I came, I saw, I Rome-d... reminiscing

*Ni nak feeling-feeling sikit.  Tak de cerita sangat, so apa kata kita terkenang cerita-cerita lama ;)

I'd never thought that I'd even step foot in Italy in my lifetime.... until 2004.  I was transfered to a new project that my center was able to secure.  And a 2-month travel was required... to Torino (Turin), Italy.  I was like, where do I sign up?  lol!

For every weekend in those 2 months, we had the opportunity to go on a day-tripper to places in the vicinity.  Well, if you can still say Rome, Geneva, Cinque Terra and Nice are in the vicinity :)  On my first weekend alone, we went Venezia (Venice).  Would it make a difference if I was to say that I had only reached Torino on the Tuesday? :D  Ni gi kerja ke gi jalan-jalan ha?

We drove to everywhere else, except Rome.  We opted for the train since it'd be too taxing for the drivers, namely me and another colleague who have international driving permit and more importantly could drive a stick shift.  Thank God we managed to secure return train tickets with the help from our phrasebook and almost non-existant Italiano.

Looking back, as I recalled it, we didn't do much of planning in terms of what to do and what to see.  We knew that there are the Colosseum, Vatican City, and what not, but if you asked us then where those places were exactly, we'd just shrug our shoulders.  Main belasah je...  I guess our MO was just to follow the chocolate-coloured signs. :)

Like the saying goes... "Rome wasn't built in a day", nor should you spend just a day there.  But that's what we had to be content with.  For that very reason, we didn't get to check out the inside of the Colosseo and Foro Romano (Roman Ruins), among others.  That, and also we were cheapos!  We did pay to go up the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, tho'. :D

I really like Rome.  Like any other cities in Italia, each one of them is unique.  Milano is a modern city.  Venezia with its lovely canals and quarters.  Pisa has its famous leaning tower, of course.  And who can't forget the naked statues in Firenze (Florence).  :D  One of these days, I should also try to make it to Sardinia.

In Rome, it's like everywhere you turned, you'd bound to see something interesting.  You'd probably question whether a brick that you find lying by the side of the road was from the ancient times :)

clock-wise from top: leaving for Roma, Colosseo, in front of Colosseo with my colleagues, St. Peter's Basilica, Roman Ruins, lepaking at Spanish Steps

The top left corner picture (the one the train) reminded me of the train ride story on our way back, which you could read after the jump.

Okay-lah.  Cukuplah rasa feeling-feeling ni.  Time to continue my hide-atus (hiatus). Ciao ciao!