Our flight to Rome (QR81) left Doha at 0001hrs and reached Rome Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci Airport) at 0410hrs. The journey took 6hrs 9mins.
We are in ITALY. Cannot wait to get out there.
We collected our baggage but to our horror, the backstrap of my haversack had broken. That was the first obstacle that we faced and we have not even started on our month long trip yet. How are we going to continue for the rest of the month with a broken strap. We left immigration and went to the arrival hall. Had to dig out the sewing kit and try to salvage the bag. It sure was a letdown at the start of our trip. Our supply of thread was running low as we had not planned for such a thing to happen. Thank God, a saviour came our way. Sitting opposite us was a nun who was knitting. She kindly offered us a roll of thread that really saved us. We were very grateful to her. After securing the strap, we thanked the nun and made our way to the train station. It was raining.
When we reached the train station, we rushed to buy the train tickets that would bring us to the city. Each ticket cost E9.50. But to our disappointment, we had missed the first train (0637hrs) out to the city. Darren did something unimaginable, he had tried to run for the train! We had to wait for the next train which would only leave at 0707hrs. There was a convenient store at the train station and we realize that things were very expensive in Europe.
The train had finally arrived. The train journey took about 30mins to reach the city. The landscape outside looked abit like Malaysia.
0737hrs
We are in ROME. We had reached Rome’s Termini Train Station. We got our bearings and made our way to our hotel. We had booked Hotel Principe di Pienonte from Wotif. From the map, the hotel seemed to be quite close to the train station. The walk to the hotel was a LONG one and the rain had made the walk even longer. Boy…my haversack was heavy. I did not dare to make unwanted movements in case the strap broke again. I could not walk anymore and Darren seeing that I had difficulties with my bad had offered to carry my big backpack. Was very grateful for the kind gesture. Thought that I would not make it to the hotel. I was left with the two smaller backpacks. It was really difficult for Darren to be carrying two large backpacks. Thanks, Darling. We made it to the hotel. The hotel was about 1km from the train station.
We reached the hotel at 0830hrs but could only check-in at 1330hrs. We left our bags at the hotel, freshen up and ate some bread with bak kwa and set off.
St Peter in Chains Church was our first destination. We walked a pretty long walk to get there. We even had to climb a very long flight of stairs.
St Peter in Chains Church - Free
- built in the fifth century to house the chains that held St Peter
- famous for Michelangelo statue
We headed for the Colosseum next to meet the Gladiators. We bought our first souvenir – a magnet (E5) with the image of the Colosseum which now sits in my kitchen.
Colosseum – E20 per pax
- built in AD 80
- exterior made up of Greek columns. Bottom – Doric, Middle – Ionic, Top – Corinthian
- Only one third of the original is left, the rest were destroyed by earthquakes.
- Floor is missing so the area where animals were kept before being brought up to attack the Gladiators can be seen.
We strolled over to the Roman Forum after exploring the Colosseum.
Roman Forum (Foro Romano) – Free
- political, religious and commercial centre of Rome
- Arch of Titus (Arco de Tito) – commemorated for Roman’s victory over Israel in AD70. Built by 50 000 Jewish slaves
- Basilica of Constantine (aka Basilica Maxentius)
- The Forum’s main square
- The Temple of Julius Caesar (Tempiodel Divo Giulio or Ara di Cesare) – Caesar’s body was burned here after his assassination
- Temple of Antoninus Pius & Faustina
- Roman Hall of Justice (Basilica Aemilia)
- Caliguls’s Palace
- Temple of Vesta – Rome’s most sacred spot
- House of the Vestal Virgins
- Senate House (The Curia) – Rome’s official centre of Government
- Rostrum (Rostri) – Speakers’ Corner
- Arch of Septimius Severus
- Temple of Saturn – Forum’s oldest church
- Column of Phocas – Forum’s last monument
We walked through the Roman Forum and reached Capitol Hill and Victor Emmanuel Monument.
Capitol Hill (Campidoglio)
- hill was religious and political centre of Ancient Rome
- still home of city’s government
We saw people eating hot chestnuts. Just the right food for such cold weather. GOSH! E5 for 200grams of chestnuts. Ridiculous!!! We took a short rest and sat down. We saw a white bird with a sharp beak with webbed feet which can fly. It is a very naughty bird which disturbed pigeons.
We walked along Via Corso towards Trevi Fountain. We could not resist the food temptation and bought a hot slice of pizza (E1.80) along the way. Did not even realize how hungry we were. Finally found our way to Trevi Fountain. We threw coins into the fountain over our shoulders to ensure that we would return to Rome one day. We bought a gelato (E1.60) to eat. Crazy people eating ice-cream in winter!!!
We walked to CTS to buy train tickets (E148.98) for the rest of our journey. The guy over the counter was not too friendly. We walked to the bus stop to take the bus back to our hotel. The guy at CTS told us to take Bus 70 (E1 per person) but it dropped us near Termini Station. Dread the long walk back to our hotel so we took Bus 105 back to the hotel.
Checked into the hotel and had soup with bread for dinner. Knocked out at 1900hrs.
No comments:
Post a Comment