EU trip - Day 1 - Rome

I just came back from my holiday and since I still have the day off today, I might as well start with Day 1.  I'll try my bestest to write about the entire trip while it's still fresh from memory, but I am a known procrastinator, so please bear with me, OK?  Since it was a 2-week vacation, I have materials to write for next few months.  LOL!

Note: You may find lots of other pictures in my Picasaweb, where I will categorize by city.  The pictures for the next few entries (Rome) can be found at this link.

We landed in Rome close to 6 o'clock in the morning after a 12 hour flight.  Way too early to my liking because I wasn't sure if the hotel would allow for early check-in.  So I was taking my time storing my big bag at the left luggage facility and hopping on the train to the city.

I got lost when I got to the metro stop near my hotel. Since I didn't subscribe to data plan, I couldn't check where I was with Google map.  After backtracking my way, I realized it was just on the next street :P

The Triton Fountain at Piazza Barberini

Good thing my room was already ready, so I dropped off my stuff in the room and headed to Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museums).  To reduce the impact of jetlag, I've set my Nike+ watch to Rome's local time even before I stepped foot on the plane.  Having done so, I had already started going to bedtime based on Rome's local time during the flight.

Since I didn't bother to buy a ticket to the museum online, so I have to queue up.  It took me like an hour to get to the security screening.  At least it was a nice day out.

Queuing up for Musei Vaticani

Are we there yet?

Nope!  Till the next corner...

Almost at the end of the line (on this side of the building)

I can see the point of Exit!

Not too long now...

Lo and behold, the Entrance!

I was going through the museum rather too quickly because I wanted to get to Palazzo dei Congressi.  In my haste, I missed the the Adam & Eve painting.  I only realized of its existence as I was browsing for some souvenirs on the way out :P  To be fair, the museum is huge, and one could practically spend a full day or days there

At the Musei Vaticani garden

"Sphere within sphere"

Statue doing the "poco-poco" dance? LOL!

One of the room's ceiling

Belvedere Torso

Some guy lepaking (chilling)

Some of the many artifacts

Statues you could find in the Egyptian section

That looks like the flag of England. :D

A hallway with maps from Italy's past

I forgot what this paitning is all about.  The arrival of some VVIP or some sort

Another intricate drawing

That's freaky!

St Peter's Basilica from Musei Vaticani

Awesome spiral staircase

At the exit.  And look at the line!

Okay, now that it's all over, I could finally let it all out in the open.  Palazzo dei Congressi is the race bib pickup area for the 17th edition of Maratona di Roma (Marathon of Rome).  Not even my family knew that I was going to take part.  I only let it known to a couple of friends when I was enquiring about accomodation and itinerary for Rome, and to the in-house doctor when I was seeking for signature for the health form.

On the way to Palazzo dei Congressi

At this angle, the obelisk looks like it's part of the display. LOL!

Palazzo dei Congressi

 What's all with the secrecy?  A concerned friend commented "Kang pengsan tengah jalan, sapa yang tahu?" (What if you collapsed in the middle of the race?  Who'd ever know?).  Well, it's very typical of me to keep things to myself, especially this is the marathon I am least prepared for.  I've sustained somewhat of a calf injury in my right leg a month before the marathon, so I only managed a couple of half marathon distances before that happened.  And in final weeks, I was just nursing the injury to avoid any further aggravation.  I was comforted by the fact that the cutoff time was 7 hours.  Hey, I could walk the marathon in 7 hours.  Hehehe.  Plus, Rome is such a beautiful city to walk in.  Anyways, more about the marathon later.

The Wall (not THE marathon wall) for you to write on

Could you find where my spot is?

THERE! :)

The booths at the Marathon expo

Carbo loading at the so-called Pasta Party

I am listed! Woohooo!

There's no finisher T and it's cotton.  It's still very nice

I went back to the hotel to drop off my race bib, only to go back out to look for dinner.  Even before calling it the night, I could still fit in a visit to Pantheon, Spagnia (Spanish Steps) and Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain).  I haven't been to the latter due to our packed itinerary in 2004.

Overlooking the Spanish Steps at sunset

Not too many people at Spanish Steps because it was wet

Trevi Fountain

Another shot of Trevi Fountain

The crowd at Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

The fountain in front of Pantheon

There you have it.  My first day in Rome, and the first day of my vacation.  Let's just hope that the next posts won't be that far apart.