7th June 2013 - Upon arrival in Rome (1st day)

Rome is our first summer trip destination. We took off from Leeds Bradford airport by Jet2flight in the morning. That was our first time with that carrier and we had an awesome experience with it. The pilot kept updating the location so we could see the cities from the bird view. The first city that he mentioned was Paris but we could not find Eiffel tower due to the hazy weather. As passing over Switzerland, we saw snowy mountains and green blue lakes.

The view from the window

We were so excited and eager to start the journey as soon as touching down Fiumicino airport. One thing that I hate the most is waiting and I got so frustrated with the management at the airport. There were a lot of tourists beside us and everyone got stuck for almost an hour to pass the immigration checkpoint. During that waiting, we met a lovely Malaysian woman who was already a permanent resident in Leeds; she came to Rome to attend a friend's wedding. She reminded us to take care of our belongings while being in a crowd. Pick-pocketing has been a serious trauma to every single tourist and everyone has taken an extra care towards this matter, including us. We even bought and wore a pouch attached to our body to protect money and passport especially. Alhamdulillah nothing bad happened to us during our stay in Rome.

St Peter's Basilica

Terravision airport transfer service. 8 euro for return journey or 5 euro per single journey.Tickets can be bought at its desk upon arrival at the airport or via the website. One single journey takes about an hour depending on the traffic condition. Any further information can be obtained here.

A free welcome drink given out at Roma Terminal (main train station) to quench thirst.

Atikah, Nabilah and Aqiedah; in front of Vatican museum

Our time in Rome was limited. So, we had to take a strategy to at least cover all must-see-places in a day and half. Since Vatican city tu agak jauh dari Roma Termini, we decided to visit that smallest country in the world on the first half of time diperuntukkan untuk melawat kota Rom. Bagi para muslimin seluruh dunia, Makkah is our Holy Land, kan? Buat penganut Kristian, Vatican City ni la 'kiblat' mereka. Pak Cik Pope yang terkenal tu duduk sini tau. Sisters / nun dari pelosok dunia ramai datang nak ambil 'ijazah' kat sini. At first, we felt awkward being there, sebab tak tahu apa nak tengok. But, we were lucky sebab datang on that day. If we came on the next day, we would not have the chance to be in the square as there was a big  religious ceremony being held.

Vatican Square

Castel Sant' Angelo

Enough with Vatican City, we continued walking towards Rome's attractions. Untuk orang yang kurang menghargai sejarah dan hanya cintakan keindahan, memang kaki berjalan mata melihat je lah. Tak de la sibuk-sibuk nak masuk setiap tempat, kenal sebab musabab bangunan tu terbina ke apa ke, kan... Dok posing je la. Bagi sesiapa yang tak sempat nak pergi Athens tengok Pantheon yang dah separa roboh tu, kat Rome pon ada Pantheon yang masih teguh berdiri.  

The Supreme Court of Cassation

Us at Piazza Navona

At Piazza Navona you could see various artworks displayed on the street. The portraits and scenery drawings are totally awesome. There are a few fountains yang ada patung-patung separa bogel and we took a rest there; not that we were fascinated by the figures. At the same time, there was an acrobatic show by the local. Beria-ia lah semua 'lepak'ers *wujudkah such term???* tengok street performance tu, termasuklah aku. 

Gelato fruity yogurt. Pomegranate, citrus and watermelon.

Penat yang teramat sangat dah kaki kami berjalan. Though umur masing-masing dah 20-an, bila letih, perangai terus jadi macam budak-budak umur 2 tahun. Dalam usaha mencari jalan pulang, kami terserempak dengan kedai ais-krim ni. Gelato merupakan salah satu signature dessert di Italy, kalau dah sampai di Italy tapi tak makan local gelato, rugi la. We ended up buying three scoops each of fruity yogurt. Tersangatlah sedap rasanya, sampai hilang rasa penat. Macam penagih dapat dadah, macam tu la kami semua ketika makan fruity yogurt tu...

Piazza Venezia

By the time we arrived here, it was already dusk. That means we already walked for 5 hours around the city of Rome and our bodies were already exhausted. The city of Rome are definitely not as small as I thought. Dah berkilo-kilo meters jalan pon tak sampai jugak ke hotel penginapan kami. Piazza Venezia and Colloseum are located next to each other. We took our free time and lepak depan Colloseum before boarding onto the city commuter to Roma Termini sebab dah tak larat sangat dah. Kat situ lah, mamat-mamat bangla started nak mengendeng suruh beli shawls diorang. Adoi... Dah la penat, kena kejar ngan abang B lagi... sumpah malas nak layan. So, masing-masing buat dek je la sampai those guys gave up on us.

Colloseum at night.

Masa berjalan tu, ada seorang Turkish man datang tegur kami sebab kami nampak sesat. He suggested us to go to Spanish Step sebab kat situ memang happening waktu malam. Ada banyak lampu-lampu and orang melepak. Tapi, apakan daya, semua dah melepek and we missed the route on the way nak pergi situ. Dah salah baca peta, we ended up sampai ke titik permulaan jalan kaki kami. Apa lagi, balik tidur la.