Arrivederci Roma!

On our last day, we opted to just relax in the morning while waiting to hear mass. Packed up our stuff and just chilled, we didn't want to feel rushed anymore. We spent it taking pics at Tita Mildred's living room. And take a look at what we brought back to Bratislava. Granted, more than half was mine since I had to bring home 'pasalubongs' from Tita Mildred. I'd say there's about 12-15 kilos of cheese in there, with 4 bottles of Pesto, some salami, salsiccia and assorted chocolates. We also brought back 3 boxes of Easter cake, 1 of which was shared with our colleagues left in BTS.

And to cap off our Rome trip. we heard Palm Sunday mass at Don Bosco. The mass was in Italian, which was a new experience. We didn't have time to visit Via Appia or the catacombs anymore, but I promised myself that I will go back, possibly with Maitz, to visit the Vatican again, the Appian Way and to spend more time with our family.

All in all, my visit to Rome was a mix of ups and downs, timing could be the problem with the rally and all. And maybe we just didn't get a break with the airport security. But when I look back, and think on what I experienced, everything is overshadowed by the fact that I have been to Rome...the eternal city. The Vatican, I've been to places that have existed for centuries and have seen works of art that are unrivaled up to this day. And what's more, we had free accommodations, and such gracious hosts (thank you Tita Mildred!) What more could I have asked for?

I hope that the Trevi fountain lives up to its legend. I'm really hoping to return to Rome.

Arrivederci!

The Vatican, the rally, Bocca dela Verita and dinner at La Rustichella

Our day started with a typical Italian breakfast, cornetto with a cappuccino. Cornettos are very much like glazed or filled croissants, only heavier. The capuccino is different from our version...you hardly taste the coffee but it was delicious.

Then we headed out to the metro and planned to go back to the Colosseo and Roman Forum, then to the Bocca dela Verita and then the Vatican City. But the big rally foiled our plans to go back to the Colosseo, we knew it would be a problem because when we arrived at the Termini station, there were protesters everywhere wearing red caps and carrying flags and banners. We literally had to pull each other inside the metro to get in, and was packed tighter than a can of sardines inside the metro. Think, MRT at rush hour, only everyone was taller and bigger than you. It was a slightly frightening experience. Thankfully, most of them got out of the Colosseo station, and we stepped off at Piramide. Pics below of the protesters.

From Piramide you can find the pyramid of Caius Cestius. I don't really know what the significance of this monument is, but it was there. :) Of course, the rally also caused transportation to be scarce, so we walked to Santa Maria Cosmedin to reach the Bocca dela Verita. This 'mouth of truth' will bite off your hand if you dare say a lie with your hand in it, or so the legend goes. I didn't try to test it, I need my hands for coding. :P
Then, we were on our way to the Vatican! This was what I was truly waiting to see... The center of my faith, with such magnificence it'll take your breath away! But before that, we had our second cappuccino at Castroni caffe. I love Rome.. the coffee, the food, the history...

Afterwards, we made our way to the Musei Vaticani. I think we made a good decision to go in the afternoon or at least, around lunchtime because the morning rush is over and we don't have to wait in line too long.

The Vatican Museum is one of the most renowned museums of the world, which display some of the greatest works of art made throughout the centuries. Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel and Raphael's Rooms are within the visitors route of the museum.

I don't think a day is enough to really 'absorb' all of the treasures that can be found in the museum. And it really was an overload to see everything in a rush...and very, very tiring. Unlike the Louvre, where we took 'shortcuts' to the places we wanted to visit, we had to navigate through the entire Vatican museum to reach the Sistine chapel. This made us breeze through most of the art, so I don't think we were able to fully appreciate everything. Well, there's always a next time. Pictures are allowed except in the Sistine chapel (unfortunately), but here are some of the pics I took. :)

First, the sculptures...

They also had an Egyptian exhibit...

The Ceiling frescos... hall after hall of these amazing ceiling frescos are found all over the Vatican museum.
Paintings from Raphael's Rooms, the Fire in the Borgo and the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament.
There was so much more to see... but these are the only decent photos I have. I can't wait to come back for more. And like I mentioned, no cameras were allowed in the Sistine Chapel, but at least we were able to stop for a few minutes inside, to rest, reflect and just marvel at Michaelangelo's masterpiece. Before I continue with St.Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica, here's a pic of the Vatican museum stairs...pretty isn't it?

Before heading off to St. Peter's Square, we decided to have lunch. I wasn't able to get the name of the restaurant, but when we got there, we were famished and ordered different pizzas, pastas and risottos. They were delicious! I really loooove Italian food. :D

Stomachs full, we headed back to St. Peter's Square. There was a line, but it moved quickly. It was here that we met Aaron, a second year student from the Ateneo, who is actually representing the Philippines in a conference that was being held there. He joined our group while exploring St. Peters. Now St Peter's Basilica is probably the largest church in the world, which can hold 60,000 people (Wikipedia). Pictures below include Bernin's works, St. Peter's Throne (2nd), the baldacchino (3rd) and Michaelangelo's very famous Pieta.
Afterwards, we visited the papal tombs which are found underneath the basilica. The tomb of the late Pope John Paul II can be found here. As well as St. Peter's tomb...I swear, I felt chills in this place. It's overwhelming to be in proximity of so many past leaders of the church.

Of course, we spent some time taking exterior shots in St. Peter's Square. The chairs for Palm Sunday were already set up so we had limited angles. It also started to rain so we weren't able to take long,
We then went souvenir shopping, ate some authentic Italian gelato (courtesy of Marbi) and went grocery shopping for some Parmigiano, before meeting up with my relatives for dinner at La Rustichella.

Uncle Sol and Auntie Elise treated us to a delicious Italian dinner at La Rustichella. For my first plate, I had pasta Amatriciana, which is a classic Italian pasta. I wasn't able to finish it because the noodles uesd were so much fatter than the traditional spaghetti noodles we have and it seemed that no matter how much I ate, there was still so much pasta left! I did better in the main course of shrimps and calamari...one can never go wrong with fried seafood. :) Thank you Uncle Sol, Aunti Elise and Ale for the delicious dinner and the gifts! It was very, very nice of you all and we all had a great time. Grazie!

La Dolce Vita, Roma in 3 hours

So, to continue my story, we met up with Tita Mildred, and walked over to the Ponte Lungo metro station and stopped at Lucio Sestio. From there, we walked over to her flat and took a few minutes to freshen up and relax.

Warning us that dinner was served late, tita Mildred served us her tiramisu, which I requested her to make :P It was just as I remembered it, creamy, slightly sweet, a perfect blend of coffee, mascarpone, cream and sponge cake... molto bene! We finished half before we headed out. Check out the pic on the right, Ria was the one behind the cam.

With renewed energy, we were ready to take on Rome. In my initial itinerary, we were scheduled to check out the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps on the first day. And visit the different Piazzas along the way. Unfortunately, we were told that there would be a huge rally the next day from 5 different sectors, that would occupy the areas around the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, all the way to Circo Massimo. So, we had to squeeze in those locations into the itinerary.
First stop, the Colosseo...OMG...as soon as you get out of the metro station, you immediately see the imposing structure. For a bit history, and for those who are still unaware, the Colosseum is one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, and was host to thousands of bloody battles between gladiators and sometimes with wild animals. The Romans had a bloody taste in entertainment, and they couldn't get enough of those gladiator fights, were they literally held the life of the gladiator in their hands (thumbs actually), a thumbs up meant the gladiator could live to fight another day, and a thumbs down meant death.

You also get to see the Arch of Constantine from here... the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is actually modeled after this arch. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get in close to take pictures in detail. BTW, I want to note that I am not happy with the quality of pics that I took from my camera so some of the pics are from Ria's, Eis' and Marbi's cams. Some of my pics come out looking washed out and even yellowish (above)! Although I have no plans (or the budget) to replace my cam in the near future, so please pardon the pic quality.

We walked around and headed over to the entrance of the Foro Romano, but the entrance was already closed. So we had to make do with taking pictures of the ruins from outside. I think there was still much to see inside... but we didn't have time. I was hoping we could still see it the next day, but it depended on how big the 'rally' would be. Below is a pic of the Roman Forum from a distance. I'll upload more pics on my Facebook and Multiply albums.
Then, we headed to the Pantheon. Along the way, we stopped to take pictures of Piazza Venezia and the Victor Emmanuel II monument (Il Vittoriano).
The Pantheon is the best preserved building from Roman era, it's now used as a Catholic church, and among the illustrious dead buried here are Raphael the painter, and the first king of Italy Victor Emmanuel II. I am also uploading a video of the inside of the Pantheon, coz really pictures can not capture the beauty of the structure.

Then, we were on our way to Fontana de Trevi or simply, the Trevi fountain. One of the most recognizable landmarks in Rome, it's been featured in several movies including La dolce Vita and the Lizzie McGuire Movie. According to the myth, if you throw a coin into the fountain, it will ensure a return trip to Rome. The 'expanded' version of this myth, says that if you throw in one coin, you'll return to Rome, if you throw in 2, it will lead to a new romance, and if you throw in 3 coins, it will lead to marriage. :P Tempted as I was to throw in 6 coins into the fountain, I only threw in one, hehehe. :)

By this time, our feet were sore and we were tired...it's been a looong walk. Our last stop was the Spanish Steps. But we were so tired by then that we couldn't wait to ride the metro and go back to tita Mildred's flat, which we did after a few pics.
Back home, we still had to cook dinner. :) Tito Enrico was already home by this time, so while I helped in the kitchen, Marbi, Eis and Ria played charades with Tito Enrico as they tried to guess what he was saying since he spoke very little English. It's a good thing Tito Enrico is such a colorful character and he was so entertaining we immediately felt at ease.
The dinner consisted of, frutti de mare pasta, which is a seafood pasta, a salad with sweet vinegar and olive oil, Roast beef, salami dolce, sauteed mushrooms and for dessert, tiramisu and strawberries with orange juice and sugar, believe me this combination was perfect. We were all so very full by the time dinner was over. All in all, a good start to our Rome vacation.

Roma Rants...Fiumicino, the worst!

Just before leaving Bratislava, my teammates and I took a side trip to Rome, Italy for a few days. I have an aunt living in Rome who very graciously offered us free accommodations so we decided to take the opportunity and go. I've only had time to post my updates now because i was busy during Holy Week and preparing for my family's trip to the US soooo it's late, but hopefully still interesting. :)

Before I recount my trip to the eternal city, Roma, I will first rant about the airport. Because in all the airports I've been to... this is BY FAR the worst (yes, counting crowded domestic airports in the Phils). And I'd rather get this rant out of the way before I start talking about Rome, lest it ruin the memories.

We arrived in the Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci) Airport a few minutes ahead of schedule. However, we were made to wait about 10 more minutes in the plane as they couldn't seem to find someone to operate the stairs that would be connected to the plane. Thinking it's just a slight oversight in airport management, I let it slide. Little did I know that Fiumicino had a few more 'oversights' in store for me.

I already drew up a schedule, and we were supposed to catch the 1450 train to Tuscolana to meet up with Tita Mildred. Our schedule was packed pretty tight so every minute counted. I thought we had plenty of time to spare as we were out of the plane by 1420. But while waiting for our 1 piece of checked in luggage, it took another 40 minutes! Really, how long does it take to unload luggage? I was already getting impatient, and it was pretty obvious to my officemates, long story short, we missed the 1450 train, and barely had enough time to catch the 15:20 train. We finally met up with tita Mildred to begin our Rome adventure.

But before I continue, let me get the rest of the story off my chest... on our way back to Bratislava, Tita Mildred's husband, Tito Enrico, was kind enough to drive us to the airport. We were in pretty good spirits, and relaxed and excited to get home. We were able to check in without any problems, and then we headed over to the security check... and it was chaos.

There were hundreds of people crammed together, making their way to the security scanners at the very front. I have no idea why the airport didn't think of organizing this place.. I mean, how hard is it to set up some tape to mark a queue? After some struggling, we finally saw the semblances of several queues. So, we followed the line, with a few people cutting here and there. We were there for a while, following the slow moving line, but at least there was order.

And then. a few metres from the scanners, THE LINE ENDS and it was chaos all over again! I just can't forgive the fact that they couldn't do such a simple thing as to continue the queue all the way to the scanners! Was it too much to ask? Our bags were heavy, and patience was running thin as we had to force ourselves to stay in line. And of course, there were so many people trying to cut in line. This one woman even shoved her child in front of me to try to cut in! Out of patience, I still put my things on the conveyor and raised an eyebrow at her for good measure. Her child was practically squished by the guy in front of me, but she didn't even care just as long as she could get an opportunity to cut in line, what a horrible woman.

Anyway, I finally made my way past the damned security check. I even saw someone collapsed on the floor, probably passed out from all the pressure. It was already borading time according to my watch. But at least we were through, and we still had time to board, so we thought our troubles were over.

So we head on over to our gate, we arrived just in time for an announcement to sound that the flight to Bratislava was actually boarding in Gate X instead of Gate Y. I forgot the exact numbers, so we transferred from Gate Y, to Gate x, and stood in line.

Now, we were expecting to board, but noooo, we had to stand there like idiots WAITING FOR ANOTHER 30 MINUTES! No one even said anything, there was a girl in the counter, but she wasn't doing anything, not telling us that the plane wasn't ready to board yet... so we just stood there, waiting.

I was so pissed and annoyed and tired and I couldn't believe how our very short Rome trip could be marred by this completely annoying experience. It alsmost ruined the entire trip for me, and it probably did for my travel mates... worst airport really, you need a lot of patience for this, and I can't understand why they can't improve it.

Wow...this is a long post for a rant, but at least I'm done. Next post, living la dolce vita in Roma!