Sunday, May 9, 2010

Italy (Roma)

Roma, perhaps the best city in Italy for some people but not for me. I love Venice more.
From Pisa to Firenze, I had already wasted lots of time. I had no choice unless to arrive in Roma in luxurious syle, by Frecciarossa Trenitalia, currently the fastest train in Italy. That was the most expensive train ticket I had ever bought. 47 Euro for a single journey from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Roma Termini. Once again I decided to declare a war towards my stomach. Sorry...

Frecciargento (left) and Frecciarossa.

My accomodation in Roma was Happy Days hostel. Just like its name, everybody in that hostel seemed to be very happy everyday. Sounded like crazy but it was true. When everybody was happy, I was happy too. The workers there were really friendly until it was hard for me to differentiate between the workers and the guests. Haish!
Every night was a 'Friday night'. Luckily God gave me tiredness, so I slept rather than joining them and clubbing until 4 in the morning. Here, I met two Malaysian Chinese, Jia Wei and Xu Shen. Jia Wei is currently studying in Sweden and Xu Shen is in Poland. Both of them are from National University of Singapore, one of the world's best universities. I did get some tips from them on the best way to travel in Roma.
I also met a girl from Uruguay. She and her 8 friends were my roommates in the hostel. I wasn't sure why I was meant to be in that room. Maybe God wanted to test my Iman. All of them are girls and they also treated me as if we already know each other before. One night, something unexpected happened.
A girl was walking from the toilet into the room where I was staying, wearing just a towel. She took her clothes from a bag.


Me: Are you going to change?
Girl:
Yes, why?
Me:
I'm going outside so you'll feel more comfortable.
Girl:
No, no. Don't trouble yourself. Just stay here. I don't mind.
Me:
(Gulp...)


Guess what I did....I left the room and missed the precious opportunity. Hahaha. Don't know why I transformed to be a very good boy at that time.
The next morning, I walked to Vatican City. It was 10 minutes walking from my hostel. I was there at 6 am since Xu Shen reminded me to be early if I really want to visit Vatican City, or else I'm going to finish my time queueing.
Since I have no interest towards museum, I just entered St. Peter's Basilica. It was a very huge one. Few Swiss Guards could be seen around the Vatican City area. There was no fee to enter this basilica but you're bag need to be checked for security reasons. There was also Pope's body stored in a glass. For me, it looked spooky.

St. Peter's Basilica from St. Peter's Square.

I spent just an hour in Vatican City. From there, I walked down towards the Colosseum, the most famous structure in Roma. A not to be missed one. During my journey, I stopped a while at Pantheon.

Pantheon

I reached Colosseum after an hour walking. This one was the main attraction, so I had to queue and waited for my turn to purchase a ticket. It was 12 Euro for a ticket and it can be used to enter Colosseum, Mostra, Palatino and Foro (what the heck was this?). If I'm not mistaken, Palatino is Palatine Hill, where legend tells that Romulus traced the first outline of the city. Foro Romano is where you can see ruins of Romans empire. Too many facts in Roma. Sometimes it made me sick.

Foro Romano


In the Colosseum.

Me outside the Colloseum.


What they have in Palatine Hill.


A view from Palatine Hill.

After finish visiting the 3 places, I went to a stall outside Palatine Hill to buy a RedBull energy drink. I thought it was sold at normal price but it wasn't. It was 4 Euros per can. What the heck?
Never mind. I need to drink or else something worst will happen.
Just like before, I walked because that was the best way to experience Roma and saved my money. My next destination was the one I was waiting for since I first watched Lizzy McGuire the movie. That was 2003, when I was in form 3.
The Fontana de Trevi or Trevi Fountain. Wah....why was it really beautiful in my eyes...until today, I still don't get the answer.
I spent few hours sitting in near the fountain area. I had an ice cream, a slice of margherita pizza and a bottle of drink for my lunch. I watched what people did there. Tossing coins, taking pictures, chatting, doing business and so on. For me, everything around Fontana de Trevi was very cool.

Fontana de Trevi

Tourists and locals around Fontana de Trevi.


Coin tossing.

Then, I visited another interesting spot in Roma. The Spanish steps. It was really near to the Fontana de Trevi but I took such a very long time to be there. For the legend of this Spanish steps, you may search it in the internet if you really wants to know. I noticed lots of Americans having their school trips during my visit to Roma. What an awesome school trip! To Roma. Wargh... I cannot imagine that.

The Spanish Steps.

Since I liked Fontana de Trevi very much, I spent another two hours there and I was lucky to snap this beautiful moment. It was a photo shoot session for a newly wed couple. "You may kiss the bride".


Miauww....Grrr

I guess that's the end of my Italy report. For those who are planning to visit Italy next holiday, feel free to contact me at fariesfarhan@yahoo.com. I'll help whenever I can.
Bubye.

14 comments:

saye kerink said...

Salam. First of all, woww! i like the shape of the train.. elegance.sporty.

Ermm memang setiap kali tidur hostel, memang kena share dengan orang lain eh?

wahaha. bahaya bahaya. maybe girl tuh sengaja je kut.. ish3 teruk teruk. yeahh and thank god u missed it. huhaha

ohhh my! colosseum, foro romano, palatine hill.. such a beautiful place.. their structure sangat antique.. u're such a very lucky young man who had been there to watch and enjoy the scene..

Fontana de Trevi.. i like the way that girl tossing her coin. haha. dan sangat sangat banyak orang lepak dekat tangga tuhh.. apa yang best sangat? haa and the newly wed couple, comel la the way they kiss.. ;)

Uncle said...

Train tu mmg elegant dan sporty, but after that, poket kosong la.
Kalau hostel, for sure kena share. Murah berbanding hotel.
Ada lagenda kata, bila gi Rome, toss coin kat Trevi fountain, insyaAllah dpt kembali ke Rome one day.
Yg lepak kat tangga tu, org kata kalau ko pompuan, laki akan dtg utk berkenalan. Kalau ko laki la, ko kene guna plan baek punya utk berkenalan ngan pompuan. Mengarut la sume tu. X nampak pun.

Afham said...

boleh tahan pengembaraan mun

Uncle said...

Hahaha. Gapo hok bleh tahannyo? Aku raso biaso jah.

fatimahazahrah said...

hurmm..nmpk cm besa je italy..xmau dh la g italy.cm xbest je..xsesuai nk g h0neym0on..hehehe :p

Uncle said...

Hahaha. Suka ati la. Kalau nak honeymoon, rasanya New Zealand atau Switzerland lg best. Sbb nampak lg aman. (gaya mcm dh penah pegi)

Anonymous said...

uncle uncle..sabar je la..gelak2 akak baca!

saye kerink said...

ouhh.haha. naik sekali pun cukup la. janji dapat rase naik tren tuh.

yang hostel tuh, dia satu rumah ada banyak2 bilik and every bilik got one/two katil or ade satu/dua bilik, dalam bilik tuh ada banyak3 katil. hahaha.

yeahh? wahh lagenda gituu.. so did u toss a coin there?

ohh macam tu pulak. haha. so tak intai2 ke gurl mane mane? ramai tuh kat situ.. ada banyak choice. hehe

Uncle said...

Hostel tu ada byk bilik. Rasanya 8 bilik. Dalam satu bilik boleh fit 9 org. Katil double decker. Standard asrama la.

I did toss a coin. Tapi tak percaya la ngan legend tu, skdr menyedapkan hati.

Hahaha. Girls tu ramai la. Dh la friendly tahap hampeh, tapi sume mcm suka clubbing je. X leh wat bini. Nanti jenuh nak menjaga.

joegrimjow said...

lol
ade contact detail
yezzzaaa

akan dihubungi

zakwan87 said...

adehh klaka je aku baca yg part God want to test my Iman haha. ape pun tahniah sebab berjaya didik hati jaga iman.

saye kerink said...

ohh macam asrama ke. humhum. toss coin bape posen? haha. ouhhh friendly yg hampehh.. u said friendly ingat kan betul betul friendly.. rupanya hampehh. wuishhh bahaye tuh yang suka clubbing, better jauhkan diri! lari lari!!!!

yAtiE said...

cehh...ciap ado contact detail lg tuh, nati buleslah jadi pemndu pelancong huhu

Anonymous said...

tanx uncle..coz info uncle lah assignment sy pasal italy dpt disiapkan cket..hehe..=)