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Day 12: Pisa, Rome Monday, 31st March 2008
Our 7am train brought us from Florence to Pisa at 8am. Upon arrival, we checked out luggage into a luggage deposit, and headed towards “The Field of Miracles”. The small town of Pisa, also in the same Tuscan region as Florence, in reality, would be almost historically insignificant if not for this “Field of Miracles”, where the Doumo and the famed Leaning Tower of Pisa are located. We were soon greeted with the amusing sight of a tower that leaned! What’s interesting to note, is that the tower is actually crooked, as it started to lean during construction, and half way up, the started to correct the lean by building up vertically to try to compensate. The Leaning Tower Of Pisa    Help help! The tower is falling!  After taking our photos with the tower, we collected our tickets, and eventually, it was our time to climb the tower. It is while climbing, that we could really feel the lean of the tower as you climbed the spiral steps up, you can feel your weight shifting as you move around towards the other side of the tower! At the top, we appreciated the views of the little town on Pisa, the tower’s bell, and enjoyed feeling the effects the lean had on balancing at the top of the tower! The angle in which the tower leans  At the top of the tower    The super narrow stairway  The river at Pisa  After lunch, we boarded a 3 hour long train ride towards Rome. On this ride, we discussed the possibility of meeting more Singaporeans, and came to the conclusion that the chances of meeting more at our hostel, was close to none. We arrived at the Italian capital in the evening. To our surprise, when we arrived at our hostel in Rome, we were told by the receptionist that there were 5 other Singaporeans staying at the hostel as well! What a small world! Leaving our backpacks behind, we soon left for the Campo de Fiori, where we had an Italian dinner, of (more) Pizzas and pasta! This was followed by a self-guided night walking tour as suggested by our guidebook. Giordano Bruno statue at Campo de Fiori As there was a AS Roma vs Manchester United football match in Rome the next night, Police vehicles and patrols were all about Rome, especially at the Campo de Fiori area, where the Roma fans like to congregate, in case there was any violence between the English and the Italians. Police vans at Campo de Fiori  Piazza Navona  Piazza Navona  Having read our guidebook before leaving the hostel, we remembered that there was a famous café around the corner which sold chocolate ice-cream which was world famous and renowned amongst chocolate connoisseurs. Unfortunately, we left our guidebook at the hostel, and thus had no clue to the location of this café.Thankfully, just as we were mulling over it, an American family walked by, and Daryl noticed that they were using the same guidebook as we had, and after peeking over their shoulders for a while, realized that they were reading the pages on the night walk. As a result, we decided to stalk them (from a distance), and what luck! They walked us right into the café we needed! Tartufo (which means death by chocolate)  Our next stop was the Pantheon.  And next was the gorgeous Trevi Fountain. Here, we tossed a coin backwards, as everyone does, with our right hand over our left ear, into the fountain. We thought this was for luck, but as it turns out, it guarantees your return to the eternal city! Well, if you threw two, a marriage is imminent, and if you tossed three, a divorce! How interesting! Did you know, also, that each day, 3,000 Euros worth of coins are tossed into this fountain, and the money is used to run a market for the needy! And, the water here is supplied by the ancient Roman aqueducts, from a pure spring 13km outside of Rome. This fountain was built in 1453 after the mending of the aqueducts, to herald the water’s arrival. Trevi Fountain  Our last stop for the day was the well-known Spanish steps, named so for the nearby Spanish embassy. Spanish Steps  The day ended with a long walk back to our hostel, as the metro was closed for the night by the time we were done with our sight-seeing. Arriving back at our hostel, we were surprised when the receptionist greeted us with "Your friends are waiting for you!" We were shocked and puzzled, as we obviously did not have any appointment with anyone this night, not less in a foreign land! But surprise surprise! The other Singaporean group staying at the same hostel was the group of the friend Kiat Chay whom we had taken the same Airfrance flight with! And as it turns out, Daryl later found out that he knew two of the girls in that group as well! Is the world really such a small place? While most of the hostel was not bad, the experience of showering in this one was pretty horrid. For one thing, the water did not drain very well, probably choked up with all sorts of hair from the other occupants, and that meant you were always standing in your own pool of filthy water. There was no proper place to hang your stuff, and the cubicles were so small, you had to get out of the shower and shuffle out the door sideways! It was ridiculous!
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