At the Vatican City

First up in the morning, I headed to the Vatican City to see the St Peter’s Square,  St. Peter’s Basilica and Vatican Museums. I was quite intrigued by The Vatican City. It is kind of in  middle of  the city of Rome, but not part of EU (but they do take Euros though!). It happens to be the smallest country of the world.

St Peter’s Square is a huge place with the obelisk, wonderful columns and statues all around. Don't bother planning a special trip to the square if you're planning to visit the Basilica -- you get to check it out while you're in line! 

First I headed towards the St Peters Basilica. Thankfully, there were almost no crowds (perhaps 9am was too early) . I walked right in. It is  brig and magnificent. The interior must have millions of dollars of statues, paintings, mosaics and marble columns. The main attraction for me was the Michelangelo's Pieta

Thereafter was a visit to the Vatican Museums. It was still early in the day and while there were lots of tourists, I would not call it crowded and luckily I got in with minimal queuing. Full cost was €16. Vatican Museum is absolutely huge, with various different rooms filled with mostly paintings and sculptures.They were all great, with amazing awe inspiring artwork. But, t o be honest, they started to look the same halfway through. Anyways the main attraction obviously being the Sistine Chapel and Raphael Rooms.  If the Sistine Chapel is your main goal, expect to have to walk forever to see it, which they strategically place at the end. 

Apparently photography is not allowed in the Sistine chapel ...but I didn't know till I snapped this shot and few more.

The famous Raphael bits are toward the end, i.e this fresco: 

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Rome in 48 hours

Decided to do Rome in 48 hours even-though just 2 days in Rome wouldn't be doing it justice. Landed in Fuimicino airport early morning, which is quite far off from Rome centre. I took the fast Leonardo Express train into the main city station (Roma Termini). My Hotel was well situated just couple blocks off the Termini station, and a short walk to all of Rome’s central sights. I  didn’t use any public transport  in the city, pretty much did walk extensively in order to see everything I wanted in a short period of time. 

Crossing the road in Rome is not something for faint hearteds..loads of tiny scooters paying scant attention to the road signals, treating them as suggestions, taxis  who honk at every opportunity... You just have to "Go for it!" and the vehicles will stop.

On the first day I explored the Colosseum and Roman forums , Pantheon,  Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona areas. First, a visit to the Colosseum, perhaps the one must see attraction. The Colosseum ticket includes Palatine Hill and the Roman Forums, which are more ruins. 

After spending the entire morning here, it was lunch time, so time to try some Roman food. Not sure where to go and to avoid the typical tourist trap restaurants that are around the Colosseum, I decided to head back to the main train station, Termini. Termini, being a major transport hub, has many cafes and restaurants that are open 24/7.  We went into one of the pizza restaurants. As my hotel was near Termini, I  ended up coming here for dinner also. Termini at night is dodgy...Lots of shady characters, policemen walking around, homeless people, beggars, all the weird and wonderful things one might expect from a big city train station. Not the best location to wander around aimlessly.

Afternoon, it was to the world famous Trevi fountain. An extremely huge and striking fountain, it is perhaps the world's biggest wishing well. Loads of people and everyone seemed to be more interested in throwing coins into the fountain! Walked around the area surrounding the Trevi Fountain and towards the Spanish Steps, lots of shopping and eating around this area. 

The pantheon was up after that- basically a church with a huge hole in the middle. It was fascinating to take a step off the main streets and explore the side squares and alleys around this area

Next day I visited the Vatican City. The Blog post is here

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