That aside, I considered this is my first true travel experience in Europe.
I have joined a 15-day tour hosted by Charming Holidays. The first stop is Rome, Italy.
Flight
Some people may prefer connection flight rather than direct. I guess not me. First we fly to Toronto, which the tour pick up other tour members, and then we go on to Rome.
The flight to Toronto is actually quite enjoyable. We flew on a new Boeing 777, with touch screen in front of each of us. There is also colourful ambient lighting. I heard this is to ease the jet lag? Although there is no "free" food/drink on board, the nice entertainment system (with new movies and different TV shows) make it up.
As the inter-continental flight is comfy and nice; the international flight to Rome should be even better? Also with 777? or at least a 747? That's my wishful thinking. Too bad we are all thrown into "hell" (compare to the Boeing 777) afterward. The plane to Rome is so dated, which looks like it has been in service for more than 20 years and will be broken any time. I was even worried if it's safe to complete a 9 hour journey.
After 5 hours flight to Toronto, 3 hours waiting for connection, and 9 hours flight to Rome, we are finally there.
Rome
Really tired (because it's already mid-night in my own time zone), we landed on Rome international airport. Right away we can sense the warm air.
The airport is not as modern/new as I thought, it looks like our inter-continental airport before renovation. It's rather dated.
We didn't wait too long for the luggage. Still we are stuck in the airport for some time due to missing luggage from our tour guide. Once the automatic door opens, I can sense the true air of Rome. It's HOT! So quickly I have changed to a short-sleeve t-shirt.
Our first stop is LUNCH. We have lunch in a Chinese Restaurant. Surprisingly the BBQ Chicken and duck are not bad. It actually exceeds my expectations. (i.e. but I do lower my expectation in the first place. You know...we are talking about Chinese Food in Europe...)
After lunch we are onto the first tourist attraction: Vatican.
Vatican
St. Peter's Basilica (that's indeed the first time I know the word "Basilica" for Church...) is truly magnificent. Numerous painting and sculpture. Every inch of the Basilica is filled with detail thoughts.
Too bad we are in rush (as always, we are with a tour). We didn't have chance to visit other building in Vatican. That means no chance for souvenir...
Back to our tour bus, we are going to the Colosseum. On the way we have passed by some other great buildings. Too bad I can't recall the names now...
The Colosseum
The Colosseum is so much more shinning in pictures than in real. In real it's just the remain of the once powerful Roman Empire. Much of the outside granite wall has been taken away to build the St. Peter's Basilica. Numerous holes remain. Together with the decayed Roman Forum (which is just besides it), the Colosseum is not a spectacular site. In the old days, it is the site for gladiatorial games (not sure what it is? Rent the movie Gladiator...) where numerous people and animals died in it. I'm glad that we are not around here at night...
There are some booth operated by African immigrants (as the tour guide mentions), selling souvenir. I'm lucky enough to visit that particular booth.
"Is this set of postcard $1 Euro?" I pointed to a set of 5 postcard, with the 1Euro sign next to it.
"One Euro for five? You should go back to China ....."
OK...I get it now.
Trevi Fountain
Anyway, next stop is the another famous tourist attraction: the "make a wish fountain" (that's what I called it). Trevi Fountain is the proper name.
It's so crowded that we aren't able to take a pictures without other people around. In the end, I do toss a coin.
There is a short walk to where we got off the bus to the fountain. On the way, I started to "hunt" for bottle water. My impression is that water is very expensive in Europe. Beer is much cheaper than water. So I found a corner store selling 0.75L for $0.5Euro I quickly stock up 2 bottle.
And there is another incident related to water. Stay tune...
Finally, we are done with the view point. Heading back for dinner. This time, the dinner is rather disappointing...
Hotel
I have indeed lower my expectation regarding hotel. My impression is that European hotel is tiny, dated yet pricey. Well, SEEMS that this is not the case. The hotel reception area is modern (which gives me a false hope that the room would be nice). The room is actually spacious (comparable to our Holiday Inn). The bathroom is small, with no bath tub only shower stand. But the decor is really dated and the bathroom has a little bit of stain. At least, the bedding seems ok clean. What I don't understand is that the bathroom is already small, why still put a "toilet-like feature that used for washing"? What a waste of space!
I don't feel any jet lag, because I'm already super tired...
This is the end of my Day 1.
Pictures here:
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| Europe Trip Day 1 |
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