I ate a simple breakfast before leaving. Francesca was worried that I may be hungry on my trip back to Rome, she made Pamigano sanwiches for me! =D
and after that, she drove me to the Lamezia train station. Its takes about 10-15min drive from her place. When we arrived at the train station, it was listed that the train will be 20min late. So we I waited at the platform whilst Francesca went to park her car in a proper lot. When she came back, it was indicated that the train will only arrive at 7.55am! yeah.... somemore delays... guess it was delayed from Reggio.
So we went to have the typical Italian coffee! ermmm... when we say coffee in Italy...they are served in small cups in the form of expresso! yeah... we had that whilst standing in front of the guy who made the coffee for us. This is a typical Italian cafe. by the way, I forgot to mention that in Italian context 'Bar', is not like the typical 'Bar' you find in other cities. 'Bar' here is just like a normal cafe house, where people go there for coffees (Italians don't drink tea), breakfast, beers or liquer. hahaha... Pretty different huh....
Lamezia train station in the morning
train ride back to Rome
Soon the train came and I had to bid Francesca goodbye. As it was daytime, I was able to see the coastal scenery. It was really beautiful. But because I had very little of sleep the night before, i was dozing on and off on my trip... only when the train reached Napoli (Naples), that I became more awake, by then i was about 1/2 way through my journey to Rome. but was still feeling a little light-headed..... and decided that I will nap for a short while when i checked into my hotel later on.
nearing Rome
6hrs passed by pretty quickly... and I reached Rome around 2pm. As the hotel that I was staying was in a different area from the the bed & breakfast I stayed when I arrived in Rome, and I was not able to find the hotel on the tourist map that I had, I knew I had to get a better map from the tourist information counter. Goodness! the tourist infomation counter is at an isolated corner... and it was so far away from the more congested tracks and shops..... the lady at the counter showed me (on the map where the hotel was at) carrying my huge backpack and my little pack, i walked there.... hmmm... my backpack was not exactly heavy... but the 15min walk to the hotel felt like hours.... not too sure if its bcoz i was tired or age is catching up on me... or becoz it was winter (a little chilly) hahaha.... but i finally found the hotel: Best Roma Hotel
Hmmm..... the room given to me was ok... I mean it was clean.... however, the room was too warm.... aparently the heating in the whole hotel was non-adjustable as it was centrally controlled. But the room was clean.... and i finally get to have TV! yup! I can listen and watch the one and only english channel CNN! hahaha.... after 4 months of no TV, I finally can watch TV... and those remaining 3 days in Rome, I had overdosage of world news! Coz the other channels were all in Italian... even when the movies screened are Hollywood or chinese movies, they were all dubed in Italian. However, if you want to use the internet, you'll need to pay for it. I think it was 3€ per day and you'll also need to pay the tourism tax that was 3€ per person per day. Hmmmm... so it was not exactly a cheap hotel for me compared to Casa Romana, where I did not need to pay for either of this.
However, you can always try out the hotel yourself:
Hotel: Best Roma Hotel
link: http://www.hotelbestroma.com/
address: Via di Porta Maggiore, 51, 00185 Roma
I wanted to take a nap after I checked into my room, however, I was not able to sleep.... hmmm.... maybe because my brains were working actively. hahaha.... so i decided to stroll along via di Porta Maggiore and found myself at Piazza di Porta Maggiore. And I got to see some of the ancient Servian walls surrounding Rome. they were the defensive walls that were built around early 4th BC.
Piazza di Porta Maggiore
Part of the Servian walls surrounding Rome
Strolling along via di Porta Maggiore
I must say that via di Porta Maggiore is a pretty picturesque street. The buildings look nice and old.... I mean this part of the city is pretty much cleaner than other parts... and more tranquil than the hot touristic portions.... It was a nice stroll along this street.After that I took a right turn onto via Statilia and found myself at Scala Scanta. i did not know what it was....until I went in. I saw many tourists... hmmm.... and basically this is some sort of a church...
Scala Scanta
Once you enter the big doors, you'll be greeted by 5 hallways leading to the north... and each hallway is a flight of steps. But the most important flight of steps are the ones right in the center! This known as the La Scala Scanta, the holy steps that lead to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, which Christ stood on during his Passion on his way to trial. It was said that the stairs were brought to Rome by St. Helena in 4th century. The Scala Scanta consist of 28 marble steps that are now encased in wood. For pilgrims who want to pay homage, they will have to ascend the stairs with their knees! This is to show an indulgence of 9 years for every step climbed with the knees. Interesting isn't it?
Instructions on how to climb the stairs
The holy steps
Paintings on the walls
After walking around the church, the next place I headed to was the basilica opposite it, the Basilica di san Giovanni in Laterano. Apparently this basilica is the oldest and rank 1st among the basilicas in Rome. and the obelisk that is standing in front of the church is the largest standing obelisk in the world. its manufacture started during the regin of Thutmose III and was later erected by Thutmose IV.
World's largest standing obelisk in the Piazza of San Giovanni in Laterano
Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano
Entrance to the Basilica
Main hall of the basilica
Inside the Basilica
The next place I visited was to head back to the hotel. Coz I wanted to walk a different route, I decided to make some sort of a loop back to the hotel. As I was crossing the road, I saw a pretty interesting sight!
Yup! the italians had built buildings under the Servian Walls. All in the hopes of protecting the walls.
Building built under the Servian wall
As usual, I ended up with Colosseo right in front of me! Since it was sun-set, I decided to snap a few pictures and also headed up to the fort to capture the sun-set colours falling on the Colosseo & the forum.
Colosseo in the evening (it was about 4pm then)
Colosseo and Roman forum in the dusk light
Colosseo at night with the majestic christmas tree
By the time i came down from the fort, it was dark.... and lights were all switched on! Including the huge christmas tree in front of Colosseo. It was a magnificient sight! And there were so many many people.... even the italians were commenting that the colosseo looked very beautiful and nothing beats the colosseo. hahaha.... i could guess from some of the conversations that the Italians were having.... Pretty good huh.... my italian is indeed improving! =P
So after walking... I decided that i will call it a day even though it was only 5.30pm. I headed back to the street that my hotel was on..... visited the supermarket and bought a thin crust 'Margherita Pizza' for dinner in my room. I ate my pizza whilst watching the news.....
Tomorrow, I will visit one of the world's most majestic architecture of all times! The Colosseo! =D
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