When in Rome

Hello Again!

Today was a long but amazing day!

I LOVE ROME

We woke up early to meet a city tour guide at the famous Colleseum that many gladiators fought in. It is a huge stadium in ruins in the middle of Rome that was at its prime 1900 years ago. Imagining the actual battles going on was exhilirating.

After this, we headed over to the Trevi Fountain. It is a beautiful fountain made out of white marble-made famous my numerous movies. Legend has it that if you throw a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder, you will come back to Rome someday. We all had fun taking pictures and throwing our coins.

After this, we treked on to the Pantheon, the oldest dome in Europe (made into a cathedral by the pope) Also built over 1900 years ago, it is preserved in perfect condition. We all stood there looking up with our mouths wide open, wondering how something so large and beautiful was even technologically imagined 1900 years ago.

After this, we headed to the smallest state in the world, the Vatican. Here, the pope and about 800 other priests and bishops reside. We were able to see St. Peters Square, the Basilica, the Pope's apartment, The famous Sistine Chapel, and many more beautiful historical sites. All the while, a tour guide was taking us around explaining everything. It was amazing, and I kept thinking about my grandma Lela, who made the trip to Rome to see the Pope many years ago. I kept thinking that if she was still alive, I would have called to talk to her about all that I had seen. It was truly remarkable. There were even more priests that usual today because the Pope had called a conference with priests from all over the world. If we had hung around a couple of hours longer, we would have seen the Pope. Honestly though, we were so exhausted after a nine hour walking tour that we came home, showered, and layed around in the hotel rooms before dinner.

At dinner, we had a traditional italian meal of lasanga, salad, veal, and gelato. (I'm really going to miss Italy for it's food)

Tomorrow we head to Pompeii, somewhere I have been facinated with since childhood because of the tragic volcano explosion that wiped out the whole town. After a long day of touring, we are catching an overnight cruise to the Greek Island of Poros, where we will spend two days before heading to Athens.

It will be a busy couple of days, but I am looking forward to moving on with our trip.

I am working to update some pictures on photobucket, but it will probably have to wait until the group leaves Athens and I finally have some free time!

Talk to you soon!

kate