Splash of Summer Day 3 - Rome

Hi! In third day, we were still in Rome to continue with our historical tour. We went to quite a few places and the weather was still hot and bright today. Bring a lot of water as you will often get thirsty.

Trevi Fountain

We took the metro to Barberini. Finding Trevi Fountain could be very tricky as it is located in between buildings and narrow streets. We had to asked people on how to get there. Luckily some locals knew how to speak English. There are few signboards which directed us to the Fontana de Trevi after we walked few metres from the metro station. Initially, we thought Fontana de Trevi was the fountain which was featuring in the movie When in Rome. Actually, it wasn't. The fountain was built specially for the movie itself as a set.

Pantheon

With the help of a map, we walked to Pantheon which is situated not so far from the fountain. Pantheon is a temple for all Gods in Roman history, It's a circular shape building with a big dome. It was free to walked into this building.

Piazza Navona

We walked to a big square which has 3 fountains there. This square is surrounded by many blocks of buildings. Many painters sell their arts here. Furthermore, there are lots of Italian restaurant around here. Try them if you wanna taste the Italian food.

Hard Rock Cafe Rome

Hard Rock Cafe is a must for me and my friends if we traveled overseas. Although their merchandises are kinda overpriced but collecting them is such a satisfaction. Although I've been to many Hard Rock Cafe before, but still I haven't visited Hard Rock Cafe in my own country. Asides from Rome, Hard Rock Cafe in Italy could also be found in Florence and Venice. I bought a t-shirt and a pin badge as usual.

Hard Rock Cafe Rome
Via Vittorio Veneto 62 a/b
Rome 00187, Italy

Castel Romano Designer Outlet

Back in Roma Termini, we waited for the bus to Castel Romano. We waited in front of the Pharmacia. The fare is €13 for a return journey. We took the 3 pm bus which was the final bus for today.

This was a shopping heaven if you have a lot of money. Like Livingston in Scotland, Castel Romano also offers a lot of items at a reduced price. My mom bought a couple of bags and then we had a drink here while waiting for the bus which will leave at 8 pm.

Back in the city, we bought our dinner at the halal pizza restaurant. I tried the seafood and the other one was chicken. The price was calculated according to the weight of the pizza. Kinda new to me. Then, we headed straight back to our hostel.

Gonna wake up early tomorrow since we had an early train to catch. We will be going to Florence but before that, we will make a stop at Pisa for a while.

Splash of Summer Day 2 - Rome

During this trip, we're gonna visit 4 major cities in Italy where most of the tourists go. These include Rome, Pisa, Florence and the canal city Venice. Our main transportation for this trip was by train. We bought a 3-country InterRail pass which cost £150 per person. This option is for UK residents only. However, for other residents, Eurail pass is available at a bit higher price (€228). 

With Interrail, one can travel by train 5 days within 10 days without limitation. During these 5 days, you can travel by train as many times as you wish. Same goes with Eurail, but the time period is a bit different. Therefore, planned your journey wisely and fully utilised your passes effectively.

Rome Ciampino

There are at least three airports in Rome as it is a capital of Italy. The main airport is Rome Fiumicino Airport. Since we're travelling on a budget aircraft, Ryanair thus we landed at Rome Ciampino Airport. At the airport, there are several shuttle buses which provides transport to Rome City Centre. We bought ticket from Terravision and it cost €4for a single journey. The bus stopped at Roma Termini (Rome main train station). Our hostel is located nearby this station.

Rose Santamaria
Via Santa Maria Maggiore,151, Rome, 00184, Italy

Istanbul Doner & Kebab

Surprisingly, there are around 5 halal restaurants located around Roma Termini. After checking in our hostel and had a quick rest, we stopped for a lunch at Istanbul Doner & Kebab restaurant which is located at the opposite of Roma Termini.

Vatican City

We took the metro line A from Roma Termini to Ottaviano-San Pietro and then we walked few hundred metres to the Vatican City. There were loads of unofficial tour guides around this area and there were kinda annoying you know. Some of them will approach you to provide their service. But we said no as we already which way we're heading to. Furthermore, there were many souvenir shops along the way as well. Make sure you buy something from here because we found that things here were cheaper compare to other areas.

Vatican City is quite magnificent which comprises of a huge square, a tall monument and St. Peter's Basilica. There's a long line queuing for the basilica but we didn't want to waste time so we just wandered around the square taking photos here and there. I love the architecture of the tall pillars. I wonder how they built them in the past. They are just soooooo freaking high!

Colloseum

For Colosseum, the metro stopped at Colloseo station. The Colosseum is situated just across the station. It's a circular shape ancient building made for Roman Empire which functioned as amphitheatre. In the past, Colloseum served as a place for gladiators who took part in battles, contests and dramas. We were supposed to enter this ancient remnants, however due to previous incidents of pickpocket, we didn't really have the mood to explore this area.

We walked along the main road, snapping photos of the ancients buildings, monuments and sites. There are many along the way. Some includes Constantines Basilica, Julias Caesar statue and Museo Centrale.

After finished touring around this area, we headed back to our hostel. The weather in Italy was extremely hot during summer time. I think it might be hotter than Malaysia. So wear lightly, don't wear thick clothes because I'm sure you will sweat a lot. Please watch out for yourselves especially when boarding the metro because the pickpockets do their job a lot here. Keep all your valuable in a bag, don't put in your pocket.