Adventures in Europe – First stop – Rome – Day 2

Second day of Rome was devoted to the Vatican City. Did you know that Vatican is a state and its people are not citizens but are subjects? Well, I didn’t till this trip. The info was imparted by a tour guide that we had engaged for a visit to Vatican City Museums and the Sistine Chapel. The guide didn’t come cheap. It costs us €41.00 per person including the entrance tickets. Though he was knowledgeable about Vatican, I found that I wasn’t able to absorb that information much. Many of the names and history went in one ear and came through the other. I probably only retained 5% of what I heard!

We didn’t know that the pope was making an appearance on that very day we visited Vatican but there were tons of people who knew it and thronged the entire place. Two of my friends would have gone to catch a glimpse of him had we not booked the tour earlier. So as we walked towards the Vatican museums to meet up with the tour guide, large hordes of tourists were walking in the opposite directions.

Entrance to the museums

Adventures in Europe – First stop – Rome – Day 1

Dear all,

Went for a Europe trip 1.5 months back with friends and it’s been a long time since I’ve gone for a long break – 20 over days to be exact. The trip was really an eye-opener. We went from Rome-Florence-Venice-Milan-Paris-London, and transited in Hongkong before returning to Singapore. Fare was S$1212 from Singapore to Hongkong to Rome and we returned from London to Hongkong to Singapore. It was considered cheap but I had another colleague who went to Italy on just $800++ on Emirates, barely two weeks later than my trip. I could have easily used that $200 to get more souvenirs! But well, it’s all a matter of luck and I’m fine with paying $1212.

We reached Rome at about 7 plus, after more than 15 hours of flight, including transit time. I love flying on plane for the beautifully arranged food on trays, served by well-groomed stewardesses and the anticipation of a whole new experience at the end of the flight. It’s magical when you think how the invention of planes enable any person with a little extra cash to go to another country to experience life. While I’ve heard how some people hate airline food, I simply love it. There was plently of food offered and tea breaks during the long haul. What I usually do is I keep leftovers in my bag so that I can eat it when I’m hungry later on. So my routine is to bring a roomy bag on board and keep food, erm.. yes, I am one of those guilty of stealing airline’s blankets. Why? Because it is convenient and you’ll never know whether you need them when you move from city to city. I use them as either pillows or blankets, depending on my needs. Do I see it as stealing? Not really since the cost of missing blankets would have been included in all fares (lousy justification but that a matter of perspective).

How’s Rome?