MY EUROPE TRIP: PART FOUR - ROME

 MY EUROPE TRIP: PART FOUR - ROME

Welcome back dear readers! This is my last entry in the Europe diaries. As you may remember, I was enjoying in the beautiful and modern city of Milan. Now it was time to go to my last destination, i.e. The Capital of The World, Rome!

I left Milan on the morning of 11^th June. By now, I had had an experience of travelling through the European rail 3 times so I pretty much knew my way around the stations. And in fact, the train ride from Milan to Rome was the most enjoyable simply because I got to see a view of a mountain range on the journey. I am not sure which mountains they were but I will never forget the scenery. I tried taking a video or a photo but my camera could not capture the essence of nature from such a distance. But it is not necessary that you always have to take a photo or a video of everything you find beautiful. Sometimes it is okay to just watch and admire. Take in the magnificence of nature. So that is what I did. It felt unreal. The big blue sky, the sun shining brightly, the light brown rocky mountains, the trees perfectly aligned, clouds floating up above, high in the empyrean.

I reached the city of Rome at noon. My first step was to find my hotel, which wasn’t a very big task as by now I had successfully navigated 3 cities on my own. And the hotel was very close to the train station too.

For lunch I decided not to go on an excursion trying to find the most authentic Italian restaurant. Instead, I went to a normal restaurant which served Halal food and had a pizza there. I have to say one thing though, even if the restaurant was the cheapest one I could find, the pizza that they served was much better than any other pizza I ever had in my local Domino’s or Pizza Hut in India.

Since it was already 3 PM by the time I finished lunch, I decided not to go anywhere. I just went back to my hotel room and went off to sleep. I had been roaming around cities, walking kilometers everyday for the past one week so by the time I reached my last destination to explore, I was really tired. In the evening, I decided to find an authentic Italian restaurant. And that led me to a fine dining restaurant on the streets of Rome, with an open sitting area. At first it felt awkward sitting there because I was out of place. The restaurant was filled with adults drinking wine and the waiters and waitresses were wearing a posh uniform and serving everyone. Besides, I had a rule on the trip. Never go into eateries whose name you can’t pronounce. I broke that rule that evening. And it was worth it.

Now, when I looked at the prices I cursed myself. The cheapest dish on the menu was for some 11-12 euros which was a tuna salad. And from the looks of it, this restaurant was a big prices small portion kind of place. Nevertheless, I decided that if that was the case I would find the nearest vending machine and buy some chips or sandwiches.

I am pretty sure even the waitress might have felt weird seeing my order because what was on my table would make an Italian cry. I was having tuna salad, with bread, olive oil and a bottle of coca cola. But I kid you not, the salad was finger-licking good. Everything was brought down to perfection. Even the bread. And the best thing was that it had a large quantity. So much so that by the end I had to leave a few leaves (pun intended). The first day in Rome was a day spent well.

The next day was the day I would finally explore Rome. Firstly, I visited the Trevi fountain. There was a large throng of people all around. It looked like a hot tourist spot albeit the sculptures were very well-maintained. I even saw people dropping coins into the fountain, hoping their wishes would come true. And before you ask, no, I did not waste a coin by throwing it into the water. I just observed and amused myself. Another funny incident that took place was that some tourist accidently broke the water taps near the fountain. It created a blockade and the police had to be called. It wasn’t anything major but still pretty funny to watch.

Next, I visited the Spanish steps. I still haven’t figured it out why they call it the Spanish steps and not the Italian steps.

Having said that, this place did not fail to amaze me. It was a long set of steps and at the bottom, there were many cute cafes while at the top there was a long road which led to other parts of Rome. This was probably the only place where I wished I would have brought someone along with me to take my photos. The reason was that once you reached at the top of the Spanish steps you could see a view of the entire city of Rome. It was absolutely magnificent. Unfortunately, the video that I have posted below may not seem as majestic but trust me, the view seems a lot better when you see it in person. After eating a gelato (which I did not like) and taking some photos at the Spanish steps, I went to have lunch near the Piazza Del Popolo. It was a small pasta place, which served freshly made pastas which you could either takeaway or eat it while sitting on a stool. It gave off a very American-ish Chinese take out restaurant. The place had a really long line but I swear, that pasta was the best pasta I had ever eaten in my entire lifetime. I don’t even remember my order but it was some green sauce with some veggies and cheese made with Ziti pasta. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the eatery which I still curse myself to this day for.

After having that luscious pasta, I went and hung out near the Piazza Del Popolo, took some photos and roamed around. Then after that I decided to go to another country.

Yes, you read that right. I decided to go to another country. If you have followed my blogs so far, you know that I visited France and now Italy. But when I was in Rome, I got the chance to visit another country and that is Vatican City. The world’s smallest country, but a country nevertheless.

When I reached the home of the Pope, it was almost late afternoon, around 4 PM or so. Even though it was the smallest country in the world, it was filled with tourists everywhere. I clicked some pictures and roamed around here and there. I decided not to go inside the Vatican museum as I had no interest. In case you are a regular you would know, I skipped the Louvre museum too.

After a while, I saw a sweet spot to take a photo which would cover the entire background of St. Peter’s Square. I kept my phone against a pillar and turned around to pose like an idiot. Then I suddenly heard a small thud. I looked back immediately to see that my phone was no longer sitting on the pillar and instead was lying on the hard rocky concrete ground. I picked it up and to my dismay, the screen was cracked. It took a few ‘power offs’ and ‘restarts’ to make the phone work properly once again. Later on I went back to the hotel and had dinner at Alice Pizza.

The next day, was going to be my last sightseeing day in Europe. So, to make it memorable I decided to visit the most iconic place in all of Italy. The Colosseum. Even the subway station for the Colosseum was beautifully decorated to mimic ancient Roman architecture.

The Colosseum was by far the most crowded place in Rome. I had to wait in a very long line just to buy a ticket. Of course, people were selling it in black but I ignored them. I wasted at least an hour in the ticket line. And then another hour in the entrance line. When I finally saw the inside of the Colosseum, it was worth the wait. And by some heavenly miracle even the skies were cloudy with very little sun so the day was not hot. One could freely roam around and wait in lines without breaking a sweat in noon.

Honestly though, the Colosseum looked bigger from the outside. But that was maybe because my perception of the Colosseum’s arena was shaped when I watched it in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. But in actuality, the arena was quite small. And the Colosseum was the only place where the architecture felt dilapidated. Maybe because the tourists kept touching all the stones and resting against it. But all in all, I was happy to check off another major monument from my bucket list.

Next, I decided to go and see the Roman Forum. Another historical landmark which told the stories of the great Roman empire through its crumbling architecture. And again I had to wait in line for another hour. But as usual, it was worth the wait.

The Roman Forum was big. There were structures everywhere on a large area covered entirely with ruins and hence, the crowd felt dispersed. Once I was done with the Roman Forum, I went and had lunch in a nearby restaurant. I ordered gnocchi which was refreshing because I had never tried something like that. Finally, I went to the last destination of my Europe trip – Circus Maximus. It was a very large chariot-racing stadium (not in use anymore). A good way to add a full stop to my memories. The Circus Maximus felt unreal because it was absolutely empty. Imagine a Colosseum-sized arena, which was not occupied by tourists. I sat there for at least an hour or two, reflecting back on the happy memories I had on this trip. Paris, Nice, Milan and now Rome. This trip was the greatest and the most exciting trip I had ever had in my entire lifetime. Even if one day I may have visited countless other countries and filled up my Travel Blog, the Europe trip will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you for reading.