WHEN IN ROME

Writing this at 9.16 PM with my determination to continue this post before I forgot everything. So let's start with my 2nd stop which is Rome!

We landed in Rome around noon and went straight to the Termini (which is the central train station) by...BUS. Yep, you read that correctly, I totally forgot why we take the bus but a quick pro-tip for you to save money is to pre-book your tickets. All kinds of tickets whether it's a museum, park, bus or whatever because the price difference is quite high when you buy it on the spot. Sometimes you can't even buy the tickets on the spot. Watch out for pickpockets as well! I've seen a few attempts of people try to steal something from me, especially since I looked like a tourist. I mean, I cannot help to look like a tourist since I am Asian...the struggle guys...*sigh*

Colloseum

Victor Emmanuel II Monument

I am actually kind of disappointed on how dirty the city was (or probably because I am not staying in the fancy area) dog poop and trash are scattered everywhere. The train smells really bad, the stations are dirty. But on the other hand the buildings was definitely beautiful. My favorite was Fontana di Trevi, obviously. It was beautiful and the best part was we went there just after the fountain got renovated so it looks very clean.

Fontana di Trevi

Food wise, I did not expect how tomato-ey the pasta was. Unlike anything I ate in Jakarta, it still tasted really different but on the other side, my food horizon was also broaden because I've never tasted tiramisu that special except in here. It was so good!

This one is special, we literally booked an hour train ride to Tivoli just to visit Villa D'Este. If you watched Lizzie Mc Guire the Movie then you'll definitely know what exactly I'm talking about. We arrived at noon, and it was already cloudy, so after we went out of the train station, the shortcut to the city was crossing this long scary bridge because 1. It was cloudy, 2. We are afraid of being robbed. So we walked very fast and arrived at the "city". But boy, apparently the location was very far from the train station and the sign was not clear at all. Without any reception nor data plan on our phone, we literally only prayed that we can read maps correctly.

The Fontana Dell'Ovato

The Villa was not that special but the "backyard" is the one I'm talking about. It has around 5 or 6 big water fountain! Not only that but all of the fountains were NOT run by electricity, because the villa was made in a terraced style, so all of the waters that runs through those fountains only done by gravity. One special fountain also features organ where in certain hours, a small door will opened up and play some music on the back of the fountain and the organ runs by water! How cool is that?

Fountain of the Organ

The Fountain of Neptune

As you can see from the picture below, the struggle is when you're done going around and you have to climb those stairs to reach the villa at the top.

Villa D'Este

Bridge in front of Castel Sant'Angelo

Vatican

We've also visited Vatican, but only went on the outside because we don't have much time (and money) but just looking on the outside, the building was majestic. All those statues and the details, makes everything looks beautiful. I also felt both interior and architecture in Rome were not that "colorful" compared to Paris. The colors were a lot softer and subtle.

Vatican

I don't think I have the greatest experience in Rome to be honest, the prices are acceptable but probably because of mostly gloomy weather I cannot really enjoy the city. I truly believe Rome has it's golden era back then and that what makes Rome how it is now.