finally, e final entry of e Italy series is here! our first mornin in rome begun wif a visit to e Vatican Museums. jus check out e snakin queue. there were like thousands of ppl in queues surroundin e whole of e vatican city! it kinda freaked me out.. we decided to walk all e way to e entrance, n boy were we smart!
the unbelievably long long queue
there was a staff at e entrance n he asked if we made a reservation. and yes, we did!! we forgot to bring our tix tho.. almost wanted to slap myself, but he asked if i rem my reservation no. erm.. i think i rem, cos i was e most kiasu person in e whole wide world who made a reservation wif e guided tours 3 mths ago, so we’re no. 1! LOL.. so in we went.. in a breeze, skipped ALL e queues n even e shorter queue for tours wahaha!
YAY YAY!
the vatican museums were interesting, fascinating. i wldnt mind gg there again really, cos there’s so much to see n it’s impossible to finish seein n rememberin everythin. we were there for a whole 6 hrs!! i dun think any of my frens wld do this long.. it’s jus a matter of preference. in our case, we were critics of e vatican bleah. haha.
we saw a mummy! first time for me..
wat i really liked were e illuminated walkways
e illusionistic 3D frescoes, n of course all e other colorful frescoes
2 interestin spiral staircases at e exit
at e exit
then we popped by St Peter’s Square, since we’ve alrdy made another reservation to go for e midnite mass at St Peter’s Basilica. n yup, we forgot our tix as well, n there aint any no. for this.. n we were so tired after e museums, we decided to give xmas countdown a miss. hahaha PIG XING XING!
St Peter’s Basilica at nite
e stage for e xmas countdown, which we never got to see
on xmas day, i fell really really ill. was half conscious wif a high fever, n doctors were most prob not available on xmas day. xing xing nursed me that time, placin a cold towel on my burnin forehead n changin it every now n then. when i almost cldn’t bear it anymore, he went out in e cold to look for a pharmacy. rome was extremely cold that day, colder than london.. two hrs later he wasnt back n i got worried, so i tried gettin dressed to go look for him, altho i felt like i was gonna faint anytime. jus when i got to e door, he came back. i hugged him so tightly n cried in his arms, like i was so afraid to lose him. i will prolly rem this day for a long time..
the next day, i managed to go out.. n we visited e colosseum. it was beautiful on e outside, but there aint much inside really.
outside colosseum
inside colosseum - my face pale as a sheet
e audio guide was not exactly interesting as well. perhaps it was also cos i was still sick, i found it rather uninterestin compared to e vatican museums. if u’re gg, u shld put vatican musems as one of e last place on e itinerary.
the ancient ruins behind us
so then we came to e roman forum, which sounded like rather interestin in e guidebook, but cos it rained previously, e ground was somewat muddy n uneven. definitely not sthg i’d enjoy walkin thru when im half dead wif my fever.
n then we visited e capitoline museums on e way, cos we’ve alrdy got tix beforehand. i was really dyin alrdy n really jus wanted to leave. bleah.. it was not bad actually, but like i said, nothin comes close to e vatican musems.
at capitoline museum
xx said he’s amazed wif how i can force sucha wide smile out when im so sick. haha.. but still i looked like a ghost lar!
tt nite, we had steak at a steakhouse at roma termini. xing xing said it was his best meal in italy haha. i thot it was not bad, but of course i din enjoy my sirloin steak salad as much as he enjoyed his NY strip.
us at dinner
e next day - another massive queue at St Peter’s Basilica
there was yet another long queue at st peter’s basilica. since reservation wasnt allowed, we hadda queue wif everyone else. well, xing xing queued.. while i sat at a corner heehee.
inside St Peter’s Basilica - e matyrdom of st peter, me in e church, n e dome
the basilica was indeed grand n beautiful. after e tour inside, we joined e queue outside to go up e dome. then somewhere in e middle of e queue, we saw a warning sign. there were i-duno-how-many steps to climb n it’s not recommended for ppl wif health problems etc. i decided to back out on this one since i was still very ill.. shucks man. wat a waste.
St Peter’s Basilica in e day
we also visited e Pantheon - a burial place for Italian monarchs
and La Maddalena to see its baroque illusionistic ceiling
there’s a box where u cld put 50cents in n it’ll lit up e ceiling for a short while. still wif e dim lights on, my camera cldnt take much of wat’s on e ceiling. wat u see here is a highly photoshopped pic. gosh.. i so wanna get an SLR!!
our last stop in rome was e Trevi Fountain! the fountain is really beautiful at nite.. we hadda fight wif many ppl for a space right in front of e fountain lol.. e pics turned out lovely. 
us at trevi fountain
and so that’s e end of our rome and italy trip. rome is an interesting place wif loads of historical value.. however, if u’re thinkin of anythin like a modern n clean city, u’ll be in for a disappointment. haha. it’s quite dirty wif heaps of smokers on e streets. it’s basically like CHINA! wahaha. that said, rome is still a must-go for everyone who hasnt been there, since there’re so many interesting world famous sites to see!
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