Rome

I was a bit turned off when first arriving at Rome. The airport didn't seem much compared to KLIA or Schipol, the train to Roma Termini was old, had bad ventilation, and even worse, had engine problems and our travel stalled for about 20 minutes in the middle of nowhere. Though I really enjoyed the magnificent view of the Alps during the flight. We also made reservations at a bed-and-breakfast, which we had problems finding because it had no signboards at all. It was the kind of hostel without any reception, the entrace was like entering any normal apartment with doorbells on the outside shared by 8 other neighbours. It exterior was horrible. To my surprise, after going in, it was excellent. It's called Alberto & Maria Hostel, which had really nice rooms, comfortable beds, big enough bathroom and a kitchen. Maria (who was very friendly and warm) gave us a good map, tips, brochures...everything we needed to know and what to do in our 2 day stay. Excellent.

We arrived late in the afternoon, went out at 4 p.m headed to the Colleseum. We approached it from an amazing elevated view of Via Labicana. By the time we were inside, it was almost sunset. The strong orangish/yellowish colour from the sun shined perfectly on the Colleseum, and it was just jaw dropping. Next, a walk through the Roman Forum, then back to grab a cheese pizza and ate it on the street overlooking the Colleseum. It was almost dark, and the illuminating lights shooting at the Colleseum was a delightful view. Then, walked along Via dei Fori Imperiali and passed Capitoline Museum and all the other ancient buildings along the street. Every footstep was with awe, wondering how such amazing structures could exist 2000 years ago.

Next morning, we went to St Peter's Basilicca and afterwords, we spent the whole morning queueing for the Vatican Museum. As you may have already heard time and time again, Sistine Chapel is an amazing piece of work. The art was alive, moving, in 3D, jolting out like you're touching you, and you're touching them. All the neck ache was worth it, I don't think I'll ever see another beautiful interior of any other building again. I also met up with a long lost good friend. He and his lovely friends bought me yummy pasta for dinner and we had an amazing conversation to catch up. Time was unfortunately very short, and hope to see Lukas again, somewhere...