Ciao, Italy! (Part i)

(08OCT19) From the lovely Paris, I had a trip to one of its neighbouring countries: ITALY!Apparently, I was supposed to go back in London after France but since I wanted to maximize the use of my visa (as this might also be my last time to travel this year huhuuu!😭), I decided to tag along with my parent's business trip even for just a short while--3 days.Like what the heck?! I know there are many cities to explore here so I will definitely return soon!In the meantime, I tried to cover the most of Rome and the Vatican City which is bellisima beyond words.🖤   I flew from France via Vueling which is a 2hr ride towards Fiumicino Airport (FCO).At first sight, the capital is all ancient brown and slightly humid in temperature.Moreover, the mainland kinda reminds me of old town Manila with its rusty structures and street vendors all over the area. Pasta,pizza,gelato,leather goods,signatured brands are everywhere but Rome is mostly known for its historical aura. Hence, it's named as "The Eternal City". Every piazza or town square has their own story and I've learned some during our hop-on,hop-off through Big Bus Tours.We took the red bus consisting of 8 stops and I guarantee, every attraction can cost you a lot of time to wander amidst the massive crowd.Rome is picture perfect within all angles--Or is it just me being turista? Haha! Kidding aside, the whole town is like a living museum filled with Roman statues and towers.You would even see students making sketches of the whole scene.Very artistic!

Beside Piazza de Venezia are 2 locations that require stair-climbing: Piazza del Campidoglio, known as the headquarters of the Italian Government and the church of San Marco.I chose the former as it is shorter to go up (lol) and what's there to see are more medieval statues.


Aside from that, there are various basilicas as majority of the Italians are roman catholics.One of the stops on the tour was Basilica de Sta. Maria Maggiore, one of the largest church in the city dedicated to the virgin Mary and where the relic of the Holy Nativity stood.



The mosaic-ed ceilings and floors wow-ed me up so much having the first church that I visited here.🖤


After that,we head on to the 3 most popular sites of the capital..
#1.Colosseo de Roma--Truly, it's well-deserved to be known as Rome's iconic landmark.Did you know that the whole arena can occupy at least 50,000 people?! I sadly wasn't able to go inside as the lines were so heavy and I got very little time to tour :(( Though I heard there's a Roman Pass that you can purchase in order to skip the line.

But here's the thing about this "Skip The Line" scheme as this often comes with the hop-on/hop-off offers in Europe, be cautious of where you buy it and think twice;Even if you have that fast-track access (and surely, it's not just you who'll have it),you will still need to queue in so I guess the key is to arrive early instead.

#2.Spanish Steps--Sorry,I was too tired to take pictures at that point, I didn't even went up the stairs anymore.😑 Why they call it as "Spanish Steps"? 'cause the place was considered to be a Spanish territory. This baroque-styled architecture connects Via Spagna towards the twin-towered church named, Trinitá dei Monti. Moreover, it is prohibited to eat or sit along the steps to preserve the area.


#3. Fontana di Trevi--my favorite!🖤Apart that it's a so-called 'wishing fountain',the coins being tossed here are also donated for charity. The place is so beautiful and jam-packed with tourists as usual. Is the water potable?NO.

They said that you need to toss 3 coins for your wishes and therefore, I did..I gave GBP's :)) I hope the heavens of Oceanus will me hear me out!

Last but not the least,is Vatican City, the home of Roman Catholic faith.

This time,Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" came to life!And so as the feels of where EWTN channel televises the Pope's mass.Ahahah

We got to witness the Pope's mass on my last day before I left and I'm beyond grateful about it ;"D I was able to see him up close during his parade around the audience (video on my Facebook).A thousand catholics from many parts of the world came which is very diverse having their flags raised and singing songs of praise. Attending the papal audience is free but there's a heavy queue when getting inside the piazza; Some would camp-out or go as early as 5am for the event. And once you enter, you cannot simply exit then go in again due to security purposes.Nevertheless, this event is surely NOT to miss out!


Besides that, we went to Vatican Museum which displays awe-inspiring art collections amassed by popes from the Renaissance period. Make sure to have an audio-guided tour as this is also huge and phone signals can be choppy inside.Each room has a different architectural style from white sculptures to large canvass paintings. I admit that I'm not really familiar to all of these but they are so exquisite!It kept me wondering,'how on earth have they done these?!" or "tao ba talaga gumawa nito?!?" lol.

  It's even difficult to identify whose statue is that unless you know your Roman myths very well.And look at that, nudity is art.Most people look forward on going to the Sistine Chapel which is the final lot of the museum. This sacred area is where they hold the elections for the new Pope.I have pictures but I cannot post them in public.
And before leaving here, do stop by for souvenirs!A real blessed rosary has a long-lasting churchy smell or you can buy your relics then have 'em blessed by one of the Vatican priests.They're frequently around the vicinity anyway ^^


Thus, that ends my quick travel to Rome. 3 days is NOT really enough to tour here that's why I shall find my way to Italy again someday! Fingers crossed and believe on the Trevi Fountain ;p
(23DEC19)Currently, I'm back in the Philippines to celebrate the holidays with my family--a better way to conclude my travel diary for this year.🖤
'til then!