Rome

Better to see something than hear about it a million times goes an Asian proverb. As a student, I was so enthralled by history. My mind stacks up the chronology, events, places,iconic places and every chapter gets into life in my imaginary world. A good teacher coupled with self interest in the subject made every class worthwhile and jaw-droppingly beautiful while most of my classmates labelled it as a boring subject. Thanks to the history lessons, Rome was the front runner in my travel bucket list ! Not sure whether it is for the genealogy of great emperors or it traces back to early days of civilization, its engineering marvels or it houses one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The more I heard about it, I couldn't wait to get there ! I had to wait for the right time, like they say 'Rome wasn't built in a day !' But sometimes, we never know what stroke of luck lies around the corner. One such opportunity came during my visit to Germany for official purpose. With fortunate set of events and like-minded colleagues ,we ended up choosing Rome as part of our weekend trip.

We traveled to Rome from Munich via Euro rail and one of the best choice we made to commute to the most beautiful historic city. Leaving aside the tiresome journey, locating accommodation with the help of 'not much' friendly faces and almost pick-pocketed, I found the city more than enchanting as I imagined it to be.

Mode of transport - More of walking and Bus tours.

Travelling on the roman roads were exciting experience engendering us to recognize the full worth of roman engineering and maintenance. And no wonder, through this firm paved road they ruled most part of the ancient world. Amazing isn't it ?

Guided tours - No ! We had a map and despite couple of misleading by locals who showed us the wrong directions and smirked behind, we managed to reach the places with our heads high. Hail to the city ! All roads leads to Rome !!

Here goes the list of places....

Colosseum

I remember Colosseum as long as I remembered Rome ! The thoughts of gladiators, Chariots and roman game from the historical roman empire filled my mind. Standing right in that amphitheater brought me jitters imagining the notorious games and the blood soaked sand where hundreds of gladiators fought for their life, pride and freedom.

Piazza Venezia  

The Piazza venezia at central part of the Rome is the busiest part of the Rome I ever saw. With captivating roman architectures and statues, your shutterbug never stops clicking the scenic monuments. We clicked couple of pictures with the street performers dressed as roman soldiers outside the Victor Emmanuel II monument, a huge marble monument that dominates the piazza venezia. Climbing the stairs of it, we couldn't help but wonder at various statues representing the roman pride and values designed by renowned artists.

Victor Emmanuel II

The base of it harbors a museum housing the best kept history and memorabilia of unification of Italy. Further up is the panoramic terrace, a breath taking view of the city and you definitely feel proud to have a look at the best of the best attractions(including Colosseum). And adding a cherry on top, this monument prides itself for its location on the capitol hill, one of the seven hills of ancient Rome. We caught up with some more unforgettable views and a short break at the cafe located at the intermediate terrace after our most tiresome walk of the day !

The glass elevator that takes you to terrace 

 View from the terrace

Trevi Fountain

The most beautiful fountain in Rome that celebrates the beauty of water like no other fountain in the world. It is a fantastic work of art with a sculpture of Oceanus, the god of waters. There was lot of coins nestled in the water logged area of the fountain. Curious to see people throwing coins over the shoulder into the water, we got to know from the locals that there is a long-standing tradition of throwing coins at the fountain by the visitors. It is believed that throwing one coin represents 'Return to Rome, two coins represents finding love and three represents marriage. Well, I threw two and I instantly fell in love with Trevi :)

Vatican

It was a Sunday afternoon on our second day of the trip when we reached Vatican right on time for the mass. Fortunate to see Pope Benedict XVI at that time. Passing through the security scanners, uniformed guards, bishops and priests from different parts of the world and the cheering crowd got us all excited. The pope appeared from the window of a papal apartment and greeted the crowd in different languages. At the end, he delivered his apostolic blessings. Also, there were giant video displays everywhere to get a good view of Pope.

Pope's Angelus address at St.Peter's Basilica

Besides the spiritual experience, I was stunned by what this most smallest country in the world has offered to us - An implausible renaissance architecture.

And there are some of the other things we visited at the nick of the moment despite our time crunch.

Arch of Constantine 

Castel Sant'Angelo

Fontana del Tritone

A street performer

Not to mention the much known fact about Italian food, we never missed to taste the must try Italian specialties. And my favourite being classic roman Pasta and Italian gelato!

We quickly did some shopping and grabbed some souvenirs and left the city with lots of special memories. 

A history lover or not, you will definitely fall for this place. No words can describe the city's appeal that casts a spell on every visitor. I wanted to go back again to see the city in different light, explore and take much more of it. If you ever get a chance to visit the historic city, watch the sunrise and sunset at Colosseum, grab a cup of Italian coffee, get mesmerized with the architecture, get lost in time and get lost intentionally to experience what it is like walking on the roman roads and see how every wrong turn will lead you back to Colosseum (the heart of the city), lose yourself to the city and believe me it will never let you down !

Amsterdam

After my trip to Amsterdam, whenever someone asked me what's on your wishlist lately and I would immediately respond back that I want to be reborn as a cow in Amsterdam ! Though I personally don't believe in "reborn" part, but I am like kind of stuck to this place and guess what ? I had to admit it...I never wanted to come back. I neither consider it as city of sin nor a place where one can actually get high. Instead it's a little draft of heaven god created and left it there to become every traveler's dream destination.

Here are some of the fascinating things about Amsterdam during my trip..

Windmills

Windmills are quintessentially dutch.It is the most captivating and unique part of  Holland landscape. Anytime your friend sees a picture of you with windmills at the backdrop, they sure knew its Amsterdam !

Awww !!

Wooden shoe factory 

These shoes are nothing like a Steve maddens' wooden heels and cognac straps but it will sure captivate your attention with its unique shape and floral designs. 

The shoe factory in Zaanse schaans will take you to the whole new experience of how an wooden shoe is made unraveling the dutch history of wooden shoes and its uses .The demonstrations and collections were mind blowing and don't forget to click a picture trying on the giant shoes outside the factory !

Cheese factory

One more attraction in Zaanse Schaans other than its picturesque landscapes and windmills is the cheese factory. Apart from the cheese making demonstration which is fantastic, there awaits a feast for your five senses when you follow the sweet smell of the cheese wafting through the place. It leads you to a delicious cheese tasting experience.

Cheese varieties displayed

Young or old...who doesn't love cheese ! 

courtesy : gify.com

Volendam, Fisher village

Never miss this old fishing village in volendam if you want the traditional dutch experience and a more lively sight of the beautiful and scenic little fishing town with numerous beautiful houses. A ferry takes you to this village giving you the picturesque view exposing the beauty of the island.

Maduradom, Miniature Amsterdam

The miniature park is one of the kind in Amsterdam and located in Hague. Visual delight for all ages to see the entire holland in miniature form walking you through the 'idea of Netherlands' or  what I call as 'Holland in a nutshell'.

Fascinating fact is the architects' attention to details !!

Madam Tussad, Dam square

This has been a popular tourists attraction all over the world but the one in Amsterdam has a fantastic indoor amusement park and quite modernized other than life size wax figures to attract its young audience. You will get a spectacular view of the dam from the building housing madam tussad.

Felt proud clicking this one !

The King

View from the building

The amusement park is quite enjoyable for kids as it creates circus like atmosphere and street artist performances.

Spuk castle of doom

And don't miss out the spooky Spuk castle of doom......It was quite a thrilling experience ;)

Courtesy : gify.com

Btw, we missed the spectacular view of tulips since the trip was during winter and missed the official start of the Tulip season. However, canal boat ride and bus tours covered with hop on and hop off did the justice of covering the highlights of enchanting Amsterdam and detouring parts of Rotterdam.

They call it a Las vegas of Europe, but to me the city was more of untouched piece of rich history and enchanting beauty. It shattered in me the generalisation of what world has for the place and made me to submerge into the unique experience and gave the best taste of Europe. And ofcourse, best memories !