ROME in three days

     Prior to embarking our 10-day Western Mediterranean cruise, we stayed in Rome to see the city and to visit the Vatican. I had very high expectation of Rome as I visualized those written in books and destination blogs. After passing through the immigration, we followed the signage to get us to our pre-booked shuttle to our hotel in Termini. While The Parents and I were seated on the bus, we just looked at each other and shook our heads, that spoke volumes! My mother blurted out, "it's like Manila!" I couldn't agree more. It was the month of May,  it's very humid, the surroundings were so dry and brown, and the highrise residential buildings had laundry hanging by the windows. The roads were also narrow and the traffic very busy. Or maybe a cultural shock where Vancouver is  clean and green, roads/ streets are wider than what I was seeing in Roma, and most importantly, it is prohibited to hang your laundry outside your window. So yeah, this exists in Rome, aside from the glitzy and glamorous photos seen on glossy magazines and vlogs.

     However, it's not at all bad, we actually enjoyed our sight-seeing tour aboard the Hop On Hop off bus and we also enjoyed authentic Italian dishes and met with my college friend based in Rome. So it's all good!

With Ailyn (R), a friend back in college based in Rome

St Peter's Square in the Vatican City with The Parents

Castel Sant'Angelo

While she was getting down the famous stairs, I snapped a photo of hers!