Touch down in Rome!

Rome. Touch down!
We took the express train that leads us to the town central. Something you really need to take note. Somehow, at the ticket counter, they only have one staff attending to the long queue of passengers. Why can't they employ more?

Anyway, it was our lucky day. We touch down on the first day of the Cultural week! The Cultural Week lasts for nine days from 16 April to 25 April. During this period, major museums and monuments are open to the public without admission charges. We don't need to pay the admission fees for most of  the museums in Italy! Think Lady Luck is smiling upon us.

First stop! The coliseum. Gladiators used to fight to death in this magnificant stadium to entertain the Romans. Sometimes they fought with beasts such as lions and tigers. Sounds like the Ancestors of  WWE.

Then we walk over to the Forum. Free admission again! It shows the ancient Rome town with pillars and ruins. We ventured to the Julius Casear tomb. Not sure whether his body is still there but can still see flowers on his tomb. Surprised that people nowadays still remember him.

From the Forum, we moved on to the Capitoline Hill. The majestic Victor Emmanuel II Memorial memorial is to commerate the first King who unified Italy.

The whole area around Capitoline Hill is designed by Michelangelo. And the Piazza Nuovo now houses several museums while the parade square shows a pattern designed by the great artist himself, Michelangelo. To reach the square, go up the Cordonata Stairs. Then tour Palazzo dei Conservatori, Epigraphic gallery and Tabularium.
 

Next stop, Tiber Island. The island is connected to the main island by two bridges. Check out the Temple of Aesculapius on the island. You see one of the bridges in the above photo.

Then we took a long walk to Saint Peter's Basilica. It is the largest Church in the world. It is also beautifully decorated with statues and sculptures. Standing in the center of the Saint Peter's Square really makes one feel very small. Definitely worth going there! Excellent place for taking photo!

After taking numerous photos, we headed for the Vatican Museum. The highlight of the Rome trip is the Sistine Chapel inside the museum. No free admission here! In fact, it is 15 euro each. What the heck. A bit expensive but Michelangelo's masterpieces are in there.

You have to take a long walk to reach the Sistine Chapel. And please expect crowds. There are a lot of paintings, tapestries, sculptures and statues in the museum. But for me, the main target is still Sistine Chapel. Wasted no time in heading there.

In the Sistine Chapel, you can see why Michelangelo is considered one of the greatest artists at that time. He painted the ceiling using special platforms and it is beautiful! If it is possible, bring along a binoculars to gaze upon the painting on the ceiling. Don't miss out on the Last Judgement on the altar wall too. It is said that Michelangelo painted his hated enemy as the devil.

The entire trip took us at least 6 hours including the tours. Boy, am I exhausted from the walking. We wanted to head for Trellis fountain but we were running short of time. Maybe next time.

Actually in Rome, you really need more than 1 day to tour all attractions. There are too many places that you can go. To save time, you can hop on their tour bus specially for touring Rome. You can alight or board at major tourist attractions in a day.

Recommendation : Coliseum, Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel (Must Go!) Trellis Fountain.

Lion Cubs for Tea Break

After our morning "hunt" for the big five in the nature park, we decided to head for the lion park. We knew that it is not possbile to see all the big five in the wild. Hence, our back up plan was to go to the lion park to see lions in captivity.

It was about two hours drive back. Luckily we had the gps because the road signs and directions are very confusing for us. Upon reaching the park, we were amazed at the toilet sign outside. See photo. Well, at
least we know which one to go to. To enter the park, you need to purchase the tickets at the gift shop. Strange though, I would say all attractions usually have the gift shop after the tour. As for the lion park, you go through the gift shop and cafeteria first. Anyway, I couldn't wait so I hurried my group along to enter the lion cub world. There was already a queue in front of us. Everyone was eager to play with the lion cub. We can view from outside the fence that there were several lion cubs. One , two, three nd four lions cub. These cubc were three to four months old. Although they are young, they are quite strong.

Alright! It is our time to go in the cage. After observing outside the cage, we could not wait to experience this moment ourselves. Photo time!! Everyone grabs their chance to be with the cubs. Touching their silkly furs, feeling their limbs, holding their tails. This is the future king of the jungle and we are all playing with it.

Unbelievable! I believe if you have kids, your kids will love this activity!

While I was playing with one of the cub, it lies its hind legs on me. And I could feel its strength on my knee. I definitely do not want to be around them when they are fully grown. They are not called king of the jungle for nothing.

This is definitely the most popular spot in the whole lion park. Everyone was queueing up to meet the cubs.
Camera clicking away. Laughter and giggles whenever the lion cubs made a lazy attempt to stand up.

Ok time's up. Sadly, we have to leave the cage after 15 mins. But it is definitley a terrific experience with lion cubs.

We went on to tour the rest of the park. There is a platform to feed the giraffe. Another interesting spot in the park. One very big giraffe was waiting eagerly for the pellets which can be bought at the counter. We have fun feeding the giraffe. It really enjoys the pellets a lot and it can't seem to stop.

Next stop, the lion enclosure. Moving around in our car, we drove into the enclosure. There are four sections in the enclosure and each sections consists of full grown lions. Great thing that we are in the car. We can drive up next to the lion and it seems oblivious to our presence. I would be the same too, I think if I have to entertain tourists everyday. This is definitely BETTER than in the zoo! We tend to look at lion from a distance in the zoo. But this majestic creature is just a few feet beside me.

We even saw rainbow while at the park. It is definitely a good park to visit when you are in Johannesburg.