ROMA – The Modern City, and The Ruin Underneath
Roma, Italy
2-5 July

Remember how I said that Milano Centrale was big? Well, Roma Termini is even bigger and even more intimidating than Milan. Luckily the place was fairly easy to navigate and I quickly got to the subway that would bring me to my hostel near the Vatican City. Hostel Colors turned out to be slightly further out from the metro station and it took me a good 20 minutes to find the place under extreme heat. Yeah, I’m from a tropical country and I still think that Rome is HOT!! Good thing is not just the weather but also the city and the people!! So, it’s all good!!

A hostel is a very important part of traveling, more so if you are doing it alone. I had good vibes about this hostel prior to my arrival and I was right. The place is nice and clean and looked well taken care of. I immediately found a friend within 10 minutes that I was inside my room. An Aussie (of course..) girl called Ema. We became instant friends. We took the Rome by night tour – a 3 hour walking tour that took us to the Pantheon, The Forum, Piazza Veneza, Palatine Hill, Many ruins that I can no longer remember, and the infamous Colloseum. Roma is made up of great buildings that were laid one on top of another over many different centuries. Many of the ruins were underneath us. Imagine that 60% of ancient Rome is still underneath modern Rome?? Every little walk we saw a little bit of ancient Rome. We took great photos and had lots of fun conversations. It was really good fun.

The next day I ventured out alone in Vatican City into St.Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. The queue for the Vatican Museum was really long, and it took me an hour before entering the vicinity. By that time I had lost all interest in any art work possible and just tried to get into the Sistine Chapel I did check out all the Raphael Rooms and they’re incredible. I just have to come back when there are fewer tourists to be able to appreciate anything. And no, I didn’t go all the way up to the Basilica.

Chris (UK) and Jack (USA) did, and they took the steps too! Crazy buggers!! We met in the hostel’s kitchen together with David (USA) and Ema. We had lots of fun together. Ema and I walked out that early evening with a promise to meeting up with Chris, David, and Jack at a jazz bar nearby.

That evening Ema and I went to Piazza Popolo and Piazza de Spagna, which is just steps, a pretty one but just steps. Somehow we found ourselves walking on the riverside and had dinner in a floating restaurant called Baja. We had excellent Italian dinner, some wine and just plenty of laughs. We concluded that Italian women had this thing about showing their bra straps in public. They either don’t care (I personally would avoid it, if possible) or it is part of a trend in Italy. Hence, “The public bra-strap phenomenon”.

ALEXANDERPLATZ, the jazz bar we were going to was closed. Jack and Chris thought that a pub nearby was it, so they waited there while we checked out the jazz bar. Since it’s really close with no sign of ever opening that night, we just joined them there. We were soon joined by Alison and David. Who turned out to be our room mates!! People are so amazing. We just had a good time… Chris is a post grad student of ancient history from Birmingham on route to Greece. While Jack, is your original Southern boy from Alabama, USA – studying urban design/landscape planning and having a ball traveling to Europe for the first time on a grant by the local Women’s Gardening club. I can’t think of a better way to travel to Europe myself. Alison was working in South Korea for 3 years. David grew up in Spanish and loved the heat coz he’s from Arizona, USA. The whole night was filled with travel stories, and life stories in general.

People is what makes my travel worthwhile