2009 Europe Honeymoon, 1st Stop: ROMA!!

When in Rome, do what the Romans do.....

Our very 1st long distance trip to Europe. About 10,000km across the globe, 13hours of direct flight by our national pride, the Singapore Airline.

A surprise gesture from SIA! They gave us a cake for our honeymoon on our flight! But we were told that we couldn't bring it thru the Italian custom. We had to eat as much as we could before we touched down.

Finally!! we touched down in Rome! There are 2 airports in Rome. Fiumicino "Leonardo da Vinci" airport serves international flights. The other Ciampino airport serves mainly domestic.

After we had cleared the Custom and picked up our luggage and map, we headed straight to the railway station for the connecting train, Leonardo Express, into the city, Roma Termini station. The train station is shown in the picture above.

Each train ticket cost €11, S$22.9. It is a 30min train ride, available at every half hourly interval. Buy it thru ticket office, self -service kiosk or newspaper seller stall - tobacconist.

Borrowed a DSLR camera from my sister prior to this trip and she had given me a 1 day crash-course to learn how to use the camera multi-function modes. Anyway, most of the pictures are slightly out of focus or blurred. So the bottom line is: it's not how good the camera is, it's whether you know how to use it...

The Leonardo Express train. The airport train don't have the state-of-art outlook unlike those in Japan.

But the interior is clean and comfortable. Make sure you retain your train ticket as the train conductor may come round to validate your ticket. Failing to produce one constitute to a fine.

Cam-whoring along the way.

Enjoying the scenery of sub-urb Rome

Graffiti were a common sight along the way. To them it's art, in Singapore it's vandalism...

Arrived at Roma Termini where we had to change to a city Metro to our hotel. A less maintained Leonardo Express (above)... Roma Termini is a large train terminal where there are many connecting trains to other parts of Italy and Europe. One thing to note is to take extra care of your valuables and bags at the train stations..


City map of Rome. Our hotel was circled in black. About 3km from Vatican City, 2km from Colosseum, 500m from Trevi Fountain.

We had reached our hotel!! Hotel De Petris, €80 per night. Nice, clean, simple hotel with good spread of breakfast. But don't expect 5-star chain hotel standard, in Rome city, all buildings are old historical restored buildings. Offices, hotels, restaurants, etc are not suppose to alter or make major changes to the architecture.

The most interesting things of this hotel was the lift. It was retrofitted into the stairwell. Otherwise all guests had to climb stairs to get to the upper floors.

Very interesting.. Only could fit 2 of us with luggage.  

Enough walking space in the room..

Small ensuite bathroom. Still ok for small size asian. But it is a little cramp for one of bigger size.
After we checked in the room and freshened ourselves, we were ready to explore the ancient Rome....


Day 1 Itinerary: (noon) Palatine Hill - The Forum - Colosseum - (evening) Trevi Fountain

 Look at the slopes in Rome...

Cobblestone walkways all around Rome. Please be warned to wear thick proper footwear... Also dragging your suitcases along these bumpy road was not fun... At some point, lifting up the luggage made walking much easier.

 Varieties of pizza. We ate these most of the days.

 Beers were cheaper than coke.

 Colosseum!!! After 30min of walking and snacking.

 Beautiful place. A MUST visit when in Rome. We visited during the off peak season. Imagine the crowd during peak season.

 TIP: Buy your Roma Pass entrance ticket at The Forum to skip the ticketing queue at Colosseum. The Roma Pass entitles your entry into Colosseum and The Forum. Just hold the ticket in your hand and walk towards the turnstile.

Ruins in Palatine Hill. Nothing very interesting here, but since it was include in the ticket, we just strolled through it.

A very good view of Colosseum.

 Inside Colosseum. Pictures taken using digicam as the DSLR ran out of battery!! OMG!! Lesson learnt, always bring a spare battery along.

 Street art along the way. Chalk mural on the pavement.

Victor Emmanuel Monument, "the Wedding Cake"


Day 2 Itinerary: (morning) Trevi Fountain - Spanish Step - (noon) Via del Corso shopping street

Still suffering a little jet-lag aftermath, we woke up early and walked over to Trevi Fountain to avoid the crowd at this site. The sound of splashing fountain in the serenity cold morning was unforgettable. There was a saying - "throw a coin and make a wish and you will return to Rome again".. We did that..

 Spanish Step in the late morning. In summer, this place will be crowded.

 Art paintings on sale along the way.

 Via del Corso, their main shopping street.

Streets of Rome..

We went back to Trevi Fountain to take some night shots of this beautiful place under floodlights.


Day 3 Itinerary: (morning) Vatican City - Vatican Museum - St. Peter's Basilica - Pantheon - (evening) Colosseum


Today we planned to spend the whole day in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Vatican City.

Inside their Metro.

Metro station

Alighted at Cipro-Musei Vaticani Station for the Vatican Museum. It was drizzling a little along the way to the entrance of Vatican City. If you intended to visit the St Peter's first, then alight at Ottaviano Station.

Inside Vatican Museum, Egyptian artifacts.

It would be good if you rent one of those audio guides or join a tour in the museum.

The Greek section.

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel's very elaborate ceiling. What a sight! Although we were not a big fan of art, but this really wowed us.


St. Peter's Basilica, one of the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and one of the largest church in the world.

The interior.. slightly blurred.. Do take note that dress code applies for St Peter's. 

Its dome is the tallest in the world.

320 steps to the top of cupola for a magnificent view of Vatican City.

Half way there... tired..

A rewarding breathtaking view of St Peter's square and beyond. No building is allowed to exceed the height of St Peter's.

On St Peter's square..

On our way back from Vatican to Rome city, we passed by another majestic site, Castel Sant' Angelo.

So many beautiful architectural buildings..

Resting in front of the Pantheon. One of the best preserved among all Roman buildings.

We went back to Colosseum that night to take some night shots of the ancient amphitheater.

This was our last night in Rome before we leave for Florence the next morning. There were so much to explore in Rome and 3 nights were just not enough. We will come back to Rome again in the future.