Every part of Rome once stood a fountain, statue or monument and over time due to natural disasters & men all these were damaged or now under the ground they once stood.
2. Trevi Fountain
This is my favourite fountain and definitely the most outstanding looking one. Trying to get a spot for photo taking was tough. The human traffic there was crazy. It is the façade of a large palace decorated with statues and heaps of rocks with water gashes from every part. There is a legend again that whoever drinks the water or throws a coin in the fountain will assure his return back to Rome. I didn’t as I don’t believe in legend and I was in a foul mood that day haha.
3. St Peter’s Basilica & Sistine Chapel
The Vatican City is the headquarters of the pope (Yes Pope Benedict XVI is like an idol with poster, calendar and mug with picture of him everywhere) and it houses both St Peter’s & Sistine Chapel. The compound is magnificently huge and it is no doubt one of the biggest churches in the world. It is a Must See sight so queuing 1 hour plus in the hot sun is nothing compared to the norm 2 – 3 hours (we heard), I seriously need to buy a hat soon to protect my hair from burning. Entering the church is Wow! (I always laugh at Alvin for putting so many pictures in his post and I am becoming like him so please refer to Flickr for the photos of the interior.) We gave the dome a miss, the number of steps to climb with a cheaper price compared to elevator and still as many steps turned my legs off. We went to visit the Sacred Grottoes instead and paid tribute to John Paul II.
Sistine Chapel is where Michelangelo’s master piece is. It is at the very end of the Vatican Museum and we or should I said most of the people rushed through the statues, sarcophagus, stopped a while longer at Raphael Rooms and followed the arrows to Sistine Chapel. Up down left right in no particular order, we finally enter the chapel. The ceiling and the walls looked amazingly astonishing! Even an amateur like me was blown away, sitting at a corner admiring the great piece of Art. No Photos echoed in the chapel from the security personnel yet we can’t help not taking any with a few flashes from those indiscreet ones. At the end of the day, we have stiff neck from looking at the ceilings. Start your day early for the Vatican!
4. Ice-cream @ Italian Oldest Ice-cream Factory
MMmmm waited all these while to try the ice cream in Italy. Found this oldest ice-cream factory near our guesthouse. 3 huge scoops of different flavours for 1.50EUR. The pistachio and fresh cream is good. Locals were buying tubs of them home.
5. The hot hot weather 34 degree!
Remember people please don’t do Italy or Europe in June. Hotter than back home and staying out for the whole day is a torture therefore the experience and quality of time will be compromise. Lots of drinking fountain around Rome to refill your water bottle and to cool yourself.
6. A bottle of ice cold Beer everyday!
Tried almost all the Italian brands of beers. It is so refreshing cold and taste absolute like sparkling water. Opps!
7. My leather gladiator sandals. Total footwear = 6 (2 Crocs, 1 Adidas, 1 black boots, 1 flip flop & 1 sandals). So many leather goods in Rome and so tempted to buy a leather jacket to keep myself warm in my future travels but SGD$400. Sob.. Very soft leather.. Some other time.
Yes I have a black-nail toe since the trip. I think I hurt it before leaving and it bled internally therefore it is black. I have to wait for it to grow and slowly cut it off. A plaster on the other toe from the new sandals and to date I have 8 footwear haha.
8. Spanish Steps.. not really
No beautiful photos at the Piazza di Spagna. The obelisk at the foreground in front of the church is still under restoration. (I used the word still as I took a look at Duckie’s blog when she was there late last year, obelisk is under restoration too.) Sitting on the steps and people watch is a good past time but only at the shaded area. Just for a while though as you will be “disturbed” by mobile vendors selling fake bags & sunglass, accessories and even single stalk rose with no sleeve or water tube. There is Mr Gladiator for a photo taking at a small price. Follow the small path right ahead, Via Condotti, home to many designer shops. By the way, it is not true that it is cheaper to buy Prada in Milan. They have a standard pricing throughout Europe.
Taken from a website, you can see the obelisk back there.
Sitting at the roof top penning this post and spending the 5th lonely day to myself is a nice feeling. Even though we only do minimum 6 hours a day of sight seeing with at least 8 hours of sleep each day to last this long. Staying in and not do anything is rejuvenating with a glass of Latte from the Nespresso Machine. We haven’t done any sight seeing in Milan except window shopping. Yeah!
[Jen is coming home soon in a week or 2]
Taken from a website, you can see the obelisk back there. 
