Rome

Rome is without a doubt the most magnificent place we have ever visited so far.

we booked a day trip to the Vatican

famous spiral staircase

can you believe that those are paintings on the ceilings and not carvings? it is some special techniques used to project a 3 dimensional effect. amazing.

next, we booked a half day trip to Tivoli to see some ancient ruins

villa andriana

we knew next to nothing about roman history and all the different emperors, so it was interesting to hear about the stories behind the places we were visiting.

this used to be a summer palace, and the photo above, believe it or not, is the bedroom of the emperor Hadrian. there is a moat all around his bedroom that can only be accessed from the inside, so that he can choose who he wants to meet.

Tivoli Villa d'Este

next we went to this huge garden called Villa d'Este which has like 1000 fountains.
damn pretty la.

so that was the first day.

second day we booked a 3 hour segway tour which was the absolute highlight of the trip!
we are seriously addicted to segway. it is such a convenient and fast way to travel!!

walking is so 2010.

Rome on segway

being on a segway meant we were able to cover so much in 3 hours, especially since rome is built on 7 hills, so we didn't have to climb up and down those hills to enjoy the sights.

st peter's basilica in the distance

the segway guide was great and brought us to some little known places.

like this spot, where she told us to peek through a keyhole

malta embassy in rome

and this was what we saw

st. peter basilica!

fun fact was that by peeking through this, we effectively saw 3 countries, i.e. Italy, Malta, and Vatican. =)

3 hours flew by. and walked around till evening for a "private night tour of the Colosseum"

Roman Forum along to way to Colosseum

private just means you have to book through the tour agency instead of buying tickets at the booth, cos the Colosseum closes to the public at 7pm.

but at least we didn't have to queue for hours, and there are less people in the tour, which means i didn't have to fight for spots to take photos.

walking into the arena

tunnel system of the Colosseum

i've seen this in its prime in "Gladiator" and i've seen the current state in "Jumper" but nothing beats being there for myself, listening to the guide describing what the slaves had to do, and the conditions they had to do it in.

spectator's view of the Colosseum

so after seeing it from the gladiators' and slaves' perspectives, we went to the second floor and saw what the audience saw.

50,000 to 70,000 people would fill the place to see man fight man, man fight animal, and public executions.
i told her, if only internet was invented earlier, then people won't be so bored to resort to such "entertainment". then i remember even now, some people still watch WWF.

so, maybe internet is not the solution.


there is so much to see in Rome.
standing before the ruins, we really get a picture of how far human civilisation have come.
plus, the guides showed us images of how those buildings would have looked at those times, and we were just in awe at the size and majesty of it all.
what more, they had to do all those without machines.


we couldn't cover everything in 4 days, so hopefully 1 day we will get to go back again.