Itay Trip 2019 Day 4 (14th December) Rome

This was supposedly our last day at Rome according to plans, but something happened later on and we had a chance to come back days later during the trip. Anyway, we did not know that we will be back at that point of time and decided to use the last day for roaming around the city and do the last bit of sightseeing. We were glad that the sun was up and shining hard when we woke up in the morning. We were still lazing around and only went out again when it was noon. Anyway, we decided to make our way back to St Peter's square and see if we can get into the basilica.

Super long queue in the sunny weather

Took another wefie in the bright daylight

Weather was so different from the previous night

A rosary we bought from the Vatican

P helped me with a picture

The daylight view

The basilica is the only place I saw the infamous long queue for getting into attractions while in Italy, fortunately. I was expecting P to want to queue and get in, but I was surprised that he also gave up the idea as he's hungry and ready for our late lunch. A good reason why we're back at this area was because he wanted to eat his filipino meal at his favourite restaurant in Italy, I've already gave up convincing him to try other stuff as we will be leaving Rome next day anyway. I heaved a sigh of relief that we do not have to queue under the hot sun, I even took off my outer coat at one point of time as it was that warm. But once we got under the shadows of the buildings, I felt chilly again.

Wefie while waiting for lunch

Bulalo soup and chicken adobo

Food was actually cheap

P actually ran into his high school classmate who is working in Italy

Honestly, I dont mind going to the filipino restaurant as we saved our Euros eating in the cheap eatery unlike our very first unsatisfactory meal near Trevi. However, a part of me really wanted to try the authentic yummy Italian fare while we were there. After the meal, we decided to take a bus to the Pantheon from one of the bus stops nearby. We had been wanting to go to the Pantheon for days but did not get the chance to do so the first two nights we were in Rome.

Many such cute cars in Rome to save space

Very small gas station 

Our first time taking the bus in Rome

It was actually not crowded

Rome has a very unique system unlike many other cities as on the bus, the driver do not sell tickets and there were no machines to buy tickets. We had to get tickets prior to boarding the buses and there's also this rule to validate the ticket after boarding. If its a bigger bus station or bus stop, there would be machines for those tickets but most of the smaller bus stops do not have one. Luckily, it was already our 4th day in the city so we kind of know our way around. I remembered the lady at the Airbnb told us the cafe downstairs sell bus/train tickets, I was wondering why she had to mention it at that point of time, but I soon realised it's important information as there's no ticket sales on board the buses. 

Anyway, we wanted to take the bus to the Pantheon from the Vatican area and it's just a small bus stop so we were wondering where to get those tickets. I remembered reading somewhere that many small shops that sell tobacco or alcohol have those, it's common to see those Tabacchi store in Rome and we popped into one down the street to try our luck. It's always good to research and read widely as we really got our tickets from the store and the bus came shortly. Actually the bus ticket was the same one for taking metro but we could only use it for a trip on the metro whereas for the bus, we could take unlimited rides for 90min after validating. It was also possible to buy a few tickets in advance so that we do not have to keep queueing at the machines to get one.

A very chill atmosphere on the streets

A group of people doing their silent protests against animal products

One of the many fountains in Rome

Outside the Pantheon

The mandatory wefie

After taking some photos outside the Pantheon, we headed inside. It looked really grand outside but the interior was just a square with different altars for the different saints. Looking up some info, this structure is already more than 2000 years old! I was amazed at how well preserved it is and I wondered how it was built in the past without machinery. The ancient Romans were really amazing.

Amazing how the Pantheon was built with this oculus

Amazing structure

P wore this for a long time after the trip

It was common to see military personnel at tourist sites

After Pantheon, we wondered around the nearby places and visited the Fountain of the Four Rivers, Piazza Navona and Campo Di Flori while the taking in the chill and comfortable atmosphere around these places. When we get to Piazza Navona and Campo Di Flori, it was already 5pm and many restaurants are having their happy hour or aperitivo hour where we can actually drink and eat some snacks at a very cheap price. I was really tempted to try it but P was not keen in drinking. In the end we were walking in circles as I was looking for a place to use the washroom and we ended up going back to one of those shops for happy hours while using their washroom.

Our wefie at fountains of the four river

One of the statues

Another impressive fountain other than Trevi

Piazza Navona

More cool fountains

Happy hour at Campo di flori

It's actually a flower market in the day

We spotted another cute little vehicle

The aperitivo

I drank most of those

After drinking and using the washroom, we walked from Campo Di Flori to Spanish Steps area as P thought he wanted to meet up with another high school friend. We did not get to meet up with his friend in the end but we spent some time sitting around Piazza Spagna soaking in the atmosphere as it was our last night in Rome. We did not really get dinner after we ate some gelato on our way to Spanish Steps. 

No weather too cold for gelato

Addicted to Gelato after Italy trip

The crowd near Spanish Steps

Itay Trip 2019 Day 3 (13th December) Rome

We headed out quite late today and spent the day lazing in till noon. The plan was to go to the Vatican and St Peter's Basilica but it had been raining since morning, this made us quite reluctant to get out as it's quite a hassle to walk on those cobblestones street with our umbrellas and coat. If I'm not wrong, we had breakfast and went back to bed and only went out around noon. Finally, we booked the last visiting slot available for the the Vatican and decided to just go for it. Anyway, P had plans to visit the area as he wanted to try out another Filipino restaurant near to the Vatican area. After the previous colosseum tour, P decided that he preferred to not to do tours and that we just look around on our own, I would actually prefer a guided tour or at least audio guide but guess it's better that I do that when I'm touring alone.

This satisfied P's cravings for sisig

This wasnt too bad but left my tummy bloated

We walked to the nearby Cavour station to take the subway to the Vatican area. We had to change to another train at the Termini station, but we sort of got used to taking the subway and I also decided that Italy or Rome was not as scary during winter time as the tourists are not that many compared to the summer days, so I stopped carrying my money bag since its quite uncomfortable to do so under my clothes, it always slipped up pass my hip areas and just dangled around loose at my waist so it's annoying. Anyway, we kept reminding ourselves to just be careful when taking the trains and at any one time, we did not really have much cash on ourselves so there's nothing to steal. It was getting rainy when we reached the destination but the Filipino food was quite worth it as it was really cheap and good. P was happy after the meal.

We actually panicked a little as it was raining heavily after we got out and it's quite a long walk to the Vatican (maybe 20 min?) especially since this was the first time we were navigating there. We also walk to the entrance of the St Peter's Basilica instead of the Vatican and we have to turn back. There was no queue to get into the Vatican museum at all, probably due to the rain, but we were rushing to pick up our tickets at 3pm and we were late. Fortunately, it was no big deal since we were not on guided tour and we managed to get our tickets and started our self touring successfully.

The long long hall of statues

Lot and lots of statues

Honestly, we entered the museum this late and we had no idea where to start our tour, so I was pretty sure we would not see everything inside and we were only aiming to visit the Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo's famous work. We followed the signages inside and it took us through quite a few numbers of halls and turns to get to Sistine Chapel. We were surrounded by many magnificent artwork and I guess going for a few hours of guided tour would really exhaust us so it was a good idea to just look at whatever caught our eyes.

Intriguing art on the ceiling 

And many more 只可意会不可言传

I was in awe of all the paintings and colors that decorated the tall ceilings in the museum and of course finally see Michelangelo's famous work in Sistine Chapel was an eye opener. We were shocked when there were guards shouting at visitors not to take photographs in the chapel, P managed to snap some photos secretly though. We were also glad there were some benches along the chapel so we could sit down and rest our feet while admiring all over the walls and ceilings. After visiting Sistine Chapel, there were only enough time for us to head towards the exit while admiring more art pieces along the way. We also dropped by the small souvenir shop in the museum to get some rosaries for P's immediate family and I got a set for my friend WH as well.

Wefie at the start of the tour 

Secret wefie inside Sistine Chapel

The famous drawings

Awesomeness beyond words

The long stairways getting out of the museum

Outside the museum

When we left the Vatican museum, it was almost time for them to close their doors. We were glad the rain had stopped and we walked to St Peter's square next. There was a long queue of people trying to get into the St Peter's basilica and actually at one point of time the queue became much shorter as it was time for the last batch of people to get in for the day. We were busy walking all over St Peter's square so we missed the opportunity to get into queue and we decided to come back again the next day.

Large Xmas tree at St Peter's

The lovely couple

Guess who helped P with his jump shot?

We saw people doing this reflection photography using the puddles of water

We spent a long time taking photographs around the place as it's really a big grand square, luckily it was not too cold and the rain had stopped. After this, P wanted to go back to the same filipino restaurant again?! I was a little unhappy as we finally made it to Italy but all he wanted was his filipino meals. Anyway, he agreed to try out this snack place I've found which is near to the Vatican and it's the top on the list of restaurants. The funny thing was it was a small cafe and there was no crowd at all, so we walked past a few times without noticing it. Luckily, we did not give up and finally found it. There were only two other Americans there when we arrived. I must say that bread and cheese and the toppings were really good and I really stuffed myself. P was still reserving his stomach for his filipino dinner so we popped over after that.

A bigger group of Americans came in afte rus

The front of the shop which we kept missing

I love this ham salami cheese and salad toppings

P refused to eat so I had to finish most of them