Rome

When we got to Rome we found a hostel for 10 euro a night that included breakfast and dinner, talk about good luck!! We couldn't get our room until 3, so we left our bags in a room there and went to the Vatican! We first got a tour of all the museums in the Vatican which was very fun, there was so much to see! We had a crazy looking tour guide (don't worry I took a picture) Our last stop was the Sistine Chapel. It was absolutely beautiful. My pictures don't even begin to do these places justice with capturing how amazing they really were. I found it to be very rewarding being a Catholic on this trip, because I feel like I got even more out of going to these sites. It was also fun being able to answer questions some of the other kids had in my group about the Pope and such.

The next day we went to the Colosseum and to see the ruins. Me, Abby and Brett decided not to do a guided tour because we had more fun just exploring ourselves! The ruins were very interesting, and the Colosseum was amazing! I took some panoramic pictures that turned out really cool! It was interesting to read about all the events that took place there so long ago.

Our hostel room was for 8 people, and our 2 other roommates were 20 & 23 year old siblings from Australia, they were so nice!! We taught them how to play zoomie zoomie (all you college kids, you'll know what that is :] ) Don't be mad, but we did decide to get McDonalds (just to see if it tasted the same!!! which it does)

Our last day in Rome we saw St. Peter's Basilica which was unbelievably amazing I can't even put into words how spectacular it was. I took lots of photos and even a video for you to see! There was a huuuuuge line for mass one day. I took a panoramic picture to try and capture it but the entire line can't even fit!! It was cool seeing nuns and monks from all over the world!

We also visited the Pantheon, Spanish steps and made a wish at the Trevi fountain as well as walked around and saw lots of other smaller monuments. It was alot of fun exploring!!

Some fun things about our visit in Rome:

• I found that I used Spanish over English when trying to talk to people there
• Snack friends (box of lots of pretzels) and chocolate became my snack of choice
• Everyone in our group loves reading and at every train station/airport/city we'd always look for a book store!
• When we travel by plane, we board by walking out to it, feeling like celebrities!!