Day 12 on the road...

I'm happily settled in Prague now. As my sis puts it, I'm no longer roaming in Rome.

Anyway, I wrote this yesterday

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There are days when I wake up, counting down to the end of this trip.
Today, it is 14.
And then I think, 14 days means 2 weeks,
And it is way too short.

4 and a half months of travel and exchange,
Ending in a mere 14 days
How can it be possible?
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Yeah.. it kinda sums up the way I am feeling now. I can't wait to get home, but yet, how can it all end so soon?

So, for the past 12 days, I sat through an overnight train journey from Switzerland to Vienna, an even longer bus ride from Vienna to Warsaw. A couple of flights in and out of Rome, and I'm 'back' in Prague - my first European city.

Anyway... Rome... is overhyped. Maybe it is the sweltering heat - 32 degrees with no cloud covering is not funny! I go back to my hostel feeling sticky everyday! And in the day, the room becomes an oven! Everything will just get heated up which means warm shampoo and shower gel. Hahaha... - good way for wet clothes to dry though! However, nights in Rome were cool... which was good - if not, it would be unbearable to sleep in the heat!

Ok, to be fair, Rome is nice. To have a building like the Colosseum standing, other ruins and the Vatican City makes it an appealing place for tourists to Italy to visit I agree.

BUT.. and its a huge BUT. I found Rome too touristy for my liking. It is a very 'in-the-face' feeling as every corner I turn, I see a souvenir stand, many artists sitting by the road side selling their water colour paintings that look alike since they are all of the Colosseum or of cherubs.

Not to mentioned, I did feel like I was at a pasar malam with the number of roadside stalls being set up, all selling sunglasses, hats and fans. And then, prices in Rome are exhorbitant!!! I wouldn't mind paying (like in UK) if they were reasonable. But 4€ for a 500ml bottle of Ice Lemon Tea is ridiculous. They were obviously trying to rip tourists off! and that was what left a bad taste in my mouth. I have been to other cities which are touristy - Paris, Munich.. but I don't feel as ripped off as I did here. So yeah...

I did enjoy Rome actually... but it is hard to pull out the like factors cause they are overshadowed by the negative factors like the weather, the price and other stuff... But it was a good experience I would say. At least Rome will not be on the top of my 'cities to revisit' list that soon.

Anyway, I stayed at this campsite hostel thingee in Rome. Another first for me. It was a distance from the city centre, but we had a shuttle that brought us to this train station and from there, we would take about 20 mins to half an hour to get to the city centre. Saw a lot of mobile homes, tents being pitched as family spent their summer holidays there. It reminded me of a chalet actually - those in Pasir Ris to be precise.

Well... guess that's all about Rome... To visit or not, you decide. My advice is to go in Spring or sth where I expect the weather to be cooler.