Rome

so sorry for the late update ^^; been really busy & stuff, & wasted my time on some stupid power point presentation, but it's over now! XD dun really wanna talk abt things tt I dislike, so let's get back to italy lol ^__^

so after Vatican, we went back to Rome. 1st thing we saw was the Colosseum XD the only thing I knew about Rome & therefore the one only thing I was looking forward to seeing in Rome

but before that, a few pictures of scenic view along the way...<

I think this is the parliament building. anyway, I think it looks quite nice, but that's cos it's all white, & I like the statues of horses at the top of the building ^__^

it seems to be normal to see ruins in between modern buildings in Rome *envious*

it's too bad we didn't go closer to those ruins. actually they reminded me of Jordan

the Colosseum! XD did I mention that it was the only place that I knew about, & was looking forward to going to in Rome? lol

I forgot how much it cost, but mainly because there was only an allocated of time allowed to spend there, we didn't go in ;-( & because there's a really long line, & lots of people. so we decided to go round the outside of the whole Colosseum instead lol XD I don't think anyone else in the group did that, but maybe they did, because then what else could they have been doing? *puzzled*

so you can see why these bars are in the pic. obviously only poor people would take pic of the inside from the outside lol but it was fine, kinda fun anyway

this pic was taken with my hand through the bars. couldn't help wondering why I didn't think of it earlier, or more importantly, why the hell did I still take pic of the bars if I could put my hand through the bars?!? >_>

this shows the underground level of the Colosseum. they actually had a sorta contraption like an elevator to bring up the animals (cos the animals were in the dungeons underground) to the battle grounds. AWESOME XD XD

juz some graves of some poor, unfortunate gladiators

see? the cross shows we went one whole round, or rather, to the other side of the Colosseum, & the cross seems to be somewhere in the center

these are the ruins around the Colosseum. but if you ask me what they are, I have no idea

another view of the Colosseum ^^ I envy those people up there in the Colosseum

if you're wondering why the Colosseum looks like they have two layers, it's cos the outer one is the new layer. I think it's because the old layer is breaking down, sth like that ^^;

after that, we went to see the Travis fountain & the Spanish steps. Turned out we went to see the steps first because it was more convenient.

these are the steps. nope, nothing special about them. juz that the Spanish govt sponsored them, or something like that

I took a pic of the steps anyway, since they're so special. the coloured stuff are the confetti. kids are throwing it all around, there was a celebration of some sort (I think)

the view when walking down the steps. the other pic was when looking back upwards

I must seem like an idiot, but I've never seen water chestnuts looking like that (as in, on a vine)

we were left to walk around a bit before going to the Travis fountain, so this is kinda what it looked like after going down the steps

this is another church that we found while walking around. all the churches have very nice decoration

a great king who did a lotta good stuff. so they drew a halo on his head lol

can you see it now? XD

jesus when he was 12 years old (presumably)

this made me laugh, so I took a pic. it's a confession box! hehe ;-D

CREPES *______* juz had to try one. you wouldn't believe how excited I was. & if you didn't know that I juz absolutely love crepe, well, you haven't been in my company very much

wtf look at all that nutella

bought the nutella crepe. wasn't that great, juz nutella ;-(

I prefer the kind with whipped cream, & maybe caramel XD

later on, we also ate ice cream lol but forgot to take picture

an obelisk from egypt. not sure whether real or not

Travis fountain XD I liked it a lot

you were supposed to try a coin backwards over your left shoulder with your right hand. or was it your right shoulder with your left hand? either way, I forgot, but I did it, & it felt damn awkward. I swear, I nearly hit somebody with the coin lol

a convenience store, so I took a few pics

CHEESE ^__^

this made me laugh too

& this ;-D

that's about it. now for the dinner pics lol. juz wanted to say, I'm not the kinda person who puts food pics in my blog. but for italy & austria, I'm willing to make an exception ;-D only gonna put in the pizza pics though

freaking huge >_> but I like lol XD

that's all. hope I can post again soon ^__^ if not, then... well, sorry about that ^^;

Vatican

exam finished (again). I still haven't finished my thesis yet ARGH. & I got sick AGAIN. did I mention that I fell sick after coming back from Italy? by sick I mean fever mainly, but also flu.

anyway, I'm finally posting pics from my holiday. I think it's not so good if I post too many pics at one go, but eventually this blog will be hard to load if I keep on posting pics, so yeah, you'll still have a problem next time ^^;

& please don't ask me what this statue is or that picture is, cos most probably I wouldn't know ;-( please forgive me for my ignorance & stupidity. cos I kinda forgot everything. so unless I explain something, most likely I took the picture for aesthetic reasons

so, just enjoy the pics lol

we arrived in Rome quite early, like 8 something in the morning. then, we drove to Vatican

so these pics are just for Vatican (my next posts will be a continuation of the 1st day)

u're probably wondering why I'm posting this picture. it was the 1st thing our tour guide showed us. it's not very clear, but it's meant for ppl to drink from. but the interesting thing was, to avoid drinking from a dirty place (because the part where the water gushed out was also licked by animals), they had a hole where u REALLY drink the water from hahaha

like I said, it's not clear T_T but you're supposed to put your finger up it, & there's this tiny hole at the top where water will gush out... am I making any sense here? ^^;


if not, forget about it. now, for pictures in the church itself...

I think I took this picture obviously for the sculpture, so don't mind those people standing in the picture, I don't know them

I think this is the main part of the church

supposedly jesus in mary's arms. I don't think this happened in the bible, did it? nice statue anyway

er, I suddenly realised, when I said mary, I didn't mean mary magdalene or any other mary. I meant mary, the mother of jesus (or virgin mary, whichever you prefer) T_T I hope nobody misunderstood me

I like this kinda ceiling, but it's a bit dark, so you can't see very clearly ;-(

one of the small carvings on the walls that I zoomed in to take a pic of. quite a number of these around the columns. I guess this shows how meticulous they are (although lots of great architecture has lots of intricate carvings too)

I guess what fascinates me are the carvings & sculptures of people

one side of the church. quite a number of sides. & the lighting wasn't too good. so that's why my pics are kinda dark ;-(

if you're wondering why there's 2 pictures of practically the same thing, it's because I'm lousy at taking pictures & for you admire the wall for the picture above this one. & ignore that blur person on the right side of the pic. stupid git had to walk in front of me when I was taking picture

can you see? it's a pic of jesus being beaten by the crowd

I like sculptures generally, so I took a picture of one. but this sculpture is not my favourite. just saying


did I mention that we were there on a Sunday? which means that there was a congregation on that day. I don't remember much going on though lol




another ceiling. this is a brighter pic XD

this is not my favourite either. that young boy is cute though. or is he an angel?

as you could see from the pics above, quite a number of these paintings around. the ppl prayed at the paintings there, & since the paintings portrayed different things, I think they prayed at different places for different reasons, but maybe I'm wrong, so don't bash me.

could only take this kinda picture when we came outside the church. nice view XD

I know it's mean, but I found them amusing, so I took a pic of them. their clothes are so funny!

what the church looked like from the outside

you know that pic above with a wide view of the square (the one I said nice view)? well, this fountain is somewhere at the right in that pic above

lastly, before we left, it just so happened that the pope was coming out! *excited* I could hardly see for all the people crowding in front of me, but I took a snapshot before he came out by reaching high up with my hand as high as possible & clicking the camera.

nothing much happened actually. a lotta cars came out, & nobody knew which one the pope was lol that was so funny

just one more pic of the church. it looks just like a palace XD

see you in the next post! next up, Rome~