It has been a dream between me and the wife to one day visit Rome, Italy. Not sure when we started to entertain that thought, it has been on and off in our discussions for years. So much so, we bought a small travel pocket book on Rome form “Big Bad Wolf”. That book has always been sitting on our bookshelves in Penang. Even after getting rid of most books while preparing to relocate to Ireland, we kept it and brought it over. Going to Rome has been one of those events that we can only dream to come true.

When I applied for the job in Ireland, I was asked if I wanted to explore the US job as well. US jobs pays well, Ireland has a higher cost of living and it would have made monetary sense to go to US. However the thought of moving closer to Rome was in the back of our minds, maybe that would bring us closer to visiting Rome one day. Would also help that we earn in Euro, same currency as Italy.

The Plan

So last year, we started to plan for our big trip for year 2024. There were a few options. We decided to bite the bullet and book a trip to Rome for our 2024 vacation. The thought was then, “if not now, then when?”. The excitement and planning was built over 9 months.

We initially booked our flights in September-ish last year when Aer Lingus had their sale. We had set March as the travel date thinking that it would be good weather and the crowds are not made. Unfortunately we didn’t realise that March would also be the time we are renewing our Irish residency permit. My immigration agent told me better to postpone the trip and so we moved it out to August. In hindsight, August was the worse time to be. It was hot, humid, full of tourist and our visit also happen to coincide with a public holiday in Rome (Assumption Day). In the spirit “if not now, then when?”, we went ahead with the trip anyway.

Itinerary

In total, there were 7 of us in the party. My parents and sister joined us. The itinerary considered my 8 year old daughter who would not want to walk much. We also took into account the hot weather, knowing that we won’t be able to travel much outdoor.

We had planned for 5 nights of stay. While planning for the trip, I contacted one of my old colleague. He was working in Pisa, we met there and also when he came to Penang. He now works remotely and so happen to be in Naples when we were visiting. So I wanted to squeeze in a day to meet him for lunch.

Day 1 – Arrive in Rome

Day 2 – Colosseum, Palatine Hill

Day 3 – Vatican, Castle D Angelo

Day 4- Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Museum

Day 5 – Naples

Day 6 – Home

From the Airport to the city

Many ways to get from the airport to the city. Mostly people would take the train from the airport. We decided to take the bus, for no other reason that it was cheaper. There is a bus station at the airport and is served by many bus companies. Advisable to get tickets in advance, but there are ticket counters there. One thing to take note, the busses are not very regular. I believe our bus interval is about 1 hour in between.