Rome was not built in a day it’s true! Travel experiences By Siddharth Paramhans

21, Dec 2015, Monday, Rome, 9^th Day – Visit to Vatican City and around Rome

Rome is one of the most attractive tourist destination in Europe, and one of the oldest civilization with history of over 3000 years. Roman architecture is really admirable so as their culture. I traveled to Rome with my wife Meera and Son Sarang and were there for 3 days just before Christmas.

St. Basilica Church

In Rome, we were staying adjacent to Vatican City, technically an independent country. Our flat was quite spacious and comfortable, and we were pleasantly surprised that it was surrounded by Vatican City wall. We got up early, organised some stuff for our breakfast and were ready for exciting journey in wonderful city that we always wanted to visit. Since Vatican City was not very far from our place so thought to go on walking to St. Basilica, the biggest and the greatest church of the world and where Pope stays. 

Vatican City

Vatican museum

It is the smallest and the richest country of the world having its population of just 849 residents including Pope. Almost circular in shape and surrounded by Vatican boundary, outside the boundary of Vatican City, it is Rome. There was a big circular fountain at the entrance, Musee De Vaticanni apart from St. Basilica Church, lakhs of people visit Vatican City every day. 




Special attraction is St. Basilica church, Vatican museum, XVI Chapel, famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling and a spacious post office.We took a special tour guide and guided tour looking at very long queues, this may help you get fast entry in Vatican Museum and also you get to know deep history of Vatican Church St Basilica. 

Michelangelo Sculpture

The museum, XVI Chapel and masterpieces paintings of Michelangelo, the world famous Italian painter to whom the Pope invited to paint XVI chapel. It was marvellous, the ceilings, walls everything painted by Michelangelo, who was a sculptor, painter and architect widely considered to be one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance period around 15th Century. 

Paintings

These were looking very lively with some uniqueness of colours and sculpture, he was a genius. Some paintings were giving the feel as they were3D while they were flat. There was one painting of Michelangelo who made it when he was just 24 years old, a painting of Mother Marie holding the Christ on her lap with every minute details and very fine work of art. 







The Pope comes out in the balcony of the Church at 10 AM on every Wednesday for public. Pope has the highest authority for Christian religion, all the guidance and announcements are made from here. 

Swiss Security

Vatican has its own security, large post office, it’s own currency and work independently under the leadership controlled by Pope.

Post office at Vatican City

We purchased few post cards to send some sweet message to our daughter, it was really lot of fun writing the lovely message from Vatican post office to Shagun our daughter, who was at London and could not join us at Rome. Meera my wife dropped the post card in yellow letter box to be delivered to her. 

It was long day at Vatican seeing and appreciating Vatican City, and was being a wonderful experience. 

Lighted Street in Rome

We never realized it was around 6 PM, that we came out from Vatican, to walk on the street of Rome, was quite decorated with colorful lights as Christmas was approaching nearby. Walking in Rome was itself great experience, losing yourself in endless lanes, gives you the opportunity to explore city very closely. 

Amalfi Restaurant

After a few miles of walk it was the time to settle down for dinner. Italy is famous for pizza, we could find good joint Amalfi which is known for handmade fresh Pizza, it really came out very authentic joint and we were relaxed reasonably with special Italian wine and Pizzas.  








I recommend you to visit Amalfi on your next visit for thin crust Pizza along with local wine both blend very well. Waiter there was very courteous and took keen interest in serving us quite well so as telling unique features & history of their restaurant. Sarang clicked a photograph with waiter who mixed up with us happily, this will be a memory to cherish.




We later called Uber to return back to our place, certainly came out to be very satisfying and memorable day.

22, Dec 2015, Tuesday, Rome,10^th Day – Visit to Rome City Roman Colleseum

Colleseum

We got up a little late, we decided to have Indian breakfast, specially was a fun to have Aloo Ka Paratha with tomato Chutney in Rome. 2nd day was planned to go in city to see Roman Colleseum, took local bus ride to experience. The Colleseum is the oldest monument, built in 80 AD and is one of the seven wonders of the world. Rome is an ancient city but Romans have preserved their heritage very well. Colleseum is the ruins of magnificent architecture, it was an amphitheater run by the emperor Vesparian of the Flavian dynasty as a gift to Roman people.

His son Titus upgraded the Colleseum, officially known as Flavian amphitheater with 100 days of games including gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights. Though two thirds of the original Colleseum has been destroyed over time, it remained a popular tourist destination and an iconic symbol of Rome and its long tumultuous history. 

Flavian amphitheater

Inside the Colleseum had seating space for more than 50000 spectators who may have been arranged according to their social ranking. Gladiator were generally slaves, condemned criminal or prisoners of war. 






To see this magnificent structure was a unique experience, we captured it in our camera and also bought some souvenirs. 












From here we went to St. Cathedral church where the famous painting of Michelangelo is kept, we had to climb large no. of steps as it was on height. It was late and time to relax, we got bored of eating pizza so looked out a Chinese restaurant where we took Manchow soup, few good Chinese delicacies along with fried rice there, was a good fun and enjoyed. Italy is known for it’s style and fashion.

DAN JHON

We were in middle of posh market, all the major brands and flagship stores were there, we entered inside a big brand shop of Den Jones, famous for suiting and shirting, the sales man was very active and smart and showed us some really good suits which I liked and tried a few. They were really very nice with good fittings, I purchased few of them, a blazer, few shirts, a suit, and a long coat. Meera and Sarang, both helped me in choosing the right stuff, lot of purchasing was done today and were happy at the end of the day.

Trevi Fountain

The entire Rome city is the reflection of rich ancient heritage, sculpture and architecture, the statues were made of white marble. The national museum and fountain were magnificent and unique in style. The Fontana di Trevi - or Trevi Fountain in English -is a fountain in Rome, Italy. It is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and the most beautiful in the world. A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. It was very fulfilling day as we visited lots of places and also had good shopping experience, it was 11.30pm so we called Uber and came back.

23, Dec 2015, Wednesday, Rome,11^th Day – Visit to Rome City visit to Roman Forum

This was the last day of our trip, we had to catch our flight in the evening for coming back to India, while my son Sarang was going back to London to spend some time with my daughter Shagun. We thought to use our time meticulously to visit some more places in Rome, we had already taken the tickets for Roman Forum so we took the bus and reached there, it is world's famous monument, built approx. 2000 years ago. 

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important government buildings at the centre of the city of Rome. Roman emperor such as Augustus and Trojan built the imperial forum, three arch first arch was made in 29BC, the second in 81AD and third one in 203AD. As we were short of time so had a distant look of Palatine hills, these were the ruins of ancient temple.

For a while we roamed around the streets and nearby markets, just to have some feel of Roman culture, Romans are very courteous, friendly and family oriented people. 








We were about to return to our place to catch the flight, we got the message that our flight was being delayed by two hours, means some more time in Rome. We bought few paintings, wine and cheese and had lunch in a very good French restaurant. 

Fiumicino Airport

The airport was quite far from almost at 1 hour of car ride so we called Uber and reached to international airport , it was a great rush in the evening and took one and half hours time to reach Fiumicino Airport, a very busy and large airport, one has to take the metro to reach to our terminal. 

Sarang's flight was also on same time so we said goodbye to each other and boarded our flights.

Bye to Rome will come again!

Our trip was very joyful, refreshing and full of beautiful memories, the good time we spent together with our lovely children, both of them are very intelligent, tolerant and having good understanding, they took utmost care of us. Thus we concluded our trip to London, Paris, Vatican and Rome. Will write again whenever we visit any other destination. Our good wishes to you!

***********

An evening in Paris, & "Ferrari Ki Sawari! By Siddharth Paramhans

17, Dec 2015, Thursday, Paris, 5^th Day

Gare du Nord is one of the busiest and highly connected railway station in Paris, we alighted there after coming from London by Eurostar. Local taxis don’t prefer short distance passengers so we had to take another local train for our destination which was just 5 minutes from Gare du Nord. We had pre booking done through Airbnb, and David the owner was waiting for us at his flat where we planned to stay for next 3 days in Paris. David by profession is an Electric Engineer and creative electronic designer we got to know more about him once we met. One can see beautiful lights in and around Paris, many of these projects had been done by David.

Eiffel Tower

It was almost 7pm, we decided to visit to Eiffel tower and see that magnificent structure in illuminated lights and feel the the beauty of the Eiffel tower. One can see entire Paris from top, specially in night the illuminated Paris is very beautiful, this time even more as entire city was illuminated due to Christmas festival. Paris is also known as city of light. We took the tickets for top deck of Eiffel Tower at 17 Euros for person. Once you reach on TOP of Eiffel tower view from each side is just amazing, long lighted streets, long queues of car, moving trains, festival lighting, illuminated colors, and above all cold breeze stops your breath and you just feel like capturing each moments that you are seeing around at top of Eiffel tower.

Bird view from Eiffel Tower

We also spent some time seeing a small museum, reading brief story of making of Eiffel tower. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French civil engineer and architect who designed this magnificent tallest tower of that time and oversaw the construction. This magnificent tower was open to public in 1989 to experience bird view of Paris. This is just not one of the 7 wonder monuments it is also one of the most visited sight in world by tourists from all around the world.

Last time when I visited Paris, I went up to the first floor only as the third floor was not operative, we came back from TOP floor to first floor by lift, took few souvenirs, and was time to go for dinner. Surprisingly, the restaurant on first floor of Eiffel tower was booked completely, and we had to find another place in city for our dinner. For having a dinning experience at Eiffel tower one needs to book 3-4 days in advance.  Took Uber cab to come back home as we reached home I realized that I have lost my iPhone, felt bad as this had my lot of data, these are some situations and mishap happens that we can not control.

---------------------------------------------------------------

18, Dec 2015, Friday, Paris, 6^th Day – Visit to Montmartre Church  

Our daughter Shagun had to go back to London due to some of her Visa issue, and she had to submit her passport immediately otherwise her joining would have been delayed so we decided to send her back to London. We were not feeling happy with this, but there was no other option, she went back to London and we were now only three instead of four for rest of our journey. She had been coordinating most of our trip, which now was to be done by ourselves.

We were also little bit tired after last 4-5 days of hectic schedule, so kept light during the day, took rest and evening we had our lunch then we decided to visit Montmartre Church which was not very far from our place so we reached there on foot after walking up for a mile on hill.

Montmarte Church

A popular landmark, the basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. It offers one of the most beautiful panoramic view of the capital at 400meters above sea level. Inside the building, the ceiling was decorated with the largest mosaic in France. We returned walking through the by lanes, shops around the Basilica – must to experience Paris and its culture.

---------------------------------------------------------------

19, Dec 2015, Saturday, Paris, 7^th Day – Visit to Cathedral of Norte Dame, Louvre, & Arc De Triomphe

Norte dame

Weather was very pleasant, Sun was shining yellow, we decided to cover important points in Paris city – our itinerary today included visit to Cathedral of Norte Dame, Louvre, & Arc De Triomphe. Just after breakfast we left for Cathedral of Norte Dame of De Paris, the most visited monument of Paris, a jewel of Gothic architecture, construction of Cathedral began in medieval time and continued over several centuries, heavily damaged during French Revolution. The cathedral was restored in19th century. 

A walk on side lanes is must, it’s fun & relaxing, eating at typical French brasseries café was just impossible to resist. We tried Crapes, being made like the way we make Dosa in India but different taste. There was multiple choice offered with Veg and non veg options.

From here we took a tricycle rickshaw to go to Musee De Louvre, which was 10 minutes at distance from Norte Dame. Louvre is the largest museum with best collection of the world. We moved inside, Louvre is just huge in size, very systematically made in various thematic galleries.  For better experience we took audio device to listen commentary of each article placed there in museum.  

The Louvre 

Everyone who comes to Paris, it is the must visit to Louvre to discover the wealth of treasures it contains the museum houses western work of art dating from the Middle Ages to1848 in addition to the collection of ancient oriental, Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations as well as graphic and Islamic art. First we saw the exhibition hall of Napoleon, from room to room the famous royal palace reveals its masterpieces to the public i.e. The Monalisa, the raft of Medua, the Venus De Milo. In total there are 35000 works of art to be discovered with its 800 years old history. We took several photographs here and lastly we visited the Mummies section, where the dead bodies were kept in ancient times along with the belongings. We spent approx. 3 hrs to roam around the museum and could manage the important galleries. If you want to see Louvre museum in detail even one full day is even not enough.

By the time we finished it was evening, the city was decorated with colorful lights since it was Christmas time. Paris is famous as city of lights, it reminded me the famous movie ‘An evening in Paris’, here again we took a tricycle rickshaw and passed through the famous market Champs Elysee. Rickshaw driver, an old person was very interesting story teller, we were really amazed to see very passionate sprit of this person and who kept us entertaining throughout the brief journey and gave a click after dropping us.

Whole Champs Elysee street was illuminated with colourful lights, there were big shops and eateries on both sides of the road. It was a memorable experience, the upper half is devoted to eating out, luxury brands and flagships stores as you walk towards The Place De la Concorde is punctuated with many peaceful green spaces. It is situated at the end of Champs Elysee, the oldest monument in Paris (3300yrs old) the square was originally known for having been a site for execution during the French Revolution, Louis Xavi was guillotined here.

Arc De Triomphe

From here we walked to Arc De Triomphe, it is the largest arch in the world and was built in 1806 to celebrate Napoleons victory. From its terrace roof one can enjoy a breathtaking panoramic view of the French capital. We also visited the tomb of unknown soldier where flame is rekindled every evening, it reminded us Amar Jawan Jyoti back home in India.

Ferrari Ki Sawari in Paris! Ferrari driving will always be a great fun in Paris, whole round around Paris for 1hr cost 150 euro, worth going for it. 


As we walked around the whole day and felt very tired as well as hungry, Sarang our son found one good Indian restaurant ‘Anna Poorna’ with the help of Google search. It was first Indian restaurant of Paris and expensive, we all were very happy to be here, the food was very good and the ambience was also very pleasant. Indian classical music was being played in background, an artist from India was playing on flute, altogether it was a very different feeling to have Indian food along with good background music in foreign land. We thoroughly enjoyed our food and had ice cream. 

---------------------------------------------------------------

20, Dec 2015, Sunday, Paris, 8^th Day – Visit to Chateau, Champs Elysee, departure to Rome

It was our last day in Paris so we decided to keep our day light, had our light home made breakfast “Tahri”, it was delicious, we also enjoyed some sandwiches and fruits were adequate to start another day. We packed our luggage as we had to go to Rome today by evening flight. Since we had limited time, we hired an Uber taxi for whole day to roam around in Paris. Driver of this cab was a Pakistani Citizen Imran, who certainly impressed us very much, he made us feel very comfortable in Paris for whole day and was helpful in guiding us throughout the journey.

Our driver Imran took us to Chateau, it was 35 Km far from our place, we passed through the country side and out skirts of Paris, it was a beautiful journey. 

Chateau

Chateau is one of the residence of French President, it's architecture has been influenced by eight centuries of royalty from the Capetian dynasty to Bonaparte, the horse shoe shaped staircase, Marie Antoinette's beds and Napoleons throne are amongst its masterpieces, the garden, a masterpiece of landscape designed by Andre Le Notre. The palace also serves as the setting for a series of magical shows. Chateau Rambo willet was acquired by Louis XVI in1783, it is one of the residences of French President and is used to host foreign heads of states.

Now it was 1.30pm, one of my colleague from my previous company, Ruchi is settled in Paris, she called me to meet us at some central place so we decided to invite her and family to have lunch together, we stopped at Champs Elysee, Ruchi came here along with her husband and daughter and we all took lunch together at local French eateries, she was happy to meet us and we spent some time there, Sarang clicked some photographs of us.

We returned back to our place and found David, the owner of our flat was waiting outside. It was time to say bye to him and thanked him for courtesy and friendly gesture during our stay in Paris. We had already booked the shuttle bus to airport, and moved to airport, it was very far and took two hours to reach, our flight was on time. We reached Rome at 11pm, we quickly took a taxi and reached to our destination. As it was already very late at night so could not see much on the way, but we could sense that it is a mediocre city and somehow different from Paris and London.

To be continued...