan was to take the metro to San Pietro and find our way from there. But since said American girl mentioned that someone told her the fastest and best way is by bus, us being the submissive Asian followed her to the bus stop. Only to discover she was about as clueless as we were on which bus to take. Upon boarding the bus, we realised that we were going the wrong way a few stops too late, and when we finally reached the Vatican it was 11 am.
So we queued for about 40 minutes in line to enter the Dome only to find out that the Vatican Museum closes at 1.30 pm. Left the line and made our way to the Vatican Museum instead where we stood for 2 hours (I HATE Qs!!!) until we were finally permitted entry.
Absolutely worth it.
You cannot go your own way and pace, the crowd moves as ONE. So do you. We entered countless rooms decked with paintings and drapes etc that were magnificent!! The end of the museum is the Sistine Chapel where Michaelangelo's painting "The Last Judgment" stands. I totally recommend the Vatican Museum after the Louvre in Paris.Back to the queue to enter the Vatican Dome. The inside was covered in gold. Lots of gold. We even made it for the 5 pm mass.
The inside of the Vatican Dome
The outside of the Vatican
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