One day in Rome

I've meant to start on our trip's updates yesterday but while I was sorting out the photos, I was reminded there's a wedding we were supposed to go, which I have completely forgotten.

Anyway, here I am and here goes...

One day in Rome.
I called it one day although technically we should have about 1.5.
Why?
First, the flight delay from Dubai to Rome because of the faulty toilets.
Then the waiting of his luggage.
There were simply too many black Samsonites but thanks to the stickers (which unfortunately fell off one by one throughout the 2 weeks. I'm sorry cuties, we will get you new stickers), we didn't get the wrong one. But still, it was quite a wait.
Then the cab ride to the hotel took another 30mins or less and 60 euro!
Cab driver wasn't good with his English but he told us beforehand he's not going to turn into the small lane where our hotel is.

After some searching (which we would have minimised if not for the smart alec who refused to believe me) and a kind soul who directed us, we finally reached the hotel at about 4pm, local time.

I was feeling really sick then.
Yes, on the 1st day!
Lesson learnt: have a good rest before a long trip and a long haul flight.
Remember my intense days before the trip? Research, packing, work thus the lack of sleep...
Very bad.
Not being able to sleep well in the plane added on to it.
I felt like crap when we reached and was puking throughout dinner although I had nothing left inside me.
So, the so-called day 1 was wasted by me sleeping it away and zero photos taken.
Fortunately, day 2 was much better...



This is the hotel we stayed.
Relais Palazzo Taverna
180 euro nett per room per night with breakfast and taxes included.
It's walking distance to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountatin, Spanish Steps and eventually Colosseum.
We walked everywhere, from morning to night.
Well done us and thanks to the good location of the hotel!
Like most hotels in Europe, there's no lift so be prepared for some workout.
I cannot imagine if I was travelling with my gfs...


The room is kinda small and I didn't feel quite safe that the bed faces the door directly so I had Mr. Grumpy put the chair against the door when we went to bed. He used my luggage instead.... Very smart.


The tiny but clean bathroom.


Breakfast in bed.


After breakfast, we started walking...

1st stop: Trevi Fountain

Before this, we actually came across the Pantheon but didn't realise so.

I only found out from a school mate who was there recently and posted a photo of the Pantheon on fb. I remember seeing that and luckily Mr. Grumpy snapped a photo.

I know, losers us!

2nd stop: Spanish Steps

Lunch.

It looks more like breakfast but costs a few times more than our regular sandwiches.

You just gotta ignore the prices a little and eat!

Shopping! I took this picture because it looks exactly the same as the one on pg 81 of the guidebook Kaijo bought us. Prada didn't happen here.

Before I was there, I didn't think Rome is a shopping place but I was surprised.

Saw a lot of trendy people, shops and I managed to get 2 items from Zara which are cheaper as compared to Sg's. The same pants costs S$20+ lesser. I love good bargains.

After lunch and shopping, we found our way to the Colosseum.

I have booked tickets in Sg prior so it saved us lots of time queuing when we were there.

But we also found out at the hotel that there are tours led by students which will cover Vatican in the morning and Colosseum in the afternoon.

We would have gone for that if we didn't purchase advanced tickets to the Colosseum.

And those tours seem better because they are guided and you only need to tip the students. If you feel cheapskate and want to save, that can be a way.

We had to skip Vatican unfortunately and eventually because we didn't want to rush. Next time perhaps.

On the way to Colosseum...

You see this from postcards, on TV and everywhere when people talk about Rome and the real thing isn't significantly more spectacular, ha.

Maybe it's just me.

I would say skip the tour if you don't have enough time or if you are not that interested in such stuff. But if you really do want to go in and are the sort who simply cannot waste a second of your life waiting, get advanced tickets. Otherwise, the queue is crazy and even if you join those 'instant tours', the wait is only minimised.

The tour continued after Colosseum because it covered us more than that...

More sight-seeing, more historical ruins before we called it a day.

It got a little chilly and the day was short so dark sky falls upon pretty early.

A guided tour is definitely better because other than the Colosseum, I don't remember what are the rest that I've seen. And I certainly don't know much about the history or story of those stuff I saw. See, it's rude to call them stuff but this is what happens. Although I can always goggle it, it's not the same as someone telling you isn't it? Plus, if the someone is a eye-candy, betcha gonna remember what he/she said for a longer time.. :)

Anyway, after a day of walking and braving the cold weather, I was so tired and cold that I started whinning about taking a cab back to hotel instead of walking. Very silly and Rome is not exactly the place you want to cab.. Thanks to the break for dinner. It helped a lot and we continued our walk...

Dinner. This pizza wasn't what I expected because usually the toppings would blend in nicely right? But these were clearly separated. It definitely tastes better than it looks.

As cold as it was and as full as we were, we couldn't resist gelato.

We were in Italy for goodness sake.

The shop people were very friendly and chirpy and one of them is a Chinese.

This was taken at the main street which is only a few minutes walk to our hotel.

2nd day was really brief.

Breakfast for a good start to the day.

And due to someone's dilly dallying, we were rushing like mad for our train to Venice.

Always give yourself ample time!

It was a 3+, close to 4hrs train ride. Can't blame me for doing silly things...

We like Rome.

Although we've heard scary stuff about pickpockets and have been warned about their "patterns", we never once came close to any sleazy or suspicious character in Rome.

Perhaps we were lucky or perhaps we didn't appear easy targets - my bag was always slinged, resting in front of me and wallet in a zipped mini bag in the bigger bag (double protection). We also didn't ask anyone to take pictures for us (better to be safe than sorry). But what do we know? We were only there for technically a day, ha.

Damage done: 60 euro on transport, around 100 on food and probably another 100 on shopping. I would say it isn't that expensive, in Europe's context of course and we didn't deliberately stinge. So, you would have spent less if you are on a budget or more if you want to splurge.

Go experience Rome and see how you feel.

I certainly would like to return.