Let's walk some more.
This is taken at the Piazza del Popolo, which I guess means "People's Place", or "Popular Place". I found it by accident looking for the Spanish Steps, which means uh, Spanish Steps. Maps are for sissies. Sissies whose feet will live past the age of fifty.
The twin churches in view are, according to Wikipedia, Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto. Between them is the Via del Corso, which is significant because that's where all the shopping in Rome is concentrated. It's a long stretch of road where many an hour of my very valuable free time was spent looking for the smallest Prada bag ever created, thinking "smallest" meant "least expensive".
Fast forward to today, baranggay election day, where I saved myself a lot of trouble by actually voting and keeping the streak alive. This is significant because apparently, if I miss two elections in a row, I'm tagged by the government as an absentee voter or some such and I'll need to register again. The words "register" and "government" in the same sentence together is rarely a good thing in this country. So hurray for me.
Oh, and it's also democracy in action.
I tried to say something funny but it came out anti-democratic. And more importantly to me, anti-funny.
Next: Rome If You Want Too-Hoo.
at some point, it's all plan B
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Rome If You Want To
How long has it been? Too long? Yeah.
Anyway, continuing with the Italy set, here's a shot of home away from home away from home: the Roma Termini station. Why so? Because it houses 2 McDonald's outlets.
Actually, it served as home base because it's at the center of both Metro lines and is the terminal for the inter-city trains. This is a shot from the 2nd floor balcony of Ciao! while waiting for the train. You probably can't see it from here, but the display of the arrival and departure schedule is in analog, which makes it that much cooler. You'll see.
Beneath it is a small mall and beneath that are the Linea A and B stations, where I spent like half the day each day. Half of that walking around deciding where to eat while still ending up at McDonald's each time. You can take the Pinoy out of the islands, but not the pickles out of the Big Mac, whatever that means. They have something called a Crispy McBacon, which in another life might have been called a Western Bacon Cheese. Ordering that was my version of trying out Italian cuisine.
Fast forward to this weekend and I'm annoyed at not being able to go out until Sunday because among other things, work emergencies. Yes, I will probably grow old alone, but I wasn't expecting that to happen, like, today.
Next: Rome Around The World
Anyway, continuing with the Italy set, here's a shot of home away from home away from home: the Roma Termini station. Why so? Because it houses 2 McDonald's outlets.
Actually, it served as home base because it's at the center of both Metro lines and is the terminal for the inter-city trains. This is a shot from the 2nd floor balcony of Ciao! while waiting for the train. You probably can't see it from here, but the display of the arrival and departure schedule is in analog, which makes it that much cooler. You'll see.
Beneath it is a small mall and beneath that are the Linea A and B stations, where I spent like half the day each day. Half of that walking around deciding where to eat while still ending up at McDonald's each time. You can take the Pinoy out of the islands, but not the pickles out of the Big Mac, whatever that means. They have something called a Crispy McBacon, which in another life might have been called a Western Bacon Cheese. Ordering that was my version of trying out Italian cuisine.
Fast forward to this weekend and I'm annoyed at not being able to go out until Sunday because among other things, work emergencies. Yes, I will probably grow old alone, but I wasn't expecting that to happen, like, today.
Next: Rome Around The World
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Go Ahead And Rome
Guess who's back. Tell your friends.
I've been to four Italian cities in six days and for some reason I don't know where to start with this post. Maybe it's because I waited so long to start writing this down. Anyway.
First stop of course, was Rome, where I had to work for a week and a half with my clients to keep them happy. On the first day I got lost looking for the office because a) I didn't look it up on Google Maps before I flew in and b) I'm a cheapskate who won't pay thousands (Peso-converted) for a cab ride. So instead I paid for a map that will double someday as a souvenir for anyone I forgot to include in my pasalubong list.
They don't call Rome the Eternal City for nothing. They have structures that predate the actual calendar we use to predate things. Unfortunately, I didn't have a tour guide to take me around the city and explain things to me, so I just kept snapping pictures at whatever looked interesting and looked them up on Wikipedia when I got home. Tip: when touring in Europe without a tour guide, just follow big groups of Asians.
That's St. Peter's Square (but not really a square, duh) in the picture, where I've actually already been to once trying to get blessed. But it was the easiest place to find because even the Metro (subway) tells you where it is. According to Wikipedia, that thing in the center is an obelisk, and doubles as a giant sundial. People fill up the square everyday, and the line to get into the Basilica was ridiculous so I decided to stay outside and take pictures of postcards.
Oh, and I think the Vatican souvenir shop cheated me out of 20 Euros. But I was too inarticulate to complain.
Next: Rome If You Want To
I've been to four Italian cities in six days and for some reason I don't know where to start with this post. Maybe it's because I waited so long to start writing this down. Anyway.
First stop of course, was Rome, where I had to work for a week and a half with my clients to keep them happy. On the first day I got lost looking for the office because a) I didn't look it up on Google Maps before I flew in and b) I'm a cheapskate who won't pay thousands (Peso-converted) for a cab ride. So instead I paid for a map that will double someday as a souvenir for anyone I forgot to include in my pasalubong list.
They don't call Rome the Eternal City for nothing. They have structures that predate the actual calendar we use to predate things. Unfortunately, I didn't have a tour guide to take me around the city and explain things to me, so I just kept snapping pictures at whatever looked interesting and looked them up on Wikipedia when I got home. Tip: when touring in Europe without a tour guide, just follow big groups of Asians.
That's St. Peter's Square (but not really a square, duh) in the picture, where I've actually already been to once trying to get blessed. But it was the easiest place to find because even the Metro (subway) tells you where it is. According to Wikipedia, that thing in the center is an obelisk, and doubles as a giant sundial. People fill up the square everyday, and the line to get into the Basilica was ridiculous so I decided to stay outside and take pictures of postcards.
Oh, and I think the Vatican souvenir shop cheated me out of 20 Euros. But I was too inarticulate to complain.
Next: Rome If You Want To
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