Day 2 continued

We headed to the Vatican City which is the smallest independent state in the world measuring only at 110 acres.It is ruled by the Bishop of Rome or more commonly known as Pope. It is the home to some most famous art in the world. The architects behind the Renaissance architecture of Vatican City were Michaelangelo, Bernini, Bramante and Giacomo della Porta.

The nicely wrapped goodies displayed at the window of a bakery

Upon approaching Vatican city there were so many shops selling souvenirs and figurines symbolising the holy religion of Roman Catholic

Truck selling gelatos. Testing how determined was I not to be tempted on a hot sunny day outside Vatican City.

To go to Vatican City, take the orange line and align at Ottaviano Metro Station. Just walk straight to Piazza Risorgimento then along the Vatican Walls and you will end up in St Peter Square.

Opening time of the basilica:
from 7:00 to 18:00 every day (until 19:00 during winter), except on Wednesdays (if there is the papal audience the Basilica remains closed until 12:00). Entrance is free. It’s also possible to visit the dome (from October to March every day from 8:00 to 16:45, until 17:45 from April to September); entrance is charged.

The St.Peter's Square has two majestic fountains called Fontane di Piazza San Pietro in Italian which are created by Carlo Maderno (1612-1614) and Fian Lorenzo Bernini (1666-1677). I guess the picture above was taken with Bernini's Fountain located at the southern part of the square which was comissioned by Pope Clement X.

The egyptian obelisk of St Peter's Square used to stand originally on the south of the basilica  but moved to the center in 1586. It is thought to have witness the crucifixion of St Peter. The obelisk shadow marks noon ever the sign of zodiac in the white marble discs in the paving of the square.

St. Peter's Colonnade designed by Bernini. 

The Colonnade was designed to be pictured as the arm of the Mother Church and the Dome being the head according to Bernini. The Dome being the tallest dome in the world at 448 ft was designed by Michaelangelo.

The Pontifical Swiss Guards which are responsible for the security of the Palace and most importantly  the safety of the Pope.

St. Peter's facade at 376 feet wide and 149 feet tall was designed by Carlo Maderno.

The view overlooking St. Peter's square from the facade.

We didnt spend a lot of time exploring inside the basilica because of the long queue hassle. It is said long queue is expected every single day as early in the morning around St Peter's. Hence we moved to the next walking distance destination which was the Castel St. Angelo.

We spotted this handsome on the way walking back to Castel St. Angelo

Yay! Finally we reached Castel St. Angelo which was actually not really far from Vatican City. Also known as Mausoleum of Hadrian it was initially commisioned by Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. It was later used by the popes as a fortress and also a castle. But now wholly serves as a museum.

How to get to Castel Sant' Angelo:

Castel Sant' Angelo is located on the banks of the Tiber close to the Vatican City.

Bus service 40 (express) from the main railway station.

Metro - Lepanto (Line A)

Opening hours: April-September 9am-7pm

October-March 9am-2pm

Admission fee:

Adults €8, Reduced ticket €6 

(last admission 1hr before closing time), closed on public holidays.

Ponte Sant'Angelo is solely a bridge for pedestrian now which was once in the 16th century used to expose bodies of those executed. 

One of the angel on the bridge

The sun was about to set and it was beautiful.

Stacks of ancient cannon balls made from stone inside the courtyards of the Castel Sant'Angelo

After having a long day of walking, we took some quiet time enjoying the night view overlooking Vatican from the Cafe inside Castel Sant' Angelo.

Vatican City by night looking gorgeous.

There was a legend saying an angel sheathing its sword appeared on the roof of the castle to signal the ending of a plague. Henceforth, this castle was named as Castel Sant Angelo. 

We ended that day by having some common Italian cuisines nearby before heading back our hostel. Tomorrow Day 3 would be another long fun-filled day with lots of historical learning on its way. Good night everyone. Xoxo.

Spending the morning of Day 2 in Rome

I love old-skool train with graffiti all over. 

So the morning of the 2nd day we decided not to waste any further time going back to the location of the booked hostel but to proceed our day 2 with a much fulfilling itinerary. We started our day at Flaminio-Piazza Del Popolo station as there were plenty of attractions nearby to each other. 

Apparently this sculpture was inspired by the legend of the founding of Rome. The two infants are Romulus and Remus whom were rescued by a she-wolf who cared for them until a herdsman found and raised them.  As they grew up they fought and build a new city at the side of the river Tiber. However Romolus killed his brother Remus for the disagreement over some defence issues over their new city. Hence naming the city of Rome after himself.

Flaminio-Piazza Del Popolo Metro Station.

Porta Del Popolo the medieval gate in the city wall

In Piazzale Flaminio. I was awe by how historical the every part of the surroundings but yet to discover more awesome surprises coming the way.

Santa Maria Del Popolo, an Augustinian church stands to the north side of Piazza del Popolo is on your left when you enter through Porta del Popolo entrance.

Some of the amazing paintings inside Santa Maria Del Popolo. On the left shows Crucifixion of Saint Peter by Caravaggio and the right is Assumption of the Virgin Mary by Annibale Carraci. 

We took some time sitting down observing the wonderful interior of Santa Maria del Popolo

The skeleton sculpture of Johann Baptista Gislenus' tomb (1670). The inscription reads "neither living here", "nor dead there".

Just right in front of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, lies Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous square in Rome. Standing in the centre of this piazza is an eqyptian obelisk of Ramesses II from Heliopolis.  A twin churches can be spotted in between the obelisk which on the left is called Santa Maria in Montesanto and on the right is Santa Maria dei Miracoli.

At the northeast quadrant of Piazza del Popolo you will see steps leading to Pincian Hill. There are some gardens which are good for some recreation activities or just to relax. We spent about 15minutes just to get some nice landscape pictures overlooking Piazza del Popolo and then get down back again using the steps at the other side.

The view above Pincian Hill overlooking Piazza del Popolo toward St. Peter's Basilica.

I wish I could jump from one rooftop to another without knowing where I were going and just get lost in this beautiful city of Rome.

Yeah did some not so proud moment of vandalism by signing off our names on the balcony while enjoying the beautiful view.

Well actually the balcony was full of random messages and names or else we would not be doing such unethical action. Just wanted to leave our names to shout out we were here in Rome and hopefully someday we going to return here again and find back our names.

Dont worry! We didnt do any vandalism on this poor lion statue.

Being silly in front of the fountain Rome between Tiber and Anio

Even statue of liberty can be found in Rome.

I just love walking randomly around the alleys in Europe! Getting lost without fearing instead feeling excited. You will see all sorts of people from all walks of life and you dont know what are their actual agendas.

Fresh fruit stalls. I think this narrow street is called Via Margutta.

Old lady sitting with two of her loyal companions. Somehow I felt pity and had some respect for her for taking good care of her pets despite having difficulties in life.

Piazza di Spagna or Spanish square is one of the most crowded and most famous images in the world. At the base is the famous fountain called Fontana della Barcaccia.

Crystal and I sitting on the Spanish steps the widest staircase in Europe.  It has 138 steps which were built by a French diplomat to connect to Trinita dei Monti, a French church situated on top of the hill.

A wonderful capture of a place full with elegant hotels, inns and residences which is said to attract artists and writers alike.

I wish I could have bought one of this beautiful top-notch painting from Rome.

Trinita dei Monti,  a French Church.

Upon climbing up the steep stairs we thought we deserved some gelato as a reward as it was such a great sunny day! Anyways that was our first gelato and believe me, that one day I had 3 gelatos in total . It was so freaking addictive and sooo yummy I could even give up on Haagen Daz ice cream and have Italian gelato for the rest of my life.

Anyways I got to stop jotting for today! It wasnt the end of Day 2 yet! Please stay tune and wait for me to finish up my gelato first! xoxo!

Wasting Day 1 in Rome

It is scary that it has been a year since I last posted about my trip in Rome, Italy. I started to develop some poor memories but sometimes vividly remember some of the details of travel while looking back to some pictures. So let the pictures tell the stories.

Continued from the previous post. So we headed down to the metro station called Basilica San Paolo. Metro map can be found here. Basilica San Paolo also known as Papal Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls is one of the four ancient major basilicas in Rome besides St John Lateran, St Mary Major and St Peter's. It is also called Ostian Basilica as it is located on the road leading to Ostia that is built over the burial place of Paul the Apostle.

The clocktower of St Paul's Outside the Walls

The beautiful interior of St Paul's Outside the Walls

The altar in Basilica of St.Paul's Outside the Walls.

This apse mosaic was painted by Venetian artists showing Christ is flanked by his apostles Peter, Paul, Andrew and Luke.

The tabernacle of confession of Arnolfo di Cambio (1285). 

The outside of St Paul's Outside the Walls

In front of St Paul's Outside the Walls.

This was actually the first basilica that I went so I was totally awe by the interior architecture especially the ceiling. To people who have plenty of time to explore Rome, I recommend you to pay a visit to this basilica of St Paul before going to St Peter in Vatican City to feel the significance of it.

Mc Donald for dinner and you will be surprised we had Mc Donald even for almost every meals. It's cheap and delicious for backpackers like us who didn't have so much money. I super love the strawberry milk shake so much that I ordered it every time even for breakfast.

We were already cautious enough to avoid any unwanted incidents such as being pick-pocketed however still someone almost opened my backpack from behind while inside the metro. Luckily a local woman who knew some basic english told us to be careful as she spotted him acting suspiciously behind our backs so we turned around and scared him enough to get down to the next station. But not everyone in Rome was as scary as we were warned. Just 3 girls in their early 20s could send some signal of vulnerability to be taken advantage of so we were extra alert with our surrounding. However we still met great new friend along the journey including a good looking man who offered us free drinking water and inviting us to sit inside for free whenever he spotted us spending almost an hour waiting for the bus every night. I forgot your name but would like to thank for trying to help us getting train tickets to Pisa. xoxo.