Europe Day 13 - Vatican City

Thursday, 21 August, 2008

My.. I think I'll never Ever finish my europe posts. Ever.

beginner's guide to pasta. I was feeling poor so I ordered a lousy cold overpriced normal sandwich for brunch. Can't skimp on the cappucino though.

On our way to the Vatican City. We were trying to take the subway but it was closed due to some accident.. Some guy jumped onto the tracks? So we had to take a bus instead. It was crowded on the bus. We reached the Vatican Museums which houses the Sistine Chapel. It's good to reach here in the afternoon after all the tour buses have arrived, to skip the crazy queues (2 hour wait!) So it was about 1pm which means that we woke up pretty late today. Showed our student passes to get a huge discount on the tickets.

this looks like one of the mosaics from pompeii



boot shaped italy

wherever you go, you just keep seeing these irritating signs which point you in the direction of the Sistine Chapel as though they were in the next room, but it felt as though we would never reach it!

dali

and here we are.. see the Creation of Adam? I used to think that it stretched across the whole ceiling.. I imagined it to be that huge so I was a lil disappointed. However the ceiling was pretty magnificent.

ok, enlarged it for your viewing pleasure


I'd been waiting to do this! The Vatican City is a city state which has it's own postal system! It's also the smallest country in the world. So, we had to send a postcard home from here.





these are walls of Vatican City. Usually, in the morning, there are long queues along these walls.


filling our water bottle

St Peter's Basilica, which we didn't go in because it was so hot, we were tired and there were long queues. We later found out that it was free so we really should have gone in to have a look. darn. I was particularly interested in visiting the crypts which erm, store previous Popes. Especially Pope John XXIII who is well preserved in a glass coffin.

So with a couple of photos of St Peter's Square, we were ready to leave Vatican City.

Europe Day 13 - Rome

Thursday, 21 August, 2008

After the Vatican City, we walked towards the city of Rome. We walked past the Castel Sant'Angelo and took some photos on the Bridge of Angels.

The Bridge of Angels over the Tiber River. An interesting legend about the river can be found here: "

The Splendour of the Chigi Family
While strolling along the Lungotevere avenues you may notice a strange glimmer on the surface of the river. There is in fact a rather humorous story regarding the dining habits of Agostino Chigi, the famous Renaissance banker. In order to keep up his reputation as the richest man in the world, he used to offer lavish dinner parties to high ranking guests in a loggia overlooking the Tiber. At the end of the meal, he ordered his servants to throw the silver cutlery and dishes used by the guests into the river! Obviously nobody knew about the deal the banker had made with the monks from a neighbouring convent who, in exchange for alms, spread nets beneath the surface of the water and each night returned the silverware to the shrewd banker. "

bought some turkish fare from a little provision shop...


and enjoyed it at the steps of this church


tak glam

Rome is a popular spot for movies and we often see these trucks around. Right now, we're walking along the Tiber River and trying to get to Travestere. This is supposed to be a more charming and real (less touristy) area with good eateries, but also more prone to crime.

Found many of these bugs on me while walking along the river. Eew.

Anyways. Travestere was pretty quiet, there weren't many people around and we didn't feel safe so we left. Took a cab right back to the Despar supermercato near our hotel. It was thankfully not that expensive to take a cab.

Back at our apartments to wash up

Refreshed, we took a slow walk around the city of Rome and somehow landed at the Trevi Fountain again. Had a gelato, and a couple of beers at a cafe near the fountain and just talked, for a while.

Europe Day 12 - Rome

Thursday, 21 August, 2008

Today's plan was, a leisurely drive from Florence to Rome, through the hills of tuscany, stop at a vineyard or two along the way. Note the use of the word 'was'...

We tried, but unfortunately there were some factory outlets at The Mall at Leccio, kinda on the way.


look at all the fabulous brands

And before you think that this was my idea of a dream holiday.. Hmm nope. Not if there isn't enough time for me to explore Tuscany. So it wasn't exactly my choice. Anyways it's also cos these brands are way too high end for me. Cannot afford, sian. Actually the Gucci was super cheap but also damn ugly. Tods, Burberrys had nice stuff but no money. Total waste of time.

pb did manage to get some emil____ zegna shirts.

Roma, or Firenze?

Sadly.. there was too much time spent shopping and waiting that we didn't get to drive through the scenic Tuscan roads. I have no respect for people who make other people wait during holidays. Especially when they did not plan a single thing. Ok, you can see that I'm very bitter about this. Enough ranting.

We tried to veer off the highways a little and found this restaurant in time for lunch.

Sneaked into the kitchen to spy on the chef


view from their balcony

Right after lunch we had to go back to the highway cos there wasn't much time left. Suddenly there were many cyclists on the roads near the restaurant. It looked like a competition and we were amazed that the roads weren't cordoned off for the occasion. So here we are, driving with many cyclists around us.

And... tada! Rome!

We are super fascinated about this water fountain down the road from our apartments and proceeded to drink lots of refreshingly cool water from it. In Rome, there are many of these drinkable water fountains so you don't have to buy mineral water! Just have to refill from these whenever you see them.

The water is pumped via the ancient Roman aqueducts which are an engineering marvel. I don't understand why they can leave it running 24/7 though, really wish there was a tap somewhere to turn it off.

Our place, Daisy Apartments, is another fantastic place to stay in Rome. It's run by Hotel Cecil (which is a lot more expensive to stay in). So we had to check in at the actual hotel but walk a few steps to reach the apartments located in a ulu looking alley. There was no proper lobby or reception, but the rooms were really nice, spacious and even had a little stove for you to cook. Most importantly, the location was superb. Just steps away from the Spanish Steps. And all other (impt) parts of Rome are walkable!

Spanish Steps



Saw some people filling their bottles from this fountain. But er, I don't think so.


greedy pb saw some gao3 lak4. Few euros for lousy tasting chestnut. *rolls eyes*


interesting display in LV shop



Took a nice stroll and eventually reached the Trevi Fountain from it's side. Hordes of people!


Throw a coin over your shoulder into the Fontana Di Trevi, and you'll find yourself in Rome again some day.



Best gelato in Rome. We couldn't stand the queue and didn't try it though. Aiyah how good could it be, right?