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| Colloseum |
At 7 a.m., the conductor knocked letting us know that we'd be arriving at Rome in half an hour. We quickly brushed our teeth, washed our face... then got off at Roma Termini...
... What? Eur1.00 per person to enter the toilet?! We thought it was only at Milan. Lucky, we always have a Euro in our wallet. There was a time at Milan when I saw a mum of a young kid arguing with the 'toilet guards' for not letting her in as she only had one Euro, not enough for her and the kid. I could only understand the word bambino, but I think she was arguing that she'd be let in, for the young boy need to have a company inside. She's just making an excuse... I knew that as the 3 of them, including her husband was trying to get in for just Eur1.00 that they had inserted... Hehehe I'm too nosy, eh :-)
Anyway, back at Rome Terminal, we stopped by a coffee shop and Mon bought a 'Latte'... Yeah, same scene as last night in a restaurant at Milan. When he got his order, he told me, "They gave me milk again!!!." Well, 'Latte" is an Italian word.. and it literally means 'milk'. No wonder, he always gets milk, everytime he ordered one.
Feelin' certified 'nomads'... with no shower yet and still wearing the same clothes on, we just deposited our luggage and started 'roaming' in Rome. We bought a map and unlimited daily pass for trains and buses.
Highlights:
We thought we'd start from a landmark we saw in the map somewhere at Eur Palasport. We had a hard time finding it. Been to Eur Palasport station - 'couldn't find it. Jumped to the train going to the next station - Eur Fermi. 'Couldn't find it still... And and back again to Eur Palasport. We found tha place ... but nothing special... probably one of the reason why we had a hard time finding it. One thing that caught our attention were the trains travelling to Eur Fermi. In 2 occassions, we had seen train full of grafitti.
Basilica Di San Paolo fuori Le Mura (St Paul Outside the Walls) . It is one of those churches in Rome with very elegant and intricate design . The church was erected over the tomb of St Paul. 
Pyramide - It is one of the best-preserved Ancient Buildings in Rome built about 18B.C.-12B.C., as a tomb for Caius Cestius, a magistrate and a member of one of the 4 great religious corporations in Rome. It is said that the tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance, hence not possible for visitors to access the interior.
Colosseo (Colloseum) ...the Flavian Ampitheatre. This ancient building began under Emperor Vespasian in 72A.D. and finished under his son, Titus, in 80A.D. It is probably the most famous Roman landmarks... lots of people, long queue to get inside, heaps of street sellers... 
There were locals wearing costumes of Roman soldiers in ancient times. For Eur5.00, we had a bit of fun, posing for some photos with them.
We rested for awhile. We were under the tree, eating a gelato. We imagined being in a funny movie when we saw a gorgeous Italian policewoman chasing a guy walking around, selling souvenirs to tourists. The guy disappeared. However, when the police walked away, he re-appeared again back to his business after a few minutes. Ms. Gorgeous Policewoman came back and was a bit pissed off seeing the guy again. She literally ran after him in the middle of the crowd. We were all laughing. I thought the policewoman was tall, slim and so pretty for her uniform :-)
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| Arch of Constantine |
Next to the Colloseum is the Arch of Constantine, buit sometime in 315AD to commemorate the Victory of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, over his rival Maxentius at the battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312AD.
We took a break 'roaming in Rome' to get our luggage from Roma Termini. We checked in at Holiday Inn at Aurelia and took the hotel shuttle bus back to Rome to continue with our sightseeing.
Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II . The monument was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi to celebrate the unity of Italy (1870). It begun in 1855 and inaugurated in 1911. |
| Foro di Traiano |
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| Palatine Hill |
Foro di Traiano, Palatine Hill and Foro Romano are not far from Colloseo. These are some of the many places in Rome where you can find the ancient ruins.
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| Foro Romano |
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| The Capitol |
Campidoglio (The Capitol). This is designed by Michelangelo in 1534. In the center is the statue of Marco Aurelio, the only surviving bronze equestrian statue among those that adorned Rome in ancient times.
Pantheon. It is a wonder how this classic temple is still intact until today. This is a pagan temple hosting the tombs of the famous people like Raffaello and the kings of Italy.
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| The Pantheon |
Chiesa di Santa Maria Maddalena. A 17th century Baroque style church dedicated to Mary Magdalene. It was completed in 1699, though the curved facade was completed 1735 in Rococo style. Next to the church were restaurants... It was a good walk ...esp with a busker entertaining passers-by with his accordion and those having dinner outside the resto.
Column of Marcus Aurelias at the centre of Piazza Colonna. The column bears reliefs showing Marcus' campaign against the Sarmatians (174-176 A.D.) and Germanic tribes (169-173 A.D.). It is said that inside the column was a staircase that leads to a platform at the top. It used to have the statue of Marcus Aurelias and his wife Faustina. The statue disappeared and now replaced with statue of St Paul. 
Fontana di Trevi. ♫Three coins in a fountain, ♫Each one seeking happiness♫...It was already late and the place was still packed with people. As per the info from the map, its popularity was due the legend that one's return to Rome is guaranteed by drinking its water and throwing a coin into its basin. Well according to Mon, throwing a coin guarantees a return back to Rome, 2 coins for those who are seeking a partner and three coins for those who are seeking a divorce. Justin threw 1 coin... 
It was already late, we decided to go back to our hotel and took a bus... However, we saw St Peter's square on the way, so we hopped off the nearest bus stop instead. Just took a few photos... But later on, we thought that it's really getting late, we could still go back tomorrow.
Finally... and luckily, it didn't took us long to get a cab.
21.April. Passed by some of the other places in Rome after a visit to Vatican.
Castel Sant'Angelo. Emperor Elius Adrianus wanted this as his tomb. At the time of the Romans, the place was known as Mole Adriana . The place was later transformed into a forteress and then into a castle. In the 13th century, Papal state took control over this place and found to be the shelter for Popes during war.  |
| Ponte San Angelo, taken in front of the Castle |
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| Tevere (Tiber) River is the third longes river in Italy. |
Ponte San Angelo. One of remaining ancient Roman bridges completed in 134 A.D. by Emperor Adrian. It is formerly known as Aelian Bridge or Pons Aelius, meaning the Bridge of Hadrian.
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| Palazzo della Corte di Cassazione |
Palazzo della Corte di Cassazione (also known as Palazzo di Giustizia). The Palace of Justice was erected in 1888-1911. It is the seat of the Supreme Court. Romans call the building; Palazzaccio" because of its huge dimensions and exaggerated decorations.
More Photos:
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