❤ ❤ ❤

And so we FINALLY reach Italy!!

But oh my goodness, the first night in Italy was SUCH a nightmare.

After getting off the plane at around 9pm, we still had to take the train to central Rome in the middle of the night, and we were honestly quite terrified because it was so dark and cold and we were so tired. D:

Yuehuan's friend Samantha kindly offered to house us for most of our stay in Rome, but she was in Croatia during the first night so we were alone for one night.

We decided to get a room at this random Airbnb place since it was just for one night, and omgggg it was so difficult trying to find the apartment???

And when we finally found the place and knocked on the door, this super rude old couple scolded us and shooed us away, insisting that no such person existed wth.

Can you imagine, we were two little Asian girls dying under the weight of our backpackers backpacks, roaming around Rome in the middle of the night, cold hungry and tired.

We were SO miserable.

But thank goodness, we managed to find this hotel where the man at the lobby was kind enough to call our host for us, who came down to the hotel to fetch us to the apartment.

Apparently, the nasty couple were his other tenants. We were to stay next door to them.

So they OBVIOUSLY knew who we were looking for, but didn't give a shit, basically.

We had even shown them his name, number and the address we were told to go to, and they just pretended that they didn't know any such person.

Assholes.

ANYWAY.

So we finally settled into our apartment at around midnight.

We were so tired we barely even talked to each other. We just stoned on the floor, glad that we were alive and not kidnapped LOL.

Showered, slept, then morning arrived.

Wouldn't exactly say it's the nicest apartment to wake up to, but at least we were safe.

And they made us breakfast, kinda.

It was just made up of stale bread and instant coffee... Meh.

Best photo I could possibly take.

OH YES.

Forgot to mention that we had to climb these RIDICULOUS stairs up and down with our 15kg backpacks through the night, trying to find the right apartment.

There was no lift, just endless marble.

D: D:

So after breakfast, we washed up, packed up, and set off to meet Samantha and her boyfriend Lawrence for lunch at their favorite pizza joint!!

PINSERE!!!
Best pizza in. the. world.

Apparently it's the 7th best restaurant in Rome, out of 8969 on Trip Advisor lolol.

So it's a definite MUST eat, trust me.

(You can find their Tripadvisor page here!)

Everything is baked fresh, and everything just tastes so... Healthy.

Which is weird, because it's pizza LOL.

And if you know me, I really go for the super meaty, cheesy and fattening kinds of food.

But these pizzas were surprisingly damn good!

They use ingredients you won't find on pizzas here in Singapore, but they go so well together!

Like this kiam-chye pine nut raisin pizza.

It was SO good omgggg I want to go back to Rome NOW. ):

It's a really simple store, and they don't even have proper seating.

And the pizzas are really cheap!! Like it costs at most 8 SGD for a pizza??

Ridiculous.

*Drool*

Then we went to the 8th best restaurant in Rome hahahaha.

Gelateria La Romana!

All their desserts look SO good.

And I'm not even a dessert person.

But seriously, they look so mouthwatering!

And the restaurant is so pretty!!

And also, everything is made fresh.

Constant flowing chocolate, to coat the insides of each ice cream cone!!!!

This is the cheapest one, going at 3 SGD?

And you get two scoops of gelato and 1 scoop of cream.

There are like 4 creams to choose from too!

Custard, chocolate, coffee and one more I can't remember

So it's really super super worth it :D

The pistachio was AMAZING.

Random photo of random cute old couple eating gelato hehehe.

Then we headed back to Samantha's place!

Even the lobby is so gorgeous T_T Singapore why can't you be prettier D:

So gorgeous I can't even.

AND DERE WAS A DOGGY.

Hello Yoda!!!

The room Yuehuan and I shared.

The weather in Rome was so weird, like it was SO hot in the day but freezing at night.

So cold that we had to close the windows lest we freeze to death D:

YODAAA!!! Hehehehe SUPER cute.

By far the most affectionate dog I have ever met.

I'm actually more of a cat person, but I think Yoda may have changed my mind.

Yoda would alllways come running to me whenever we came home, and as soon as I sat on the floor (because I hadn't bathed yet and didn't wanna dirty the couch), Yoda would immediately come and cuddle up to me on my lap :D

Naww I miss Yoda so much. ):

Surprise doggy kiss!! :D

Sucha happy doggy ^^

Looks like such a muscular and bad ass dog but it's actually so sweet (':

Yes, was obsessed, sorry.

Hahahaha.

Grocery shopping!

All the meats and cheeses were soooo cheapppp omg I had prosciutto and mozzarella for breakfast EVERY morning.

Back to the home to drop off the groceries, then it was time to explore!

Gosh some of these paintings were sooo beautiful.

Wish I could bring some home but it was impossible to lug them around while backpacking.

Slippery sloping marble steps I nearly fell on like, 5 times LOL.

The beautiful Spanish Steps, with the Fountain of the Ugly Boat (LOL no I'm serious, that's what it's really called), under restoration.

Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti!

Hehe

In case you're wondering why I was dressed so cui-ly, it's because we ran out of outfits to wear so we were on a mission to buy more clothes HAHAHA.

After shopping we went for dinner with Sam and Lawrence!

Triton Fountain!

It was said that if you turned your back to the fountain and threw a coin backwards into the fountain, it would guarantee your return to Rome.

I should have thrown all my coins T_T

Dinner at Osteria Barberini!

(Super) pretty Samantha! :D

And the best truffle risotto I've ever had in my life.

Life. Changing.

Every risotto I've had ever since tastes like... Porridge.

LOL.

Yummyyyy :D :D

Then it was time to call it a day!

The next day, Yuehuan and I set out to meet Giovanni to explore Rome even further! (:

Fresh fruitsssss :D

Yuehuan's salad for lunch.

And my half pizza half calzone LOL.

This was probably... The most meh thing I ate in Rome.

But we were too hungry to search for something good so we just anyhow settled at some touristy place kwakwa.

Hullo Giovanni!

We were so fortunate to have Giovanni around.

He helped us order stuff, negotiate prices and helped me get my (much needed) phone card.

Phewf!

We'd definitely get conned to no end if he weren't around.

The Trevi Fountain.

With no water.

LOL.

We were joking that we were actually lucky because not many people get to see it with no water HAHAHA.

Also, it was damn funny because there were still people tossing coins into the fountain, despite it being completely dry.

Not to mention the restoration workers who were INSIDE the fountain LOL can you imagine these stupid tourists tossing coins at them.

Wahahaha

Beautiful nonetheless!

The Asian twist, as he calls it.

Hahahaha.

The Altare della Patria, which honestly really does look like a wedding cake.

Hahahaha.

Piazza Venezia!

Hiding in the shade for a breather :D

Trajan's Forum.

Trajan's Column.

And we make our way to the breathtaking Colosseum!

It was SUCH a hot day omg.

Tadah!!

We thought of paying to go in, but omg the crowd was CRAZY.

And the weather was terrible so we decided to give it a miss.

Hehehe my silly dancer friend.

Coffee break!

Bus hopping for free LOL #cheapskatestudents

The Mussolini Balcony.

Then we met up with Giovanni's friend, Alessandro!

Stray mao!

Gosh my hair used to be SO long O_O

Hehehe profile pic worthy.

My awesome Rome tour guides ;D

Giovanni told us this was arguably the best coffee in Rome, but we didn't have the time to check it out because the sun was setting way too quickly D:

And we finally reached the Pantheon!!!!

My jaw literally dropped when we walked in.

It has the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.

Alessandro told us that the builders had calculated that the dome wouldn't have been able to withstand that weight of a fully enclosed dome, and that's why there's an oculus at the top.