The Roman getaway

The Trevi Fountain and part of the Roman Forum

Its been a great weekend for both of us. Flew over to Rome on EasyJet (the European version of AirAsia) very early on Friday morning. When I said early IT IS early! Had to crawl out of bed by 3:3am and was on the road by 4am to the Geneva airport. Took us about 45 to 50 mins drive and got to the check-in desk at 5:10 having to run (about 300 meters) from the parking to the main building. The morning temp was about 4°c, and it took us about only 5 mins run!!! For someone that do not like running, it was a record man!

The flight was ok, manage to nap from the time we took off till we landed at Rome Ciampino airport. After checking into the hotel, an expensive-to-me (!!About 120.- Euro per nite!!!) 3 star hotel near the main railway station, we manage to walk to all the way to see the Colosseum (on the right), Palatine Hill, the Spanish Steps, the Victor Emmanuel II monument, and the Trevi Fountain. We were lucky to have come this week as its Cultural Week, whereby entrance to most of the monuments around the city is free. A nice surprise for us after all. But my first impression of Rome is; dusty, dirty building ful of "taggings", F1 inspired drivers, and huge. We literally have to run crossing the road, even while on the zebra crossing!

Hubby and me on Piazza Novona

By this time, due to lack of sleep/rest on hubby's part, he's starting to get on my "happy to be here on holiday" mood. But after traveling and walking for almost 10 hours, since reaching the city at 8am, I can't blame him. But then again he shouldn't have thrown his temper by accusing me that I've not organized a well planned trip. He kept on asking me where to go and how tos. Yours truly has never been to Rome and neither does she knows what's going to happen. And what's with men and asking for directions?! Its natural to ask if one's not sure of where to go or how tos, right? So is it me or is it just the ego of my man? So we finally decide to take the Rome Metro (underground) to get back to our room, before having the "Show Down" while walking towards the station!!

View from inside the Vatican. Wasn't allowed to take more pics as cameras was forbiden in most areas as not to spoil artifacts.

Me at St. Angel's Castel

The next day we went for our Vatican City trip (pre-booked the day before, also cost us $$$$) which only lasts about 3 hours total visiting time besides having to wait in line out in the cold at 8am for 1 hour!! I can say that the Vatican trip is by far the most expensive fee we had to pay. But on this day since hubby's mood also improved (hit the sack at 10pm the night before!), we decide to walk around the Pantheon area, the Piazza Navona and discover the many other piazza charms. The Catacombs came next in our itinerary on Sunday morning. Managed to see a little of the infamous Trastevere area (for tiny streets and great restaurants).

Here we have Fried Italian rice balls. A MUST TRY!

An "eXpensIve!" boutique right at the Spanish Steps!

We never got enough of Italian ice-creams and cuisines. Its something out of this world and recommended while in Italy. Food tastes different here. I think its something to do with not being salty etc. Its a place where you can actually taste the different types of ingredients in particular dish. We did try to stay out of the main train terminal for dining and desserts. Prices are high and they are REALLY substandard places there. We compared prices by looking at their menu (commonly displayed outside). Same goes when buying ice-creams. By the end of the trip, we've only spent about 400.- Euro. Which is a surprise to me, since we've dine out (lunch, dinner and a significante amount of ice-creams) in quite nice (small ones "hidden" at tiny streets) restaurants/ice-cream shops with really great offerings! That is besides the hundreds of piazzas and churchs this city has to offer....

At St.Peter's Square

We'll love to com back to Italy sometime in the future. But the next time, I've made hubby swore that he will not throw "lack of rest tanrums" in the public. Lets hope he'll keep his promise!