Rome

Rome was the city I wanted to see most and am SO glad I did! A total of six girls who went- Patti from Spring Hill, Elisabeth from University of Florida, Hannah from Trinity Univerity, Yvonne from University of New Orleans, and Carrie and I from UGA. Elisabeth was the planner, and I was the navigator!

Thursday, we left at 11:00 pm to take the overnight train. It was not the best experience because I was really paranoid about getting anything stolen, so I did not sleep that well. The train was an hour late getting into Rome, so we missed our tour at the Vatican. However, that was the end of the problems!

Friday, we dropped off our bags at the hotel and went straight to the Vatican. We toured the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, the tombs where the popes are buried, and we even climbed what felt like 2,000 narrow steps to the very top of St. Peter's. I loved the Vatican. It was really moving to see Pope John Paul II's tomb. A bunch of people were praying by it. That night we went and saw the Spanish steps and then the Trevi Fountain lit up!

Saturday, we used the Rick Steve's guide to Italy, and it was fantastic! On Friday, we bought a Roma pass, which was 20 euros and lets you use any public transportation as much as you want for three days and gets you into your first two museums for free and then at a discounted price after that. We used the Roma pass to bypass all the lines in the morning at the Colosseum. The Colossuem was so neat. It is crazy to think that it was built right after Jesus died. They even had artifacts in there that were from 400 b.c. Then, we walked around the Roman forum and saw where people still put flowers on Julius Caesar's grave. We saw where all of the emperors used to live and how much the columns have weathered over time. After walking through Capitoline Hill and Circus Maximus (where they held chariot races), we went to the Boca della Verita. This is what Audrey Hepburn does in Roman Holiday! The legend says that if you stick your hand in the mouth, it will be bitten off if you are a liar. Luckily, I still have two hands! From there, Rick recommended for students to eat at this restaurant near the Pantheon. It was fantastic! I had a great panini- mozarella, lettuce, tomato, and salami with probably the best fruit salad I've ever had! If you are a student or if you leave Rick Steve's book on the table, they will bring you out complimentary wine! Then, we went to the Pantheon, which was pretty interesting but not my favorite. It was really cool to see all of the marble and Raphael's tomb. Of course, by that time, I was definitely in need of gelato, so we found the best gelato place! For two euro, you get two whopping scoops. I went for mint and nutella! That evening, we followed Rick's night walking tour and saw lots of piazzas, the Spanish Steps, and Trevi Fountain again. It was cool to see The Column of Marcus Aurelius because of all of the carvings on it. I was also really excited to see the Four Rivers Founatin, but they are restoring it, so it had scaffolding around it.

Sunday, three of us went to mass at the Vatican. This was definitely my favorite thing in Rome because we got to have mass sitting down in St. Peter's! It was very touching seeing tons of altar boys, priests, seminarians, and cardinals! The only problem was that everthing was in Italian! I went with Patti who is Catholic and Hannah who is Methodist. I told Hannah to cross her arms and just receive a blessing, but then she saw me take the communion and so she put her hands out too. Turns out the priest gave her communion, and I turned around and told her it was better for her to eat it if she wasn't Catholic than to not eat it at all. I was a little worried the priest would pick up on it, and I didn't want a Vatican priest the priest to get mad at us! Anyways, I was a little jealous that she got to have her first communion at St. Peter's. Then, at the end of mass, the pope will sometimes give a blessing at noon. I went up to one of the guards and said "pope... blessing... noon?" To which he replied, "The pope is in South Tirol" (which is a part of Austria near Innsbruck). So I dumbly said with my Ammerican accent, "Oh man, That's where I'm from!" It was a day full of laughs! After that, we walked around Rome and stopped by markets and of course had more gelato! After rushing from ancient ruin to monument, it was nice to just relax and enjoy the city!

Last night, we got to the train station, and they came on and said that there were some strikes so we should check the status of our train. I found the platform and time where we were supposed to be, except the destination said Monaco. Now, I know my Grace Kelly, and I was sure that this was a country near France, not Innsbruck. Luckily, I found a worker who informed me that Monaco is Italin for Munich- who knew! Our night train back was much better- this time with two locks on the doors and better air conditioning! Even though it got in an hour late (never trust Italian trains- German ones are right on time but not those Italians), we still made it to class on time!

I LOVED Rome, but I am definitely to be back in Innsbruck. I am so tired from walking and sweating so much and also from constantly worrying about being pickpocketed. Even though I looked like a dork with my purse over my head, I did not care because I did not have anything stolen! What a relief! Thank you for all your prayers- they helped!

Tomorrow I'm doing laundry for the first time (isn't that amazing!) and hopefully I will have time to upload pictures! Sorry this one is so long- props to you if you read all of it! Missing everyone!