Italy : Rome, Vatican
Autumn 2016
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Coin throwing in Trevi Fountain on a third visit to Rome
(Nov-2016) |
Journal Entry... Who would have thought throwing a coin in the Trevi Fountain did prove true to the legend of ensuring a return ticket to Rome. My first coin throwing, in 2011, brought me back to Rome in 2015; my second coin throwing, in 2015, brought me back to Rome in 2016. For a third time, I planted a kiss on my 10-Philippine coin, for luck, and threw it in the Trevi Fountain [Tip: right hand over left shoulder], crossing my fingers I'd get another return ticket to Rome.
Link to>>> Journal Entry: Streets to Rome #italy #rome #winter2011
15-nov: Third trip to Rome...
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| This way to Vatican... |
Returned to Rome for #EtihadAirways Rome-Abu Dhabi-Manila outbound flight, after days of traveling Greece and Switzerland.
A shuttle coordinator approached us at the arrival area in Leonardo Da Vinci airport, asking if hubby and I were interested in a group shuttle. Even on a third visit to Rome, I'd be wary of strangers, especially when money is involved. The elderly-looking guy had no visible indication he was working for any company. Not until others had come along to join the group shuttle-- an elderly couple from Austria, and another couple from Germany.
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| This way to Pantheon... |
Hubby told the shuttle driver our drop-off point is at Campo de'Fiori; the German couple at Roma Termini, and the Austrian couple near Spanish Steps. Shuttle driver charged the hubby and I extra Euro-5, saying we were the farthest down his route and last in drop-off. All the while I thought the shuttle driver was coming in Rome proper on another highway exit; on our first visit to Rome, the apartment owner-provided shuttle exited to a Vatican approach, and on that approach, Campo de'Fiori was right next to it.
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| This way to Spanish Steps... |
As courtesy to the other couples to be dropped off first, hubby and I seated ourselves in the far back of the shuttle van. Well, as it turned out... the shuttle driver exited to that very same Vatican approach, from the highway. Right then, I couldn't help remarking aloud, so the shuttle driver can hear it, that the shuttle driver had (probably) miscalculated the passenger drop-off points along the route. Or, the shuttle driver had most likely mistaken us to be first-timers in Rome, huh? Shuttle driver ended up having no choice, except to drop me and the hubby first at Campo de'Fiore, in front of the building to the apartment. As a result of shuttle driver's own doing, the two other couples had to get themselves off the shuttle van to let us out, and the shuttle driver to be blamed for it. Shuttle driver, incidentally, got no tip from me already having charged us extra for the ride.
Check-in: #CampodeFiore apartment, right smack in the heart of Rome.
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| Papal mass is held every Wednesday at the Piazza San Pietro in Vatican |
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| A fully restored Trevi fountain welcomes visitors, in 2016, for a coin-throwing |
16-nov: La dolce vita di Roma...
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Nightcap by the fountain
in Piazza Navona |
When in Rome, I made sure our stay extended to a Wednesday, for the full drill:
(1) Attending the Pope's General Audience at the Vatican, on a Wednesday, which is (only) a bridge away from Rome;
(2) Strolling around Centro Storico, and coin throwing in Trevi Fountain; and
(3) Last, but not the least, food trip pizza at #Pizzare and gelato at #Giolitti.
For when in Rome, "Eat, Pray, Love" just like in the movies*wink;)
Link to YouTube>>> Ungkler Travels | ITALY feat. La Dolce Roma-Vaticano
oOo
PHOTOSTITCH
#Italy #Rome #winter2016
