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| My Roman Holiday |
So one fine morning (on 17th May) we started our journey from Kolkata International Airport where we boarded an Emirates flight to Dubai. We had enough time during a stopover of 3hrs 45 minutes for our connecting Rome Flight, and explored every nook and corner of the most fascinating Dubai International Airport. I was overwhelmed to see this grand airport and didn't even dare to compare it with our own. After spending few hours at Dubai Airport we boarded another Emirates Flight which took almost six hours to reach Rome Flumicino Airport. Next 7 days we stayed in Italy and explored the beautiful cities (Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice) and a Tuscan village called Chianti (famous for its vineyard and wine).
The very first day in Rome we decided to go to the world's smallest city - the Vatican City (confined within the huge wall). We took a tram from our hotel to go to Roma Termini Station from where we went to the underground station to avail the connection of Line A (Ottaviano San Pietro) metro to go to the Vatican City. We knew about their dress code that shoulders and knees had to be covered inside the Vatican City, so we dressed up likewise. After reaching there my father decided to take a guided tour (had to spend 50 euro per person) as it was impossible to see the huge Vatican Museum in just few hours on our own. Still it took almost 4 hours to see the museum. We saw the famous sculptures like Michelangelo's La Pieta (the dead body of Jesus on the lap of Mother Mary) and his most famous creation - the painting on the ceiling of the famous Sistine Chapel. But unfortunately photography was not allowed inside the Chapel and it demanded absolute silence to maintain its sanctity. The painting on the ceiling was truly beautiful. Though I could not understand most of the things the guide said in his broken English, but I realised that it took enormous time and effort to create such a great work of art. The guide warned us not to use flash lights of camera and we saw only dim lights are used in the entire halls only to protect the valuable artworks, otherwise the same may fade gradually. The grand spiral staircase inside the museum, beautiful paintings by famous artists like Leonard da Vinci, Raphael etc. and ancient sculptures were just amazing and worthy to be ever renmembered. Then we went to St Peter's Basilica where we saw that thousands of people were gathering at the St Peter's Square to listen to Pope Francis. We saw the Pope on a huge screen delivering a speech. Then we left the place and had our lunch at a local pizza hut where we ate the most delicious pizza and famous Italian gelato ice-cream After that we went to another famous place of Rome - 'the Colosseum' where we were thrilled to hear the stories of the brave gladiators from a guide. It is one of the new 'Seven Wonders' of the World. It is located almost in the center of Rome. About 50,000 spectators could sit in this amphitheater and watch the infamous gladiator fights.
Italy is rich in history. The old world charm of Italy,its beautiful architecture, cobbled stone roads, open roadside cafes, friendly locals etc. made the place even more exciting. We moved on with our sight-seeing tours for the next 2 days in various places of Rome which unfolded many different stories before us. We saw the Trevi Fountain (my mother tossed a coin into the fountain as it is believed that it will fulfila wish), the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, the Roman Forum etc. Rome is a shoppers' paradise (famous for Italian leather bags, shoes etc) but they are very expensive. We bought some souvenirs. But then it was time to say goodbye to Rome. We moved on to Florence from Rome by Eurorail to cover the next part of our itinerary. I will cherish the memory of this wonderful experience for the rest of my life. The remaining part of my tour was also very interesting and enchanting with lovely memories, which I would definitely share with my friends in future.
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| My Roman Holiday |
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| My Roman Holiday |