Today is my last day in Rome and the last day of my trip. My travel partner decided she needed to go home early so we changed our flights to go back to Seattle today rather than on June 14th like we had originally planned.

We started the day by having a cappuccino at her favorite coffee hangout.

Then we finished packing and took a shuttle to the airport. Our first flight was only a couple of hours to London Heathrow, but our next flight home was very long. I had a bad headache all day on the flight and could not sleep so it did not make for a pleasant flying experience.

Note that in the picture above and below we are flying over Greenland.

This ends my 2008 Italy/Asia trip. I hope you enjoyed traveling along with me on my journeys. 

Stay tuned for a planned 2009 India trip which I hope to combine with the Tibet/Nepal trip that I was supposed to take this time but couldn’t.

I would like to thank everyone that sent me emails and posted comments on my BLOG.

Today, my travel partner Llana showed me around her favorite places in Rome. Here are some photos of that. First up was some coffee at her favorite cafe.

Here are some photos of Basilica Di S, Ignazio Di Loyola.

Next up was Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain).

Next we made some leather purchases at the Leather Craftsman, her favorite shop for leather products such as purses, wallets, and belts. Here you see the owner, named Oldo stamping Llana’s initials on her purchases.

Here is a shop for wood products that I found interesting.

And some general photos of the streets of Rome.

Next up, we visited the Templetto, where it is believed that St. Peter was crucified.

And here are some photos of the Fontana del Tritone.

And here are some photos of the church Santa Susanne.

Our next church visit was the Santa Maria Delle Vittoria.

Next up was the Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which is Rome’s only Gothic church, built around 1280, and houses Michelangelo’s Risen Christ.

Next up was the Temples of Forum Boarium and the Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

And some more general photos of Rome.

I arrived at the Rome Airport a little after 10am local time, but by the time I got my luggage, went through customs, caught the express train into town, took a taxi to the hotel and checked in it was around noon. First thing I did was to shave and take a shower to freshen up.

My travel partner Llana arrived in the evening about 9:30 pm.

Today is my last day in Thailand and I will be flying to Rome early tomorrow morning on China Airlines. Luckily it is a direct flight and is only 11 hours 40 minutes long as the other flights I was looking at were around 16 hours or more with layovers. For example, if I didn’t find this flight, I was about to fly on Turkish Airways with a layover in Istanbul – although that would have been fun to explore.

So today was spent in getting ready for my flight and traveling to the airport for my early morning flight that leaves at 3:25 am tomorrow morning and arrives in Rome at 10:05am.

Today was spent for some more R&R so once again no photos. I was able to finalize my flight back to Rome online so I don’t have to deal with an unresponsive travel agent.

Today I traveled back to Pattaya with my friend Mike to his apartment so nothing in the way of photos.

Today, I explored Bangkok on my own as my friend had to go to work. I first took the skytrain to the waterfront where I got a water taxi to take me to Wat Po.

Wat Po has the largest indoor reclining Buddha. Notice the oyster-inlaid feet. This is also the center for teaching the art of Thai massage and traditional medicine.

And here is Wat Suthatthepwaram. 

And here is the Wat Saket (Golden Mount).

And some general photos from around the city.

Interesting Tidbit: For the past few days, there have been large demonstrations against a proposed law that the military wanted passed. There was a threat of another coup if the law didn’t pass but the military backed down.

These days were spent for R&R so there is no update nor pictures. Planning on traveling up north to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai (part of the Golden Triangle) on Wednesday (May 28) and returning to Bangkok on Saturday (May 31). Stay tuned for some interesting adventures again soon.

BTW: My new debit card finally caught up with me here in Thailand – YEA!

Arrived in Bangkok last night from Pattaya so for today I explored the Grand Palace in Bangkok. I started out by catching the Skytrain to the waterfront and then a water taxi. Here are some photos along the way.

On the way I met a very intelligent Physics teacher at the local university, who bought me lunch at a favorite hangout of the local Thais. Near the university, I explored Phra Athit Road, which was named for the fort that the road passed through. It is one of the two remaining forts of the 14 that were built in the reign of King Rama I.

After lunch, I spent hours photographing the Grand Palace. It was built in 1792 and for 150 years was the home of the Thai King, the Royal court and the administrative seat of the government. If you ever watched the movie “The King and I” you will have a pretty good feel for the palace grounds. The grounds included Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha).

Here is a full scale model of the Ankor Wat temple complex of Cambodia.

And some more photos showing some of the gold and fine sculpted architecture.

And some more photos of the architecture, paintings, and people.

I then went back to the hotel and took a shower as I was drenched in sweat. Here are some photos of the river life along the way back.

After a short but relaxing rest in my room, I joined some friends and went to an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant, which was very good.

These days were spent for R&R so there is no update nor pictures. Stay tuned for later travels to other areas of Thailand and then return to Italy.