Holiday travel tips and experiences: 16 Days Europe Vacation Package Day 2

16 Days Europe Vacation Package Day 2 Paris - Rome

Upon leaving the plane in Paris, we met with Ricky, our tour group manager from Chan Brothers. Ricky then briefed us on the Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport which he mentioned is one of the most confusing airports to get around as well as distributed a Whisperer Guide to each of the tour group member. The Whisperer Guide is a great tool where the guide does not have to shout to make himself heard and each and every member of the group gets to hear the commentary loud and clear. Cool!

Bright pink toilets for the ladies at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport

We then cleared immigration in Paris and had three hours to spare in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport before catching our connecting Air France flight to Rome where we would commence our 16 days Europe vacation package. Our group of six family members decided to have some snacks and drinks at EXK to while away the time.

Christmas decorations in a chocolate shop in De Gaulle Airport

Quiche in EXK

EXK in Paris De Gaulle Airport

Our connecting flight to Rome took off at 1015 hrs instead of 0945 hrs and we arrived in Rome Da Vinci airport two hours later. By the time we retrieved our luggage, cleared customs and boarded our bus, it was already almost 1330 hrs.

La Baia Ristorante Pizzeria

The weather in Rome was a nice and cool ten degrees Celsius, dropping further in the evening. First stop was lunch at a pizza eatery, La Baia Ristorante Pizzeria.

Here, we had pasta as appetizer followed by chicken as main course and a super and wonderfully light tiramisu for dessert. Yummy yummy…

Pasta for appetizer

Chicken as main course

One of the best tiramisu we have tasted!

Since it is winter, and it starts to get dark by 1700 hrs, we quickly proceeded to start our tour in the Vatican City. Along the way, Ricky, our tour manager, pointed out various points of interest and impressed us with his knowledge of Rome.

Some of the interesting points he made:-

Rome is covered by 7 hills.

Roman period – 2000 years ago

Gothic period – 1200 years ago

Medieval period – 500 years ago

Renaissance period – 400 years ago

Baroche period – 200 – 300 years ago

Horse Chestnut tree

Interesting to see so many mini cars near the Tiber River...

Part of city wall in ancient Rome

Our Vatican City guide, Leah, gave us more detailed information of the ancient city.

In Italy, there are lots of obelisks originating from Egypt. However there are only 2 original obelisks which were donated to Rome by Egypt and date back 3500 years ago, even before the Roman period, one of which is in St Peter’s square, Vatican City.

We visited the Vatican City, the smallest and richest city. Governed by the Pope, this is a city of its own and not part of Italy.

We made our way to St Peter’s Basilica, the largest Roman Catholic church in the world. St Peter’s Basilica is famous for:-

housing the tomb of St Peter, Jesus’ first disciple and the first pope of the world
being the largest cathedral in the world
Michael Angelos’s Pieta sculpture which he created when he was 24 years old and the only work of art that he signed
being a work of art and include works of other famous artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Bellini, etc…
its greatest dome, the whisper dome
housing all the orders of the Roman Catholic church
Holy door which is opened every 25 years, the next opening being in 2025

The iconic dome of St Peter's Basilica

A must see sight, the Roman Colosseum amphitheatre is a double ring Greek theatre and biggest amphitheatre in the world built in 72 – 80 AD. Now in ruins after being felled by an earthquake, it is still impressive.

The ruins of the Roman Colosseum

Next to the Roman Colosseum is the Triumphal Arch of Constantine. This Arch was erected to celebrate Constantine I's victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312.

Triumphal Arch of Constantine

Along the way to Trevi fountain, we passed by the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, an ancient Roman Catholic Marian basilica of Rome and the largest church in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Basilica de Santa Maria Maggiore

Next stop in our Europe vacation package was none other than the Trevi fountain, one of the most famous fountains in the world.

The Trevi Fountain

Enjoying some ice-cream even during winter

From the Trevi Fountain, we walked to the Spanish Steppes where we saw the Fountain of the Old Boat, the Trinity of the Mount Church as well as Via Condotti, a busy and fashionable street of Rome.

Spanish Steppes leading up to the Trinity of the Mount Church

At the Restorante Cinese where we had a Chinese dinner, though not the best standard.

Chinese decor

Ristorante Cinese

Mandarin oranges for dessert

Vegetable

Another vegetable dish

Pork ribs dish

Fish dish

Chicken dish

After a long day, we arrived at Hotel Melia Roma Aurella Antica almost 2300 hrs, which meant about 0400 hrs Singapore time, which was the reason why some of the kids in the group could not even keep their eyes open during our Chinese dinner.

Holiday Travel Tips:-
As our guide, Ricky, mentioned, we should not be expecting good food when we are on tour. At most, the food that is included in the tour is above average and this we found to be so true.