From Rome to Tuscany
It had been my dream to visit the countryside of Italy and when I got the flight booked few days earlier than Bologna’s Children Book Fair, I quickly agreed to follow my illustrator friend from Indonesia, Evelyn, to visit Arcidosso, a commune located in the Grosseto province, Tuscany region.
When I arrived at Fiumicino Airport in Rome,Italy, I quickly got on the next Leonardo Express (Trenitalia) train to Roma Termini, the main railway station of Rome, Italy. I paid Euro 14 for the ticket. I know I could get on the cheaper train but I was running late to meet Evelyn. I promised her to be at the termini around 1pm. The time was 1.30pm.
The station has regular train services to all major Italian cities, as well as daily international services to Paris, Munich, Geneva, Basel, and Vienna. With twenty-nine platforms and over 150 million passengers each year, Roma Termini is one of the largest railway stations in Europe.
Termini is also the main hub for public transport inside Rome. Both current Rome Metro lines (A and B) intersect at Termini metro station, and a major bus station is located at Piazza dei Cinquecento, the square in front of the station. However, the main tram lines of the city cross at Porta Maggiore, some 1,500 metres east of the station.
When I reached the station, first thing I did was to look for Evelyn. I found her at the main entrance waiting with her host in Rome, Pasquel. She got herself on airbnb room for few days at Pasquel’s home. Before we leave for Grosseto, I got myself a Vodafone prepaid data sim card for Euro 35. It is valid for one month.
Later, Evelyn and I bought our tickets to Grosseto by using one of the ticket machines located almost everywhere at the station. The fare to Grosseto is Euro12.95 each. We got the 16.20pm ticket so while waiting for the time to board the train, we walked a bit to Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore just to pass the time. I had been there before.
The piazza (or square in English) is a place where Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and Baroque bronze statue of Mary and child are situated. The current church dates from the time of pope Sixtus III, who reigned from 432 to 440 while the statue was erected in 1614.
After sitting at the piazza for an hour admiring buidings, we walked back to the station to catch our train to Grosseto.
The journey took us about 2 and a half hour before reaching Grosseto Station. Took some pictures along the way.
By the time we got there, the night already fell. We bought a bus ticket of Euro 4 to get to Arcidosso.
At first we did not know which bus to take. We asked around and a bus driver told us to take bus number 15 or 30. Then another bus driver came to us. He had heard our conversation. He told us to take any bus to Sienna, get down at Paganico and take another bus to Grosseto. He spoke in Italian with a little bit of sign language so that we understand what he was trying to convey. He had been so helpful and we thanked him In Italian words: grazie mille (million thanks). He seemed happy that we speak a little Italian.
If he had not told us that, I think Evelyn and me would’ve ended in the middle of nowhere in Tuscany. But I did told Evelyn that if we got lost, we should find any hotel and stay for the night before finding our way to Grosseto the next day.
A bus came and we saw that the sign shows that it will go to Sienna, so we boarded the bus. The journey took more than two hours to reach and we had to change bus at Paganico before reaching Archidosso. When we reached Arcidosso small town, it was around 9pm and most shops were already closed. As we walked looking for the place that we would be staying (Lorenzo’s Place), we saw one pizza shop that was about to close. We dropped by and ask for direction. The boy was so kind to show us the way and finally we reached Lorenzo’s Place.
Stay tuned for my blog post on Archidosso.
Getting to Rome: KLM operated 2 time(s) daily from KUL to FCO (Rome).
98 Comments
FARAHANA
SubhanaAllah cantiknya. Kak Emi bertuah betul, kami tumpang tuah tengok tempat cantik-cantik ni.
Ann
Love this story…
Ann
Pretty busy right now…
Ann
Will come back for this post…
Ann
Sis emila…tq for sharing ur precious experienced with us. I just feel like be there n enjoy admiring those buildings
jaja
piazza!!!!
hehe… i watched the amazing race 24 latest episode and remember exactly this word!!!!
jaja
Kak Em… piazza yang kak em pergi ni Spanish Steps kan?
jaja
indeed….. walaupun tak dapat pergi ke sana, atleast boleh mimpi2 tengok gambar…
jaja
me too…
jaja
betul tu farah…. bertuah kami semua dapat baca post kak em
jaja
pretty busy but you just grab no.2 spot.. 😀
jaja
😀 😀 😀
jaja
insyaallah kalau ada peluang… kita semua dapat pergi itali.. 😀
jaja
kita doakan kak em offer GA pergi italy.. yeay!!!!
jaja
Bagus Kak Em tulis post macam ni… banyak maklumat dapat…
jaja
the best thing reading a post from a traveler like Kak Em…
we will get lot of important tips that might be useful if go to that places someday….. 😀
jaja
this story is love love love.. 😀
jaja
Kak Em, berapa bajet $$$??? 😀
Lya
Sure mahal tuuu
Lya
Kalau lah mampu..huhu
Lya
Rasa mcm sronok je…
Lya
Warna bagi
Lya
Ops! Typo…
Lya
Warna bangunan cantik!
Lya
Aminnnnnnnnnn
Lya
Hahahahahahahahayaha
Lya
Jaja Jaja Jaja
Lya
Di mana 2 ada Jaja ni…hehehe rain aihhh
Lya
Nak piiiii
Farahana
Nk ikut!
Farahana
Wow semua org dh bertuah ke hadapan ni macam tk
Mampu je nak
Kejar
Farahana
Rombongan Cik kiah
Farahana
Boleh aja sekarang kak Emi
Banyak dpt sponsor kita dia kak Emi murah rezeki kita tumpang sama sekali
Farahana
Aamiin
Farahana
Yup! Love
Love
Farahana
Wowwwee
Ann busy but leading !!
Farahana
Jaja kita nk
Number dua…
Farahana
Jaja ann Dahsyatnya…komen kita boleh sampai ke Italy ni panjangnya
Farahana
Jaja kalau nk mimpi apa kata jaja tido je boleh takkk
Farahana
Jaja first baca duk ingt Pizza. Hahahah motip makanan
Farahana
Pizza plak mmg asal dari Italy kan owwww jaja ingt semua tau! Nnt kalau pergi boleh tulis balas post kak Emi
Farahana
Sgt Bagus Mcm kak Emi tulis pengalaman dia g Disneyland
jaja
ann komen berantai-rantai… tu susah nak kejar.. 😀
Farahana
Sgt berguna semua maklumat kak
Emi kongsikan nj
Farahana
Phewitttt jaja tnya bajet tk lama
Lg nk pergi le tu
jaja
farah pergilah berehat-rehat.. tak payah kejar.. hehehhe
Farahana
Kak Emi Ada sponsorship hebat ! Kalau kita pergi tabung gajah pun Kena pecah
Farahana
InsyaAllah kita sama sama doa
Farahana
Bukan Mcm seronok mmg seronok tu!
Farahana
Sangat cantik
Farahana
Kak Emi tk de selfie hahah suka tangkap gambar pemandangan aje..
jaja
dari emila ke itali… hehehehe
jaja
amin…
Lya
Hehehe…nak survive bulan2 pun je uh. Ini kan nak g sana..huhu
Lya
Setuju sgttttt
Farahana
Ahhahaha jaja jahat nk pi Italy kena latih la kt sini
Farahana
Love love is in The air
Farahana
Jaja sengih utk sapa tu
jaja
saya nak no 1 @ no 2
Lya
Nk no 1…. Hehe
emila
Jom rombongan Cik Kiah!
emila
Welcome!
emila
Tak ada! Hehehe. Gemuk la, malu nak enter frame!
emila
Jom! Seriously! Why not kita buat rombongan? Untuk tahun 2015 atau 2016. So sempatlah semua kumpul duit. Ok tak?
emila
Hehe…cuba nasib, tengok-tengok dapat sponsorship. Alhamdulillah. Kalau sendiri, memang tak pergi lagi la jawabnya…
emila
Budget duit kapalterbang pergi balik dalam RM3000. Dah sampai sana, ada pengangkutan tambang murah so, kalau bawa Euro 300 pun dah cukup.
emila
Ok sangat!
emila
Hehehhee
Lya
Sgt2 setuju!
Lya
Kak emi..teringin tu memang teringin..tapi byk kekangan. Huhu kena tunggu coming baby ni Lahore dgn selamat n besar sket. Then baru leh plan g honeymoon huhuhu
Lya
Lucu la Kak emi ni -.-,
Lya
Lahir
Lya
Yup! Agree!
Lya
Jenuh*
Lya
Aminnnnnnnnnn
Lya
Yeayyyyyyyy
Lya
Hehehe…asyik nk tumpang je kita ni ~
Lya
😛 peace!
jaja
gambar profil kat sebelah tu cantik je.. 😀
jaja
peace.. 😀
jaja
Kak Em, rombongan tahun 2020, itu pun kalau duit ada masyuk… hehehe 😀
jaja
cantik cantik cantik…. 😀
FARAHANA
ok je yang nk ikut semua mmg geng kiah kiah sesuai ni..
FARAHANA
Lya: tumpang tuah tumpang kasih sayang okeh la tu.phewitttt..
FARAHANA
haahha yela kak emi, yassin pun takde kikiii kalau tkde selfie kena pakai monopod.
FARAHANA
Peace no war
FARAHANA
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy hoooooooooooooooooo
jaja
latihan senaman jari.. 😀
jaja
kesian orang yang namanya kiah… popular kat blog kak em.. 😀
jaja
farah, suruhlah kak em sponsor…. hehehehe
jaja
asyik typo je lya..
Hazural
walaupun x dapat pergi sana… tapi bila baca coretan kak em… macam dah sampai sana plak 😀
Yukino Hinata
europe is my travel wish list. france is the most desirable besides england. 😀
Hafsah ahmad
That was an adventure.
Hafsah ahmad
Since the last few post (because i read the post backwards. Hahaha), i’ve been wondering how you communicate with the locals. Heee
Hafsah ahmad
And now i know new italian phrase:grazie mille. Hehehe
Hafsah ahmad
I realized that italy also has a lot of statues, various architectures etc. I guess that’s one of the reason italy has been your dream country to travel.
Hafsah ahmad
Allah utuskn org2 yg baik to show you the way. Alhamdulillah…