Rome, Day 5

Leaving Paris felt like leaving home. We woke up around 4 A.M. to prepare for our trip to Rome, Italy. We departed at 7:10 A.M. via Easy Jet and arrived in Rome at 9 A.M. Our hotel, Residenza Di Ripetta, was just at the corner of Piazza del Popolo. We dropped off our luggage in our rooms, then we took our lunch at a nearby restaurant (luckily we found one that was open in the morning). After eating, we parted with Mark and Mariesse and started our tour since we didn't have much time to tour Rome because we were only supposed to be there for 2 days. We took the bus tour like what we did in Paris, however, it took us a few kilometers walk around the city until we found the tour bus stop (thanks to our unreliable city map from our hotel). We stopped by these breathtaking spots:

1. Piazza del Popolo

2. Castel Sant'Angelo

3. St. Peter Basilica

4. Piazza Venetia

5. Colloseum

6. Roman Forum

7. Piazza Navona

8. Pantheon

9. Trevi Fountain

Believe me that's me,
not Jake "palos" Cuenca

and yes,
this is Mija not Melissa Ricks

Piazza Popolo

Picture perfect: Castel Sant'Angelo
is just outside St. Peter Basilica

The herculian Piazzia Venezia

Roman Forum - Ancient Romans
are the most artistic people

The Colloseum - I thought these things only happen in dreams

inside the colossal Colloseum

Rome's version of Arc de Triomphe -
no picture editor involved. This is exactly how the place
looked like on top of the Colloseum during that time

The Pantheon - we were not able to get inside though
so we just shopped at a Replay shop at the corner

Rome's got talent - this man is producing sound to the tune
of Lady Gaga songs out of these water-filled glasses

Trevi Fountain - after throwing a coin and wishing

The Pope was conducting a mass inside the St. Peter Basilica when we stopped by. The queue going inside, however, seemed endless so Mija and I decided to hear the mass from the square along with thousands of people. When the mass ended, we noticed the people stayed in the square. Our curiosity led us to ask a fellow Filipino from whom we learned that the Pope would come out to give everybody a blessing as a culminating act of the celebration of the feast of the 3 Kings. So, Mija and I stayed until we saw the pope come out from a window in his residence beside the basilica. The Pope remained there for a few minutes waving at us and then finally he gave everyone blessings. He spoke in latin or italian so we did not understand anything he said but just the same, we felt lucky and blessed to have that once-in-a-lifetime experience (which was not at all part of our itinerary). It was an experience we'll surely treasure for the rest of our lives.

In front of St. Peter Basilica

The largest gathering of people I have seen in my life

Hearing the mass from the St. Peter Square

Papa Benedicto!!!

We asked an Italian man to take our picture
and he needed to kneel to capture the Pope at the background.
In turn, I did the same thing capturing a picture of him and his wife.