In this post, I bring to you the Metro Project in Rome. My sister Alka and I were in transit in Rome while we were on our way to Budapest. While I indulged in the Metro Project in a more comprehensive way at Budapest, I had a short tryst with it in Rome too! I document my tales with #themetroproject on various social media platforms.
Our Metro story of Rome is intertwined with the Colosseum and the Leonardo Express. As we were transit passengers we took the Leonardo Express to Termini, the City Center. Colosseum is close so by we wanted to go there by hopping on to Line B at Termini. But there were a few twists in this straight forward story.
When we arrived in Rome, we were tired as we were flying thorough the night. Even though our Alitalia flight was comfortable I always look crumpled and tired after a night flight!
Yet the excitement of being in a new city wins every time, bleary eyed, we marched ahead in Rome. All went well till we reached Termini. Our original plan was to buy metro tickets on Line B to Colosseum. But the queues at Termini for the metro tickets defeated us. At the automatic machine there was a long wait. At the ticket counter there was a token system and another long line.
Feeling clueless for a while, we simply decided to take a walk near Termini. That is when I encountered the tram! I regret I did not had a day pass, or I would board it for fun.
While going to Budapest, we settled to eat pasta near Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. We went inside the Basilica too. Then we turned back to the airport to catch our flight to Budapest.
On our return we had a night and half a day in Rome. We initially thought we would go to the Sistine Chapel but after doing all the calculations we realized we didn’t had enough time. So this time we were determine to reach the Colosseum.
Reaching Termini was not a problem at all. As the mobile data I bought in Budapest was still working in Rome, I happily switched on the walk directions of Google Maps. We reached Colosseum without any problem.
It is no fun to explore a monument when at the back of the mind you have to worry about a flight. At Colosseum we thought we would not go in as it would take time to walk to Termini.
Then we spotted it, the Colosseo Metro Station! The next challenge was to buy the ticket to Termini. We entered the station, looked at the automatic machine and hey presto a gentleman appeared and asked us if he could help us with buying the tickets. Thanks to him we had the metrotickets to Termini within no time.
Now as we didn’t need to walk back, we could go inside and explore the Colosseum for an hour. We bought the tickets to the Colessum from a third party at the Metro Station itself. That is what happens when you are in a hurry.
It was a hurried walk inside the Colosseum for us but it was better than not going in at all. And our date with Sistine Chapel still remains!
After a short tour of Colosseum we headed to the Colosseo Metro stop. Termini is two hops from there. Our metro ride to Termini was unadventurous. But it was because of this metro ride we were able to spend time inside the grand historical monument!
So, this is my short tryst with the metro in Rome. I hope we will go back one day and explore Rome for days on end!
I simply love traveling in Metro and trams. I often say, it is because I can’t afford taxis in foreign land. But there is something more to it. I stand and click pictures of metro trains and trams continiously. It can bore my companions to no end, but if I see a tram or a metro, I have to stop! So, here I present the metro project in Budapest!
My first brush with the public transport in Budapest happened at the Batthyany Tér. We were looking to buy a travel pass and a phone SIM. We got the travel card right at the Batthyany Tér which was a short walk from our hotel.
For the SIM we traveled 2 stops to Déli pályaudvar, went to the nearest mall and got a SIM from Vodafone. Without Google Maps I am totally dead. I know there are paper maps, the trouble is I can’t read them. I need both, public transport and Google Maps to find my way in a new city!
It was Prague where I first fell in love with trams. I agonized if should separate metros and trams but they somehow feel related to each-other! So I keep them both under #themetroproject
Tram 2 is said to follow the most scenic route on the Pest side of Budapest. You board it from the Pest side and enjoy the views on the Buda side. We did it on the first day of our trip. We simply boarded the tram and went to the end point. And then we traveled back! That is the beauty of a having a travel pass, you can wander aimlessly. However, I would say do it after a few days of your stay as you would recognize the sites and enjoy them more!
Deák Ferenc Tér is a big transportation hub. All lines M1, M2 and M3 intersect here. Come out and you are close to the Budapest Eye. You can walk up to Andrassy Avenue. The airport bus E100 is available from here. Deák Ferenc Tér takes you to the city center. It is two stops away from Batthyany Tér.
We changed at the Deák Ferenc Tér to M1 to go to the Széchenyi Fürdő Metro Station. Our destination was the Széchenyi baths. It was an easy change and an baths, an amazing experience!
This black and white sign tells you that you are near a metro in Budapest! It became a familiar site for us in our stay as we used both the metro and the tram extensively!
I am proud to present my ever growing card and the ticket collection. The first at the bottom is the the day pass from Bangkok, followed by Singapore, Delhi Metro, Prague Card, Dubai Metro and then the 3 day pass from Budapest!
I managed to click a picture of my sister with the tram! And I am now itching to have something like this for myself! Well, it has to wait till the next trip now.
I am sure my sister found it a bit strange, my addiction to all things metro and tram! But I hope she reads this post and enjoys my craziness a bit!
I leave you with the video and a hope that I will catch many more trams, collect many more cards over different cities in the world!
I am a big metro fan, I am irrationally attached to metro rides! I mean what is really there to it? You get inside the train at one end and emerge somewhere else! And yet that gives me a high! I love using metros across the world. I use #themetroproject to capture my own social media updates! But I took a long time to write about my Singapore Metro (MRT as they call it) experience.
On second thoughts, I like the metros and trams because they are cost effective too. I shudder to think what would happen to my bank balance if I ended up taking taxi rides instead of the metro to explore a city!
I used the MRT extensively to get around in Singapore. I was there for the #escapers17 event. I had a few days to myself before the event which I devoted to roaming around in Singapore. My joy was double as I could reach everywhere using the MRT. Singapore has an amazing public transport.
I bought the Singapore Tourist Card and loaded it for 3 days! It took care of all my public transportation needs. I did not return it as I like to collect the metro cards. I can use the Singapore Card the next time I am there as a normal metro card.
As I was staying at Ibis Singapore on Bencoolen the nearest MRT station was Bugis. It was convenient for me as it was on the downtown line. Many attractions are on the same line.
I found changing the lines and reading the maps easy. It must be the use over different countries that gave me confidence. Otherwise I can get lost in a telephone booth if it has two exits! I saw school kids coming back home using the metro. It must be considered really safe. I asked a reader if I could click a picture of his book and he readily agreed.
A lot of stickers that I noticed, my local friend didn’t even look at them once! The stickers ask the users to be polite to each-other. Singapore Metro is a driverless system (at least the sections that I used) so if you board the first or the last car you can look out! I did it a lot. Photography is allowed on the Singapore MRT. Some of the stations open in malls. And then you walk a lot to emerge out of the station!
Singapore was my first trip abroad way back in 1999. I was impressed by the infrastructure and the people then, I am impressed by them now!
I am happy that I could use the MRT on my own extensively. A good mass transport system makes exploring Singapore so easy!