Italy: Rome Part 2, Finale

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

So, after the first part of Rome, we continued our trip to the highlights of the country! 

This was in front of our accommodation. It turns out, I didn't take pictures of the inside. haha...From our acco, we need to take the metro train to the city centre. At the station, there were two soldiers waiting on guard. Suddenly we were called for a 'random' check. They asked for our passports and our details. Luckily, we were going back to London that day, so we even provided our return flight tix. 

This is actually a school. I would love to go to school here. Feels like being in the renaissance era.

Continuing on...the soldiers that stood guard couldn't really converse in English, so I had to translate to my friends when one of them asked a question (I picked up a bit of Italian while we were there). The soldiers became amazed and asked, do you understand Italian. I just said I understood a little, but he just went on talking in Italian fully expecting I would understand. haha...Some eyes did stare as if we were being detained of some terror attack or something. It wasn't a good feeling. 

But to make ourselves feel better, I just told my friends that no one will mess with us now because they would think we are dangerous. huhu...

We stopped somewhere first to put our luggage so it'll be easier for us to walk around the city without having to drag our bags around. I found this place online the day before. The rate was quite cheap, considering other places that we've been to. 

Through these alleys where you'll find the storage. It's located at the end, a very quaint place.

The facilities were nice too. They even provide a service to take your luggage directly to the airport, with a fee, of course. We didn't think it was worth it since our bags are small and easy to handle ourselves. But if you have huge luggage, this could be something to consider. They also have a very nice washroom for their customers to use, a printer and internet where you can use for free. I forgot the rate, but I'll update later since their website is undergoing construction.

Afterwards, we took the bus to the Colosseum. We passed the Spanish Steps (one of the famous attraction here), but we didn't manage to stop since there were still a few more places to visit. 

As Rome is a huge city like London with many tourists, you would expect a lot of people in the bus. We didn't mind being crushed, but we do mind some jerks and perverts that we had to share the bus with. We rarely experience people being impolite back in the UK, but we did experience a few during our short stay in Rome. 

Nevertheless, we did make it in one piece. When we arrive, we decided to visit the Palatine Hill first. The tickets for the Colosseum will give you entrance to three places; the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum, all of which are connected to one another, except for the Colosseum. 

The decision to go to Palatine Hill was based on a tour guide that suggested to avoid the long queue, and as they said, there was no line at all at the Palatine Hill entrance. You can even buy your tickets from here if you had not bought any beforehand. 

The Palatine Hill as the name suggested, is a hill above the Roman Forum. It says to inhibit the Romans since 10th century B.C. 

Most of what's left are ruins, which you can't even tell what sort of building used to be there. 

A great place for a game of police and thief. =P

There is one museum located on the hill, but we didn't go in since there were not enough time. 

The best thing is you can see the Roman Forum, part of Rome and the Colosseum (shown by the arrow) from the hill. 

Such a stunning view. 

People often ignore the other stunning architectural genius beside the Colosseum such as this. 

There are many stories behind the Roman Empire history such as this. 

Below the Palatine Hill is the Roman Forum. 

Roman Forum is a garden of ruins and was Roman's ancient showpiece centre, a grandiose district of temples, basilicas and vibrant public spaces. 

The site, which was originally an Etruscan burial ground, was first developed in the 7th century BC. -source

You can also read the descriptions. What is the purpose of visiting if you don't learn about the history of the place, no?

The numbers below the descriptions indicate the voice tour for people that booked them. 

Many huge temples are still standing, mostly the pillars. Some are still in an almost perfect condition but are not open to public as it may be dangerous and in order to maintain the structure. 

Most are ruins like in the Palatine Hill, you can't really tell what building it used to be. 

As we exit the Roman Forum, we head straight to the Colosseum. At first, we were giddy when we thought we didn't have to queue. Little that we know...that giddiness will go down the drain. The line was super long!!! The bad part is because the line is for both that wanted to buy tickets and those that already have them. The security is super tight. 

After a loooooong wait, we finally managed to get in.

The picture shows how it used to be during the games at the Colosseum.

The Colosseum could hold an average of 65,000 spectators at one time. It's humongous!

Tadaaaa....

If you have some extra money to spend, you can have the premiere tour and go to the centre stage like the people in the picture. 

You can also walk through the halls as the gladiators did as shown by the arrow. You can also see the cages where they kept the lions and rooms where the gladiators use before their brave match.

There're three stages where tourist can go to, but the top one is only for the premiere tickets. 

These stairs don't even look like stairs anymore. Can't imagine how they manage to climb these especially without any railings. 

These are the stairs we used. Still pretty steep.

Need to take a rest after all those climbing.

Embarking on the view for the last time. I'm so glad to be able to enter one of the greatest architectures in the world.

I wanted to take a postcard photo, but then my mum always says there's no point of a picture if you're not in it. 

voila!

After the Colosseum trio, we went to the Piazza Venezia. It's only a few minutes from there, 

but we still took the bus because we didn't want to sore our feet more than it already is. 

Piazza Venezia is the central 'hub' of Rome.

It's located almost at the geometric centre of Rome.

There's tight security here too. 

Guards...soldiers...fire!!

One side of the Piazza is the site of Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in theAltare della Patria, part of the imposing Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of Italy.

Resting again...=P

We went inside, it's free admission except for the museum.

We went upstairs to the rooftop.

We get to take in the view of the city for the last time before we depart.

From Rome, we took a shuttle bus to go to the Fiumicino Airport. I forgot the name of the bus company. They don't have seat numbers when you buy the tickets, but they use this boarding card system. Due to the actions of some Italians that I notice (pushing and being rude) when boarding the bus, they need to use this card to make sure those onboard are according to their allocated time. 

Even with that system, there are still some people that just love to push around and not being patient. 

We only saw this sign as we were leaving...haha...Despite some of the bad people and experience, we did enjoy our trip. Italy has been my bucket list since I was a child. 

All of the walking and climbing in Italy wore out my poor old shoe. This picture was taken by my friend. huhu...Had to toss these out. 

Rome says goodbye with a huge Ferrero Rocher. Italy checked! In case you missed the previous ones, here's where you can read them.

Until next time...