220307: Rome

I was the earliest to wake up today. Zhi Xian decided to sleep in. I woke up Janice, we were the only 2 who wanna enter Colosseo (Italian for Colosseum). In fact, we made an appointment with Zonglun and Joyce to go Colosseo together. Meet at Colosseo Metro at 9am. We packed our stuff, and left our luggage there for the others to keep with the hotel. We left for the ticketing booth for coaches to Ciampino Airport. But we were too early, the booth was closed. Too bad. Passed by a café to pick up 3 croissants for 1.20 euros, pretty cheap.

We were slightly late by 10 minutes, because I was enjoying my cappuccino at Santa Maria Maggiore. Hee. And the couple was nowhere in sight. Waited till 9.30am, and we decided to go in ourselves. Haiz.

The Colosseo is indeed a majestic structure. The grounds of the stadium is actually a labyrinth, with cages and overgrowth all over. Janice is very fascinated by the labyrinth, but puzzled over a wooden stage at the side of the Colosseo. In actual fact, the labyrinth was covered up solely with wooden platform and then topped up with a layer of sand. Now, the sand and the wooden platform is gone, exposing the labyrinth to rain and shine and hence the overgrowth. Took quite some time to go around the stadium and take pictures, not too mention that there was a exhibition on Eros, otherwise known as Cupid. But before we went for the exhibition, we finally met up with Zonglun and Joyce. Almost fought with Zonglun, haha. Actually, they were also waiting in the Metro station from 9.15am onwards. All of us were blind enough not to see one another. What a laugh. Our appointment with the rest of the guys were almost up, couldn’t really spend a lot of time with them. Well, we’ll meet in London then.

We met the others at Piazza del Navona. Took a short walk to Campo dei fiori. Campo dei fiori is actually a market full of fresh foods. Well, not that it aroused much of my interest. Our destination after that was Trastevere. It’s more commonly known as the Jewish Ghetto in Rome. Guess what, I found a really nice pizza here! The pizza crust is made of fermented yeast, which means its fluffy like bread and taste real good! However, a lot of people don’t know about it, and hence it’s not in guides either. Walking in the ghetto is like going to a little Italian town, peaceful and quiet. Zhi Xian and Ivan got their lunch here, a pizza cocktail of 8 slices for 6 euros. Not bad, pretty much the Italian style of eating. From Trastevere, we took a walk up the hill northwards. And surprisingly, the view is terrific. In fact, the view from this hilltop proves that we need not climb St Peter’s Basilica’s dome. This is good enough. A view that showcases all of Rome. Wow.

The final part of our Italy trip has to be reserved for St Peter’s Basilica, especially when there are 3 Christians here. To enter St Peter’s Basilica, we had to squeeze in the crowded queue and fight to get in, almost literally. How big the Basilica is, I don’t think I have to mention too much. It has the longest nave in the world. The size of it is more or less explained. What differentiates this cathedral from all the rest in the world is its sculptures and the abundance of altars, tombs and sarcophagi. And all of those belong to the past Popes. There are even mortified bodies of a few popes placed there for Christians to worship. In a sense, I feel it’s somewhat gross. Whoever that has passed should be laid to rest in peace, and not be under the scrutiny of millions of people who visit the Basilica. I managed to sneak a glimpse at St Peter’s altar, which was supposedly built on his tomb. Never really get to see much, since there are so many people crowding around. Well, I guess this trip to Italy really overwhelmed me with Catholicism. And I see Christianity everywhere since coming to Europe. The lack of faith is my destiny I guess, despite being educated for close to 8 years in Christian schools.