Chapter 1: Valuable lesson in Rome

10th December 2013

It was 11.30 pm, we were already at the airport all ready to go.

I am actually surprised that the family wanted to send me off since my brother had to leave for work at 6.30 am the next morning. They are all early sleepers, I am the only owl in the family.

 I will miss my Mum’s cooking the most! She is the best cook ever thus that explains why I have so much fats in me.

I was even more shocked when my dad turned up! Haha! He was driving around the area so he decided to stop by to send me off too! So sweet awww…

Unlike the bestie’s family, my family do not really have the luxury of flexible working hours so I am pretty used to being independent and doing everything myself.

Took some photos with the bestie’s cute nieces and nephews too …..

Since it was 12 am, the bestie and me decided to check in early so that the family can go home earlier to sleep. As we entered, we saw this beautifully decorated mini Pisa Tower.

 It was a such a coincidence since we were heading to Italy. I must say that Changi Airport’s decorations never fails to amaze me.

 After about 7 hours of flight, we finally arrived at Doha airport! Guess who we reunited with?

No photos of us because after 7 hours of flight, we do not want to scare anyone with the way we looked. Haha.

On the way to board the plane to Rome. We had to take a bus to the plane and it seemed like a long ride to the plane. We spotted this US Air Force plane and I am not really sure why we were excited. Haha.

It took about 6 hours before we reached Rome. I was shocked that the custom officer did not even check my face before stamping onto my passport. He did not pass to me my passport, he slightly threw it to me.

Rude.

Oh well, at the airport in Rome we reunite with another one of our travel mates but again, no photos as we were too busy searching for our luggages.

The bestie and me were staying at a different place than Bon and AK. The taxi driver dropped us pretty far away and we had to dragged our luggages on a rocky pavement before finally reaching. I am just thankful that they had a lift there. Haha….I do no want to relive the nightmare of carrying my 20 kg luggage up 3 storeys like I did last year in Seoul! 😛

We spent the night walking around the city. It was cold but it was not freezing so the walk was pretty pleasant.

The city was surrounded by different statues everywhere and I am sure that there is a story behind each statue but to me who knows nothing, the statues kinda scare me a bit.

The fountains were lovely though.

 Dinner at a warm and cosy restaurant. We had to walk quite a distance before finding a suitable place to eat.

Bon found a delightful dessert place! Seeing us in tudung, the owner was so nice to inform us which desserts contained alcohol. We did not even asked! Wow.

 Unfortunately, they had no seats so we were standing there enjoying our desserts in the cold.

 We are finally here at Fontana di Trevi!

The place was crowded with tourists and Indians trying to sell us random, useless toys.

Apparently you can make a wish and it will come true when you throw your coin into the fountain but I do not believe this and did not want to waste my money.

I actually took a lot of more photos with my camera but unfortunately I was pick pocketed in the train on the way back. The train was crowded and I made the mistake of putting my camera in my pocket. Actually my hands were in my pocket all the time, I shifted my backpack to the front with both my hands and that was when it happened.

Just a split second and it was gone.

Needless to say, I was devastated. You should know how much I use my camera and how many photos I take with it. I use it for both work and leisure so I was really upset that it was gone. I was even more upset that I will not be able to capture the beauty of Europe and Switzerland with that camera.

Apart from my laptop, the camera was also my most priced possession. When it was gone, I felt a part of me was gone too.

But I could not really blame anyone but myself? I guess this incident helped to keep me on high alert. I did not want to risk losing money or even passport. This was the harsh reality of Rome that I had to experience it myself. There are pick pockets everywhere and its not uncommon. I had to be very careful from now on.

If you ever visit Rome, or any place in Europe, please be extra careful about your belongings! It was an expensive and valuable lesson to me.

This entry would have a lot more photos, including a photo of the 4 of us during dinner and at the fountain. There were even photos with the family at the airport before we left.

Now the challenge is to stop feeling so bummed about this but I reckon I will need a few days to mourn….