I just want to mention one thing, Rome was HOT. Like 32-34 degree weather scorching HOT.

We got to our Hotel Stella in the early morning, but couldn't check in until noon so we decided to head to Vatican (yes we were stinky and gross and wearing the same clothes from the day before).

A view of the Coliseum from the tour bus

St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. We lined up but we couldn't get in that day because we realized they had a dress code in effect

We walked to Castel Sant'Angelo which used to be a tomb to Hadrian but then became the pope's hideout. It's basically a defense castle

Somehow, me and Ira got left behind from the others but we ended up making our way to this great view of the city from the top. From up here, we saw the others sitting down and then Jackie came up to join us. It was H-O-T

Archangel Michael marking the end of the plague

I really liked the morning. After, we headed back to the hotel to check-in and shower which took a long time and took up the rest of the day. At night, we headed back out

I had a good time hanging out at the Coliseum at night. There was awesome music playing and we were just jumping around and taking stupid pictures

Me in front of Hadrian's arch. At night, we walked around the area and found a nice restaurant to have dinner and then took a cab back to the hotel

One of my favourite days.

I PAID 10 EUROS FOR THIS!!! (The guy made me put my hand on his leg and asked me if my boobs were real)

I PAID TEN EUROS FOR THIS!!! Ripoff these guys... RIPOFF

We got in and split up with Lilian and Swati cos they wanted to sit so we went around the entire coliseum.

Isn't it GORGEOUS? Haha maybe not for you, but it was quite the experience for me. Just to think that this was the site of gladiator games... ooh the bloodshed excites me

I RULE THE COLISEUM BITCHES. Er... what's left of it hehehe

After, we headed to Vatican for Part II. This is a view of St. Peter's square again (doesn't it remind you of Angels & Demons?)

YAY, we got into St. Peter's Basilica! It was the most gorgeous place of worship I have ever seen in my life and definitely famous for its architecture because of Michaelangelo

The Altar that overlooks St. Peter's Tomb. In Angels & Demons, this is where the Carmelengo set himself on fire


Pieta by Michaelangelo, a famous sculpture and one that was actually completed and signed by him. It depicts Mary holding Jesus, but note the proportions of size and Mary's youthfulness

the Swiss Guards. They won't let people stand next to them to take pictures, but you could stand near them... kinda awkwardly to the side. All I can say is, poor dudes...

We had lunch and then headed to Trevi Fountain

We wandered around for a bit in the area and had McDees for dinner. Lilian got this happy meal toy that we were playing with outside, then this old Italian woman just came up to us and was so excited about it so we gave it to her and it made her really happy. In exchange, she gave her this picture of Mary (I think it was like a charm) and the stupid people gave it to me and wouldn't let me throw it in the garbage. I ended up giving it to the woman who was driving our bus and she was really happy to receive it!!!


Day 13: The Vatican & Rome III

Vatican Part III cos the Vatican Museum was closed the day before. The museum housed a lot of ancient artifacts, including this whole Egyptian exhibit (damn those Roman thiefs)

Apollo Belvedere

WHERE'S MY HEAD?!

The freaky statue with EYES

The ceiling of the Gallery of Maps. It was so funny because we had to go through SOO MANY rooms just to get to the Sistine Chapel and we weren't even allowed to take photos!!!

There was this big globe thing spinning in the middle of the courtyard - don't really understand it!

The spiral staircase exit that I see in ever tour book and I wonder why cos it's just stairs that spiral

Spanish Steps. We climbed these stairs to go to the French Church: Trinita dei MontiThis is where me and Swati almost got a heat stroke and had to rejuvenate for a while at a nearby McDees

After making a full recovery, we walked around and passed by the Piazza del Popolo

We took a wrong turn and ended up at my "favourite thing," which is basically a building I saw all the way from Castel Sant'Angelo and wanted to see so badly cos it looked cool. Well, it does look cool. This is the monument to Vittorio Emanuelle II

THE PANTHEON!!!! Finally. We ended off our night here and took the public transit back to our hotel

This is us walking to the Palatines (and going the wrong way)

Finally, the palatine hills! It may look like old rocks to you, but this is where Rome was founded

I love..........rocks (I can't believe they charge for this place)


What is left of the stadium. All the pillars are just stumps now but imagine how crazy this place looked back then

No one was impressed by the rocks but I kinda liked it because of all the history behind it

Leaving the palatines and entering the Roman forum... these pillars are gigantic and I was kinda deathly scared that one would just fall and impale me

A view of the Roman Forum, centre of all economic and political activity back in the ancient days

We had lunch and I realized I never took a picture of any of the many pizzas I ate in Italy so here we go... As you can tell, they just throw their random toppings everywhere and it's super thin crust. It tastes all right but I still like Canadian pizza. This was our last meal before leaving Rome on route to Barcelona...

And then...


Huh? Cruise Roma? Why is there a picture of this? Story to be continued later... DUM DUM DUM!!!

Rating: 10/10 minus 1 for the HOT HOT weather. I absolutely LOVE Rome - it's so historic and the architecture is beautiful but you can tell that everyone in the town are just tourists. Gelato is delicious and cheap, people are not as bad as their reputation precedes them, and there's just so much cool stuff to see - you definitely can't miss out on this place.

The night before, we landed in Venice and stayed at our hostel/campsite called Alba D'Oro (I finally got to do my laundry!). What a place.

So we stayed in these portables with deadly soft mattresses that killed all of our backs in the morning. We checked out the next morning and headed to the heart of Venice

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and the view was equally gorgeous. As Jackie quoted, "I GIVE THIS PLACE A TEN!"

We walked and weaved through the little streets to get to our destination. This is me on one of many bridges linking the city

My brother was right about this place, it basically is a ghost town other than the tourists who come to see it and the workers in the shops (who are there because of the tourists).

We had lunch and we had our best meal of Italy right here in Venice. This is my first risotto and it wasn't that bad compared to all the garbage I ate subsequent to. Still, Michael Murakami, your butternut squash risotto kills ALL.

I am happy we got to see this place before it sinks (how will my dream proposal be possible!?!)

This place is RELAXING as hell. Yeah, not much to do, but you can really enjoy the surroundings and just chill and take it easy for the day (I wouldn't recommend staying here for more than a day though if you have places to see)

After endless walking, we ARRIVED at our famous destination: PIAZZA SAN MARCO

We chilled at Caffe Florian, a famous (AND HELLA EXPENSIVO) cafe well known for attracting important historical figures and being a source of inspiration for composers. This incredible musician dude was playing and it had a nice ambiance

THIS COST ME 25 CANADIAN DOLLARS. AKJDFFFFFHA#######!$$

WE JUMPED PIAZZA SAN MARCO. After a super long time of chilling, we left to look for a gondola ride and persuaded Ira out of climbing this huge tower

More......... chilling. This is before we stranded Ira by herself (she sat on the dock for like 15 minutes before realizing we all left her)

All the gondolas lined up for my taking... We talked to a lot of dudes but they were all offering rides for 130-150 euros for all 5 of us. We would not be bought! Our limit was 80 euros or nothing and we all lost hope for getting on a gondola, until...

...this dude. He's smiling but he's really saying, "I want to kill you" because we bargained all the way down to 80 euros for a gondola ride - he was THAT desperate for us. When we offered 80 or nothing after a long time, he said FINE! and that began the angry gondola ride.

View from the gondola - you see the city in a whole different light, it's honestly something you MUST experience when in Venice. They take you around for 35 minutes and point out some famous people's old homes (i.e. Marco Polo). Some gondolas even had people playing music for them

End of a very nice ride on the gondola! We then headed back to find a place to eat and on the way, me and Ira made up some bathroom excuse to get Lilian's present

Birthday girl and the interesting cake I got her (that I made Ira hide in her purse when we were walking LOL). When she was in the washroom, we made the waiter keep the cake inside the restaurant for us to bring it out later. When it came the time, Ira told him to bring out the cake... so the guy brings out the cake, STILL in the box, plops it right in front of ME and we all just stare at him, confused and he just smiles and says enjoy! WHAT AN IDIOT! We even told him who the birthday girl was. IRA even asked him if he had candles. We were then like... "Ugh.. can we have plates?" So he brings out plates... and no utensils. So we had to wait even longer for the utensils... I just burst out laughing because the situation was way too hilarious.

After dinner, we had time to kill so we sat under a bridge. Ira and Swati went souvenir shopping, Jackie and Lilian were writing postcards and I did nothing... Well, I went to pee. This is the toilet I peed in.

I just had to.

Rating: 7/10. Initial rating was 10 just because I think everyone was grumpy from Paris for some reason and Venice was such a breath of fresh air... but there's really not much to do but walk around and enjoy the view. If you're all for relaxing, this is the place for you but like I said, you won't need more than a day to see all there is to see here