Rome Revisited

Cool and wet. Never thought I'll enjoy Rome and its chilliness; it sure beats the heat and the steamy city stench. While we had our robbery scare the previous time, Rome seems a little less hostile now and it felt safer to stay out till dark. It rained but was too stingy to buy a brolly (I had one back in the hostel!). But thank goodness it merely rained, not poured.

Piazza di Spagna - still like the hustle and bustle of this place, tourists and all.

On Spagna and the surrounding shopping area. Love the girlish frocks!

Trevi Fountain - Throw a coin behind your back and you will visit Rome again. It works!

Piazza Chigi - encounter with another of the magnificent palazzos in the city

Piazza Navona - lovely at sunset with all the artists sans the crowd

One of the random buildings which caught my eye


Outside the Pantheon - love the plant covered ancient brick walls!


True blue homely Italian pizzeria recommended by our Roman hostel owner.




The yummy fried mozzarella balls!

Florence

Update: we're at Florence now. We are staying in this perfect 3 person hostel room with a computer and internet connection! The coolest part of our room is the window that opens up to be a door leading to the courtyard.

The weather the past few days have been really bad, cold and wet. Did not bring enough warm clothes. As usual. Caught a cold in Orvieto 2 days ago and have been popping panadol ever since :(

Tuscany is totally not the sun drenched place that we all know. Probably a cold spell cos I've never felt so cold. Brrrrr.

Gimme a break!

Finished packing so I'll leave some last words before I end up having "limited access to my emails or any internet connection" (my-out-of-office message).

I'm seriously considering if it's even worth it to take 2 weeks off for a "summer holiday jaunt" in the Mediterranean coast of Italy. Maybe it's better to dream about endless blue skies and balmy weather than to actually expose myself to the extra hassle, stress and fatigue of going on leave.

I wonder if it's the nature of my job that demands my 24/7 attention such that I can never seem to be free of it - people just expect me to stay connected and reply to their email queries. Though TR obviously hates this, I foresee that I'll be checking my BB umpteen times a day and hopefully, I won't be too conspicuous doing so in the middle of some piazza.

I swear that 70-litres backpacks are built for strapping ang mohs and not for Asian women (and I'm hardly considered petite!) My backpack is extremely ergonomically unfriendly, I bought it cos it could "convert" into a duffel bag and, it's red. Now I end up doubling under it in the most unglamorous fashion. Sigh. Hoping it'll wear and tear by the time I reach home (only when I reach home) so I can get a new one. Yivon thanks I'm craazzyyy to be breaking my back when I can afford to travel in a more comfortable manner. True, but when I think of the years ahead where I'll be age-barred from hostels and when I might really break my back, or a bone, I've decided to backpack for as long as I can endure, and enjoy of course.

LA DOLCE VITA!