Rome in 15 HOURS

***taken from my multiply***

Never in my wildest dreams did I actually think that I'll get to visit Rome. Not only is the ticket expensive, it's too far from the Philippines :P The farthest I've been to is our province in Butuan. But the Lord has blessed me and I was able to reach Italy and get back to Sweden alive to write about the trip. So, for those planning to go on a Euro trip and Rome is in your itinerary (and it should be!!), I hope this helps.

Rome is the capital of Italy and is known as the la Citta Eterna (the Eternal City). It's pretty congested (w/ people), almost like Manila.. low-rise apartments, laundry hanging to dry on the balcony and rooftops, vandalism in every corner.. think Ermita or Intramuros and central Rome is just like that. Good thing that the famous architectures, museums, and Piazzas were well worth the trip. If it's your first time in Rome and you only have 15 hours to tour, it's better to take advantage of the hop on-hop off tour buses. I think the standard price is 16EUR for a day-pass. You won't be able to go to all the famous places (Rome wasn't built in a day, and you can't tour it in one day either :P) but you're sure that you'll get to see the top 10 places at least. Read on and I'll bring you (virtually) to the spots we visited :P

Bocca della Verita If you've seen the film Only You (Robert Downey Jr & Marisa Tomei), this monument will be very familiar to you. The Mouth of Truth is the lie detector of Ancient Rome. Legend has it that it will bite off your hand if you're telling a lie while your hand is in the mouth of the sculpture.

Piazza Navona This Piazza is one of the most famous squares in Rome. It houses Bernini's famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) and Porta's Fontana di Nettuno and Fontana del Moro. When we were there, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was under restoration and was protected by glass windows. So.. too bad for us. It reminded me of Eastwood: human statues (like the one here with the moving mermaids) and an open market full of people selling paintings and other artsy fartsy stuff. Take note.. Italians have love handles too. Mabuhay ang love handles!!!

Pantheon While looking for the Pantheon, we passed by a lot of small streets. So you can just imagine our surprise when we turned around the corner and ended up in a square with a majestic building in the center. Small street after small street then Pantheon. huuwaaat?! It was sooo crowded with people all wanting to take pictures of the famous dome. The Pantheon, in ancient times, was a temple for the gods, then converted into a Christian church, then converted into a tomb. Multipurpose :P The hole on the top of the dome is supposed to be symbolic of the sun, and is the only source of light of the whole structure.

Basilica di San Pietro Goodness gracious great balls of fire.This has to be the highlight of my whole visit in Rome. Words can't even describe how spectacular the Basilica is. Everywhere you look, there are sculptures or paintings, or etching or whatever artwork you can think of. And the sculptures!!! They're bigger than life-size!!! Hands down to Bernini. Did you know that the Basilica was built on top of St. Peter's burial site? Yep. Kurek. The popes are also buried here.. but no pictures allowed inside the mausoleum. And here's the thing.. water from the fountains are drinkable... so we had our refills there. To save our pocket money cos water's expensive :P BTW, watch out for the guards.. Not because they're strict but.. because they're drop-dead gorgeous.

Colosseum This doesn't need any intro. You all know what this is. You haven't been to Rome if you don't have a picture with the Colosseum as background. We weren't able to go inside cos it closed early. To those who don't know what the Colosseum is (shame on you), it was used before as venue for gladiatorial shows - like the movie Gladiator (Russell Crowe). While in the area, we also visited the Arch of Constantine and the Roman Forums, but really didn't appreciate it cos it was too dark.

Fontana di Trevi This should've been the last stop of the day because we were already sooo tired from walking. So from the Colosseum, we walked to Fontana di Trevi because there were no more tour buses at this time and we didn't want to waste our precious Euros on public transpo :P I'm telling you.. I've never walked this much in all my life. So finally, we reached the Fountain.. This was already around 11:45PM and the place was jam-packed. We literally had to squeeze in with other tourists to take a picture. It's tradition to throw a coin into the fountain to ensure your return to Rome.. so I threw 2 coins so I'll return to Rome twice. After the long walk and picture galore.. we got gelatos (2.50 euros, 3 flavors)... It looks good and it tastes even better :P Good bye Cold Rock. Because we got recharged after eating ice cream (sugar rush), we decided to check out one last stop...

Piazza de Spagna This place looked really good in the pictures. But unfortunately.. it was not so photogenic when we got there. The Spanish Steps had this big ad at the top, there were no flowers lined up, and it was full of locals. Hang-out place for them. So.. after ONE picture, we got a cab and left. Hehe.

Of course, we needed a place to stay (sleep for 5hrs is more like it) in Rome, and hotels were out of the question. We simply couldn't afford it. Well, we actually can, but we chose to be frugal and spend the allowance on other stuff :P So, we stayed at Domus Diana, a Bed & Breakfast within walking distance from the Colosseum and the Termini Station. Super affordable and it served its purpose -- a place to sleep. Diana was there herself to welcome us and showed us around her place. No air-conditioning, but the weather was great when we were there.

So there. It's as if you've been to Rome as well :P The sad part of the trip is we weren't able to go inside the Vatican or the Colosseum.. that would've made the trip even better. I'll save it for next time, since I'm returning there anyway :P Ciao!!!