Rome Italy Day 2

Rome, Italy Day 2

Day 2 started with Rick Steve's Heart of Rome Audio guide tour. Our friend recommended this free audio guide to us and it is so useful and saved us a lot of trouble figuring out where to go.

First stop: Campo di Fiori

We went there in the morning so there was a Fruits and Vegetables market going on. Rome is quite a doggy friendly place, we at least see 8 to 10 dogs a day.

There was a border collie and malamute trying to play with each other. The malamute was massive.

The good thing about this audio guide is that you do not need to follow it strictly so we actually skipped some places where we've already been to the day before.

Second stop: Pantheon

This church was initially built to worship all God's. The original temple was built in 27 BC by the son-in-law of Caesar Augustus, Marcus Agrippa. It was then rebuilt in 120 AD.

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Us being tourists. Haha 😂

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This is the main altar in the temple and it is said that the Romans actually used this place to worship all Gods. They were especially superstitious.

This dome is actually the model for the cathedral dome in Florence and also the dome at St Peter's.

The dome gets thinner and lighter towards the top. The square indentation serves to reduce the weight of the dome.

This sun roof is the only light source for the dome and the opening is called the Oculus. The floor is designed with holes in it so when it rains, it drains the water away.

Third stop: Trevi Fountain

There were so many people at the fountain which made it very difficult to get good pictures. The sun was also shining in an angle that is not flattering for us.

But since we were already there we just had to attempt to take a few.

I remember this place from the Lizzie Mcguire movie. Haha. R remembers this place from another movie. Can't remember the name.

Trying very hard to open our eyes here... Hahahaha

Next stop was the Spanish steps. These places are all walking distance from each other.

Again, there were so many people crowding around this place all trying to get an insta-worthy photo.

The Spanish steps was the last stop on the audio guide. After that we took the metro to the Colosseum. We were supposed to visit this particular restaurant that our friend recommended but it was closed so R found another one that is highly reviewed on TripAdvisor. We even managed to get 50% discount by making a reservation.

We didn't actually make the reservation until we were seated down because we didn't know there was a discount. But the Jessica Huang in R was out in full force yesterday so despite telling the waiter that we did not have a reservation initially, he went ahead to book it and showed the email to the waiter after. 😂 50% discount ftw!

The food was actually not bad. R was raving about his steak. I think he was happier because of the discount.

We bought the tickets for the Colosseum online as advised by friends who have been to Europe so we managed to skip the queue!

R made me download and watch the movie Gladiators on the plane so that we can better appreciate the place. Of course, the actual place does not look the same anymore.

Most parts of it was ruined from an earthquake and also people mining the materials to build other stuff like the St Peter's.

We found this part just outside the Colosseum where we took these photos. They were stunning.

As R likes to educate me on many things, I found out that most stadiums in the modern world is modelled after the Colosseum.

View of the Arch of Constantine

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Just some random cobbled street near the entrance to the Roman forum.

Our ticket 🎫 actually allows us to visit the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill the day after but R lost his ticket. We also didn't have the time so we just walked around to see it from the outside. It was really impressive.

Without all the modern tech that we have now, I could only imagine how crazy it was to build these massive structures.

After that we walked all the way to Trastevere to have some meat, bruschetta, wine before going for dinner.

(retyping this because idk why it disappeared from my drafts 😥)

So we were chatting while waiting for time to pass and also because my legs were too tired from all the walking, mainly because of the latter.

So I was asking R if I should find a job quickly if he's not going to go Australia, yea, still no news, sian max. He told me that I should continue to take a break and that he knows what I was feeling. He knows that I feel judged when I tell people that I'm not working now. Haha

I have to say that I feel like I'm being judged for not working. Well, other than my mom thinks I'm very free because I'm not working, I also think that my MIL will think that this woman aka me, very lazy. Stopped working immediately after getting married 😂

So, before we came to Italy we actually went to open a joint account at OCBC. R said that he will be depositing moolah into the acc for our expenses and that I can use the money inside. 😢 感动 max.

So the other scenario would be that he will go Australia, I much prefer this outcome, and I will go with him. He has also requested menu for his meals there. Haha 帝皇鸡 and curry chicken every other week. Well, lucky I know how to cook these. Maybe I should learn more dishes for variety!

After the chit chat, we just roamed around the area without directions. Just walked to wherever we thought look interesting. 

Finally when we reached the restaurant thay we wanted to visit..... Boom... It was fully booked. Sian max. So we just walked down the street to look for another place for dinner and stumbled upon this family run restaurant. 

The owner was really friendly and even offered us this appetiser for free just because R asked him what it was.

This octopus 🐙 bruschetta-like dish was so nice.

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#dayrefatties #dayrefoodies #dayretravel #dayretravels

The type of pasta that our friend recommended. Just pasta with black pepper and cheese. If you're in Italy, you should really give this a try according to R. I'm not a fan of cheese so I didn't eat it.

R was lecturing me the whole time during dinner saying how I'm too picky with food and that I'm weird because I don't eat what 99% of the population is eating. Whatever. Don't like just don't like lo. Why should I force myself to be the same as others. I mean I tried to like some but not others.

I used to not eat a single bit of beef but I've since grown to love Japanese bbq and I only eat beef when I go for jap bbq. That's a major improvement for me mann.

So anyway my main dish came really late but it was quite an interesting combination. Chicken breast and spinach. I knew the chicken was cooked with cheese the moment I ate it but it was within an acceptable range for me so I continued eating. R tried it and said that it was buttery. I knew he was trying to make me finish the dish.

Just look at the number of steps!!! It's crazy.

Idk why but Samsung health always record more steps... Eat a lot but walk a lot too.