Tired out by the activities we embarked on the day earlier, Penny and I woke up rather late. After washing up, we zombied our way down to the café for our breakfast. It was still the same old spread as yesterday. At least they bothered to change the flavour of the yoghurts.
Today was the day we hit Rome. Apparently the train ride was only 2 hours so we intended to spend our day there, coming back in time for dinner. We headed for the bus stop to hop onto a bus to Garibaldi Centrale where we would board the train and, again by the grace of God, learned that we had to buy our bus tickets in advance from a shop behind the bus stop (what a weird arrangement!). All because Penny needed to break up our notes for some change to dunk into the jackpot machine.
As soon as we reached Garibaldi Centrale, we headed for the office where we could buy our train tickets from a very grouchy man, who was attending to two Chinese girls (there they are again!). Turned out these girls were actually studying in NTU and were there for their vacation!
Superbly excited by our visit to Rome, we were quite annoyed when our 10:30AM train was delayed. We stood at the designated platform buying titbits from the vending machine (€2 for a packet of Twisties!) and finally at 11:00AM the train appeared. Unsure of what to do we just followed the flow of the crowd and plonked our butts down at the nearest carriage we could find. A short while later, a woman came in rambling in Italian; turns out we were in her seat. It was then we realised that the tickets had seat numbers allocated on them. Again by the grace of God, we somehow landed in the right carriage but in the wrong seat!
Moving out from Naples, we passed by mostly farms and countrysides and through a few mountains. With nothing to do, Penny and I tried to get some shut eye since we were still quite zonked. Couldn’t really get into a deep sleep as the seats were not reclinable like those on an airplane. We filled our time by munching on our expensive titbits and snapping photos. As we neared Rome, we could see ruins of what used to be the city walls. This was confirmed when we asked the Italian woman whose seat we’d taken earlier, ‘Roma Termini?’ and she replied, ‘Si, si!’
We were like bats out of hell when we disembarked from the train; the anticipation deepened by the delayed train was killing us! We made our way towards the subway (which I figured should be connected to the train station) and bought a one-day ticket. That would allow us to move around freely without having to worry about purchasing tickets again. We took a ride to the Colosseo station and, boy, was the train packed (we only realised later that night over the news on TV that there was a demonstration going on and there we were scratching our heads over the strong police presence in the vicinity).
The famed Colosseum was right smack in front of the subway entrance when we got out. Again, I was awe struck by the sight of the structure itself – it was just marvellous! Our stomachs were rumbling a little so we grabbed a sandwich from a kiosk nearby
(costing us €6, wah lau!). Crossing the road to join the already crowded area in front of the Colosseum, we came across more fake bags and knick knacks being sold. A few pictures and one sandwich later, we came across a group of guys dressed as Roman soldiers. We thought it’d be fun to get a shot with them, so we went up and ended up getting hustled of €20. I’ll never trust Roman soldiers again.
We circled the magnificent structure and made our way back the entrance, planning to buy our entrance tickets. But the extremely looooong queue made us abandon the inclination of entering the Colosseum premises. We crossed the road again and up some stairs to a higher vantage point. There, we took more photos of the Colosseum as well as the Foro Romano next to it. Our next stop was the Vatican City so we asked for directions from some policemen lounging around. According to them, there was a ‘manifestazion’ going on (we thought it was some Chingay-esque festival but this was the demonstration we would see on the news later that night) and the streets were closed, so our best bet was still the subway.
As we went back down the stairs, we passed by a woman beggar whom we’d ignored earlier as we made our way up. Strange thing was, simultaneously, Penny and stopped dead in our tracks and turned around. I was digging my pocket for loose change when Penny said, “I think God just reminded me of something”. I couldn’t agree more. Just as we were passing the beggar, a small voice inside reminded me of the scripture that says we are to show kindness and mercy to the poor. We drop some change into the woman’s cup and made our way into the subway station.
Squeezing with the crowd, we got out at the Ottaviano station. From here, it was a short walk to the Vatican City. Along the way, we passed more boutiques and replica handbag stalls. Penny picked up a fake Gucci along the way from an African dude for €20, which was quite a steal considering he was asking for €45 up front. Moving along, we passed by a side gate of the Vatican City and there were throngs of people there snapping their cameras away. It was not
long before the columns of St. Peter’s Square were visible. Again, I was awe struck by the enormity of the whole square as we stepped through the columns and out into the open. As was with the concert the night before, I wanted to cry as I couldn’t believe I was actually there in person.
We milled around the square for a bit taking pictures here and there of anything we came across. The queue to get into the City itself was also really long so we didn’t bother. There was a mailbox just oustisde the entrance, presumably for people wanting to mail stuff to their loved ones living within the city itself. Even the washroom was a monument by itself! Penny took a little trip in while I waited outside for her.
Having seen enough of the Vatican City, our next stop was the Castel Sant Angelo which was just down the road. As we walked down, we passed by a very solemn Roman Catholic procession going on - chants of 'Ave Maria!' and such were audible. Didn’t manage to find out what it was about since everyone was so sombre. Next thing we knew, an open top double decker bus dressed in High School Musical 3 livery screeched around the corner, filled with screaming teenage girls waving to passers-by. Quite obviously, this was a stunt to promote the upcoming movie. Juxtaposed to the solemn procession that had just gone by, it was just hilarious.
Today was the day we hit Rome. Apparently the train ride was only 2 hours so we intended to spend our day there, coming back in time for dinner. We headed for the bus stop to hop onto a bus to Garibaldi Centrale where we would board the train and, again by the grace of God, learned that we had to buy our bus tickets in advance from a shop behind the bus stop (what a weird arrangement!). All because Penny needed to break up our notes for some change to dunk into the jackpot machine.
As soon as we reached Garibaldi Centrale, we headed for the office where we could buy our train tickets from a very grouchy man, who was attending to two Chinese girls (there they are again!). Turned out these girls were actually studying in NTU and were there for their vacation!
Superbly excited by our visit to Rome, we were quite annoyed when our 10:30AM train was delayed. We stood at the designated platform buying titbits from the vending machine (€2 for a packet of Twisties!) and finally at 11:00AM the train appeared. Unsure of what to do we just followed the flow of the crowd and plonked our butts down at the nearest carriage we could find. A short while later, a woman came in rambling in Italian; turns out we were in her seat. It was then we realised that the tickets had seat numbers allocated on them. Again by the grace of God, we somehow landed in the right carriage but in the wrong seat!
Moving out from Naples, we passed by mostly farms and countrysides and through a few mountains. With nothing to do, Penny and I tried to get some shut eye since we were still quite zonked. Couldn’t really get into a deep sleep as the seats were not reclinable like those on an airplane. We filled our time by munching on our expensive titbits and snapping photos. As we neared Rome, we could see ruins of what used to be the city walls. This was confirmed when we asked the Italian woman whose seat we’d taken earlier, ‘Roma Termini?’ and she replied, ‘Si, si!’
We were like bats out of hell when we disembarked from the train; the anticipation deepened by the delayed train was killing us! We made our way towards the subway (which I figured should be connected to the train station) and bought a one-day ticket. That would allow us to move around freely without having to worry about purchasing tickets again. We took a ride to the Colosseo station and, boy, was the train packed (we only realised later that night over the news on TV that there was a demonstration going on and there we were scratching our heads over the strong police presence in the vicinity).
The famed Colosseum was right smack in front of the subway entrance when we got out. Again, I was awe struck by the sight of the structure itself – it was just marvellous! Our stomachs were rumbling a little so we grabbed a sandwich from a kiosk nearby
(costing us €6, wah lau!). Crossing the road to join the already crowded area in front of the Colosseum, we came across more fake bags and knick knacks being sold. A few pictures and one sandwich later, we came across a group of guys dressed as Roman soldiers. We thought it’d be fun to get a shot with them, so we went up and ended up getting hustled of €20. I’ll never trust Roman soldiers again.
We circled the magnificent structure and made our way back the entrance, planning to buy our entrance tickets. But the extremely looooong queue made us abandon the inclination of entering the Colosseum premises. We crossed the road again and up some stairs to a higher vantage point. There, we took more photos of the Colosseum as well as the Foro Romano next to it. Our next stop was the Vatican City so we asked for directions from some policemen lounging around. According to them, there was a ‘manifestazion’ going on (we thought it was some Chingay-esque festival but this was the demonstration we would see on the news later that night) and the streets were closed, so our best bet was still the subway.As we went back down the stairs, we passed by a woman beggar whom we’d ignored earlier as we made our way up. Strange thing was, simultaneously, Penny and stopped dead in our tracks and turned around. I was digging my pocket for loose change when Penny said, “I think God just reminded me of something”. I couldn’t agree more. Just as we were passing the beggar, a small voice inside reminded me of the scripture that says we are to show kindness and mercy to the poor. We drop some change into the woman’s cup and made our way into the subway station.
Squeezing with the crowd, we got out at the Ottaviano station. From here, it was a short walk to the Vatican City. Along the way, we passed more boutiques and replica handbag stalls. Penny picked up a fake Gucci along the way from an African dude for €20, which was quite a steal considering he was asking for €45 up front. Moving along, we passed by a side gate of the Vatican City and there were throngs of people there snapping their cameras away. It was not
long before the columns of St. Peter’s Square were visible. Again, I was awe struck by the enormity of the whole square as we stepped through the columns and out into the open. As was with the concert the night before, I wanted to cry as I couldn’t believe I was actually there in person.
We milled around the square for a bit taking pictures here and there of anything we came across. The queue to get into the City itself was also really long so we didn’t bother. There was a mailbox just oustisde the entrance, presumably for people wanting to mail stuff to their loved ones living within the city itself. Even the washroom was a monument by itself! Penny took a little trip in while I waited outside for her.
Having seen enough of the Vatican City, our next stop was the Castel Sant Angelo which was just down the road. As we walked down, we passed by a very solemn Roman Catholic procession going on - chants of 'Ave Maria!' and such were audible. Didn’t manage to find out what it was about since everyone was so sombre. Next thing we knew, an open top double decker bus dressed in High School Musical 3 livery screeched around the corner, filled with screaming teenage girls waving to passers-by. Quite obviously, this was a stunt to promote the upcoming movie. Juxtaposed to the solemn procession that had just gone by, it was just hilarious.
The view up the street as we approached Castel Sant Angelo was another postcard-worthy shot. We could see the dome of the Vatican City sticking out in the background of a very long, straight street. Back at Castel Sant Angelo, we didn’t have much time left to go in so we just hung around outside to snap some photos (of which one was taken by a very rude and grouchy German tourist who got evidently grouchier when he couldn’t find a view finder to look through on our camera). It was a very touch-and-go stopover as we 
planned to stop by a few more sites on the way back to catch our Naples bound train. We walked back to the nearest subway station (with Penny’s legs almost giving way) and hopped onto the subway back to Roma Termini.
Still, we managed to hop out of our trains to see the Fontana Tritone, the Teatro Dell Opera, among other things. Somehow we missed the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain... dunno why.It was almost 5:30PM when we got back to the railway station. With about an hour to burn, we plonked our tired asses down at the nearest café we could find and ordered a chicken set meal. We were both too tired to eat but our stomachs were growling since the last thing we had eaten was the sandwich at the Colosseum.
Our train for Naples left at about 6:45PM (delayed again) and this time round, I knocked out for most of the journey back, despite sitting next to an old, irritating couple who refused to open the window and almost suffocated everyone as a result.It was about 9:30PM when we got back to our hotel. We were never happier to see our beds – we didn’t even want to worry about what to do tomorrow…
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