Linda and me, we both woke up early and went downstairs to get our morning treat of latte.

Linda and me having our lattes

Later, as planned yesterday, we went to visit the Vatican City. We walked to the Roma Termini (Bus & Train Terminal) and took bus No. 40 to the Vatican City. We bought our tickets (€1 each) from a news stand nearby the termini. The owner of the stand noticed that we speak Malay and spoke “satu, dua” to us. We were very surprised and asked how did he knew the language. He said he can speak a few. That is so good to know! Hidup Bahasa Melayu!!! 1Dunia!

The termini is the one in middle. I wanted to take picture of the guy who speaks Malay but we were so in a hurry to catch the bus!

The bus ride was a pleasant one and we hop off the last stop and had to walk about 10 minutes to the St. Peter Square. It was a pleasant walk as well..we weren’t sweating at all!

St. Peter Square

St. Peter Basilica

Linda with her favourite angels

A Vatican City winged permanent resident

After Vatican City, we went to the Fontana de Trevi (Trevi Fountain). The Trevi fountain was the setting for an iconic scene in Federico Fellini’s film La dolce vita starring Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni. Part of the fountain is replicated at the Italy Pavilion at Epcot in Walt Disney World, USA.

A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. I did not throw a coin, i want to go elsewhere next! lol!

Just right in front of the fountain, we found two interesting men…

a funny man and a chestnut man

Not far from the fountain, along Via Delle Muratte, we found a group of watercolor artists selling original paintings of Rome.

Later, we try to make our way to Palazzo de Quirinale (current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic) on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome, but we got lost. We walked about two hours but still couldn’t find the place.

Lost in Rome

But worry not, it was a pleasant lost! Haha! We got to see interesting buildings along the way. We later had our lunch and returned to the hotel. Tomorrow we’ll be going to the morning market at 7am and checking out of the hotel at 10am and later take a train to Bologna. Maybe…maybe we’ll do Florence after that if we’re not to tired.

Till tomorrow, buonanotte! (goodnight in Italian)

Hello!! Buongiorno!

Yay! Am blogging live from Italy! My publisher, Linda Tan and me arrived safely in Rome at 8.20am in the morning despite the scheduled 5.30am arrival. The flight from KUL to ROM was delayed for more than two hours and we had to switch aircraft as the one we were boarding was having a problem.

As we arrived, we were fetched by a driver sent by the owner of B&B Maggiore (the place we’re staying) and the journey took about an hour despite a 45 minutes drive. The driver couldn’t find the place!

from the airport to Rome

The building where B&B Maggiore is situated

Upon settling down at B&B Maggiore, we had a quick rest and later went walking to Coliseo de  Roma or better known as Colosseum (in Latin). We didn’t really went into the theatre because the queue was so long!! The walk to Coliseo was about 15 minutes and we enjoyed the view very much.

Here is me, a self potrait using tripod and remote, inside my room at B&B Maggiore: