Our very first city when we touch down in Italy is Rome. After watching so much of Italy on the TV, we finally get our chance to experience it firsthand.
Our very first impression is that it is really very different from other European cities we'd visited. The airport was different from the ambience of Heathrow and Charles de Gaulle, a bit more like a working airport of a smaller city, less like a showcase to the world.
On the way to the city centre from the airport, we saw the countryside and the grafitti. What astonishes us was the huge collection, in fact any available wall was considered as a piece of canvas for the "artist". Also, there were none of the beautiful architecture so distinctive of Italy along the way, and we were a bit disappointed.
It was until we exited the Colosseum metro station that things start to brighten up. We felt that this is finally Rome.
Once out of Colosseum station, it's as if all of Rome is packed into this very tiny district. First you'd see the grand Colossum, walk down a little it's the Roman Forum, and then along the Via Dei Fori Imperialli, it's all the beautiful architecture. The view is really breathtaking.
Rome is a rather big city with a simple network of 2 metro lines and buses. Unfortunately, most of the places of interest is a fair bit of walk away from the metro station. But the good side of this is that we get to see more of Rome, which is really pretty.
Some sights along the way
The Capitoline Museum
The Trevi Fountain
Inside the Pantheon
The Bourghese Gallery - a collection of really good paintings.
The Church of Santa Maria
The Colosseum
The Roman Forum - Ruins from the ancient Rome
Above the Spanish Steps and the start of our walking tour
Below the Spanish Steps is the favorite shopping streets for Roman, one need only look at the droves of people in the street below to see how much they love shopping here.
The Trevi Fountain
I took the below two pictures as there is a interesting story about how during the construction of the Trevi fountain, the builder (I forgotten his name) had to endure a lot of unwanted comments from the shopowner of the shop in the right picture below. Thus, upon the completion of the fountain, he purposely built a statue in front of the shop to obstruct the shopowners view to he fountain. =P
Inside the Pantheon
One of the only few buildings left intact from ancient Rome (used to be an ancient Roman temple) as it was converted into a church in it's later years. However, most of it's gold gilded facade was stripped bare for construction of other Roman catholic churches. The famous painter, Raphael, was buried here.
The Bourghese Gallery - a collection of really good paintings.
The Church of Santa Maria
Campo Dei'Fiori market
Vatican City on a beautiful morning
