Day 5 - Ro Ro Ro Ma Ma Rome

We leave the Ca Grande hotel very early at 6.30am and took the tram to Loretto Station.

Milano Centrale Train station

Met Christiano Ronaldo ;P

The first thing that we do once we arrive at every train station is to look for the Tourist Center. The one in Roma Termini is certainly playing hard to find! It is situated at a very far end! But once we found the correct exit, Hotel Beautiful is very nearby. At registration, upon seeing our Passport, the guy at the counter greet us "Assalamualaikum, I am Muslim too. " He smiled. ;) Nice. There is a porter who help us to bring our luggage up in a mini lift. He also introduced himself as a Muslim, but he is from Bangladesh. Our room are yet to be ready, so, he sent us to the lounge.

Room Ready!

Bathroom

We bought a 1 day metro ticket at Roma Termini for EUR4 and head to the first stop that is, none other than the Colosseum. Entrance: 12 EUR

It was built in Rome, Italy, about 1920 years ago. It is considered an architectural and engineering wonder, and remains as a standing proof of both the grandeur and the cruelty of the Roman world. (Credit)


Next to the Colosseum is Palatino. According to the legends, the city of Rome was founded here in 753 BC. (Credit)

Arch of Constantine
It was dedicated to Constantine by the Senate in 315 AD to commemorate his victory over Maxentius in the battle of the Milvian Bridge which took place 3 years earlier. (Credit)

Inside
Truth to be told, it is a bit spooky to imagine the things that had happened here.


some display inside the colosseum



Palatino

If you want to buy souvenir, there is many stalls open outside of the Colosseum. The best thing is, the can speak Malay. Why? Because they are Bangladeshi who have worked in Malaysia. :P Yes. Cute but true. They recognize us instantly and call to us "Hey, Malaysia. Murah! Murah! Lima!Lima! " We certainly does not feel homesick in Rome. :P After that we took the metro and head to Barberini to look for the Trevi Fountain.

No. This is not Trevi Fountain. :P

We need to walk along a nice pedestrian route.

Souvenir shop is here too!

And finally found it at the end of the road.

Some Info: In 1732, Pope Clement XII commissioned Nicola Salvi to create a large fountain at the Trevi Square. Salvi based his theatrical masterpiece on this design. Construction of the monumental baroque fountain was finally completed in 1762. The central figure of the fountain, in front of a large niche, is Neptune, god of the sea. He is riding a chariot in the shape of a shell, pulled by two sea horses. Each sea horse is guided by a Triton. One of the horses is calm and obedient, the other one restive. They symbolize the fluctuating moods of the sea. (Credit)

There is ice cream shops everywhere and people were swarming it even in the frezzing cold.

Look delicious!

So, we decided to give it a try.

3 of us shared for 2 EUR.

Then, we walk back to Barberini to take a metro to Octavio - Vatican City. Along the way, it started to rain, so, we stopped to buy an umbrella from yet another Bangladeshi. Price: EUR5.

The guard

Vatican City is a city-state that came into existence in 1929. It is country that is 1.05 kilometres long and .85 kilometres wide. (credit)

St Peter's Square - sometimes being used for addresses given by the Pope

Behind me is St Peter's Cathedral.

St Peter's Cathedral

It is quite heavily guarded. To go in, you need to scan your bags. Then, there are a few people dressed in suits who will be walking inside monitoring the tourist.

Once done with Vatican City, we head back to Bernini and walk along the road to Hard Rock Store. (Pic Will be Uploaded Next Time).

At the end of the day, we were dead tired and hungry. Aida said she saw 1 halal restaurant near our hotel. I saw one potential shop and stop in front of it to look for Halal sign. But, there is none. Finally, we decided to just have Maggi at the hotel. I have just taken a few steps when suddenly a guy came after me and pass a pamphlet while saying "Halal - InsyaAllah. I am the owner". Shocked, i turned around and saw that he is the owner of the shop that we stop just now! He saw us outside and guess that we were afraid to go in due to No Halal sign. Yeay! Happy by his kind gesture we turn back to his restaurant. The owner is a very nice guy. I think he saw the hungry + tired faces on us and provided us a complimentary slice of mini pizza each and even give us big portions for the food we ordered. We had chickens and macaronis which is super delicious! All for the cost of 4 EUR!!

The hotel provides a free internet service, but, we need to walk down the block and there is only 2 available PC. I walked twice. The 1st time, no PC available, the 2nd time, i forget to bring my passport. :( In the end, i was too tired and it is getting late to walk by myself, i just hit the sack with the girls.

Hotel : Nice Room, Have a mini lift, so the stairs won't kill you.

Food: ~EUR 5

Transportation: EUR4

Entrance Tickets: EUR 12

So, that's it about Rome.
Next -- Venice!!