Monday, September 17, 2007 | 3:04 AM

Part IV – Rome

Instead of Barcelona, Rome is the nightmare city to me.
Apart from the groping incidents, I came back with almost 20 mosquito bites on my body (when I seldom get bitten even in Singapore).
Would never forget how uneven the roads were. Read plenty of reviews online about the unfriendly roads in Rome but one could never imagine that unless experienced I guess. Lugging the luggage on such roads is really challenging. And not to mention the hot weather and polluted air. Erxin Farinis spoilt it all too.

Nevertheless, there was the other side of the story.
Rome isn’t as romantic as I thought it would be, but many of the sights did not let me down.
Started with Piazza del Popolo which we just randomly ended up at on our first day after shopping at Spagna (was disappointed with Spagna shopping as Barcelona was way much better).

Taken at Piazza del Popolo

Saw the ruins which I felt that it was in a kind of random location considering its history.

We did not enter the Colosseum (running out of Euros and we were kind of lazy to be climbing around in that weather) but I was satisfied to admire it from outside. And I was surprised to find guards dressed as ancient Roman warriors outside the Colosseum taking pictures with tourists (makes it all seem SO touristy).

Some arc thing near the Colosseum

Also visited other famous sights such as the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

Presenting you the Spanish Steps first (which is like nothing, trust me)

This is me with the Trevi Fountain behind.
It's believed that by tossing a coin into the fountain with your back facing it, you will get to revisit Rome. Wells, both Jieyi and Jeanne did not toss any coin on their first visit but there they were for their second visit. And I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted to be back anyway.

This is taken at the Pantheon. Very cool, the light shining at different parts of it will actually tell you the time.

And this is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers to commemorate the soldiers whose bodies couldn't be found in World War I or something

Resting our feets on top of it and zilian-ing

And this is one hell of a funny photo
We were trying to take one without our shades blocking our eyes but Jeanne took it off altogether and I was just catching a glimpse of that when this was taken

The view on top was great - could see entire Rome and many sights could be identified

But wells, I love the Vatican City the most in Rome.

The Vatican Musuem was fun from the way we explored it. As it was their second time visiting the Vatican Museum (or rather, Rome), their spirits were not as high as mine. We ended up having yummy pizzas at the museum till we were left with less than 2hours to explore it (of course, that was because we didn’t realise that they close so early – at 4 or 5).
And the guards at the museum displayed the ‘Italian friendliness’ to the fullest (ironically though). We had a real funny encounter with two of the guards (one of whom looks like Lamps!)

Our yummy yummy pizzas! (So yummy that we got another one to share after devouring 1 slice each)

Photos taken of the Vatican Museum

Jeanne is so going to kill me for this but I really want to show how pretty the walkways are

This is a cute sculpture (and the place where we met those 2 funny Italian guards)

The Sistine Chapel inside the Vatican Museum was worth a visit too (despite all the crowd). All the paintings on the walls of the chapel was done by Michelangelo. And the most unforgettable one is the painting on the ceiling.

St Peter’s Basilica is so grand that one would regret giving it a miss. Caught a mass in action when we visited but we couldn’t be sure if the Pope was conducting it as we were too far away to ID the priest.

Jieyi and I outside the Basilica

Me inside the Basilica

Also visited the tomb of the Popes which was scary but all in all, I really enjoyed the Vatican City (which was actually the only thing I enjoyed in Rome). It’s a place whereby everyone (not only Catholics) would enjoy visiting I guess. But apart from the Vatican City, Rome is certainly the last place I would ever want to visit again in Europe.