I’ve actually never had eggplant back home, so having it on a pizza for the first time was pretty cool. (I didn’t have a picture so I borrowed from google)

Me at the top of the Basilica, which is also my favorite building and piece of architecture.

My favorite piece of art work, if stained glass counts? The Window of the Holy Spirit.
and here’s a close up if you’d like (not mine, again google is my friend)

Today was our last day in Rome, and also our catch up day. We started off by taking a metro to the Pantheon again to try to see it before we leave. Luckily it was open today so we were able to go inside. I think my favorite part about the pantheon wasn’t the art of sculptures or the dedications to the different Gods in the building, but rather, I liked the dome in particular. Don’t get me wrong, the other things were all fantastic, but it just wasn’t my favorite part about it. I mean, the dome was just so huge! And the architecture and engineering behind that massive building is just so incredible and the idea of constructing it back then is almost incomprehensible. I truly admire that about Rome; the architecture and building style and churches and everything about that kind of stuff; it just fascinates me.

After we went to the Pantheon we went to the church of bones where we saw all the graves and burial tomes made of human bones and skeletons. Some people think it’s creepy but I think it’s pretty neat, in that dark, unsettling kind of way. Was definitely very interesting to say the least, and I enjoyed the tour. Once we were finished there we went to the heart of Rome Park. It was so peaceful and clean and fresh with a lovely breeze. I wish we could have stayed for a bit longer, even though we stayed for an hour or so anyway. It was just such an enjoyable place. There were a few people playing music in the shade and it made the experience all the nicer. After we left the park me and a couple classmates had lunch and headed back to our hotel rooms for a rest before we boarded a train to meet our tour guide, Josh, for dinner. Dinner was incredible and there’s very little I can do to describe it properly. I can say what kind of food we had and how it tasted and such, but I think there’s a better way to sum it all up; Our last dinner in Italy was more of an experience that anything. In America it seems more of a process to eat dinner than anything else, and in Italy it’s so much different. I’ve been noticing this subtle quality throughout the trip but just now realized it tonight.

Well, that’s about it. We leave for our plane in the morning. It’s been fun here, and I’m sad to leave but I’m looking forward to seeing home again. Goodbye Italy! Arrivederci!

Today was the day we spent in Florence. We woke up an hour earlier than usual so that we could catch the train. We took the metro to the train station and boarded the train. It was my first time on a train so that was really cool. I liked it, getting to see the Italian countryside from a train car was so cool. It’s totally different from anything we have back home. Once we got to Florence we met our tour guide and started the tour. We thought that the David statue was going to be part of the tour but sadly it was not. We saw the outside of the Medici Chapel. And we saw the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge that wasn’t bombed in World War II. We also saw a replica of an important door (which I can’t remember the name of. Sorry, I’m tired again.) The original was damaged in the flood Florence had a while back. Then we took a tour of the Uffizi gallery that lasted about four hours long. It was enjoyable but very tedious. Standing still that long wasn’t very fun, even if the art was fascinating. There was a lot of religious art too, most of it being either Christian art or art for the Greek and Roman gods.

After that tour we had around an hour to shop in the market, which was probably the most fun part of the day. I bought almost all of the gifts I wanted for friends and family back home and a few things for myself. It was strange to be able to haggle the prices down, in a good way. After that hour had past our tour guide took us to an American themed restaurant. I personally didn’t enjoy it. It was a little comforting to have food similar to back home but I wanted to continue eating Italian meals. After dinner we went back to the train station and said goodbye to our tour guide. Then we boarded the train for our ride home, which was absolutely beautiful. It was great to see the country side from a train car but now the sun was setting and everything was just gorgeous. I got a couple pictures; I didn’t care if the train window had a few smudges. Once we got back to the hotel we all headed to our rooms to write our blogs like I’m doing now and call it a night.

Today we didn’t have any class, so we went out for tours in the morning. I can’t remember exactly what we saw on our way to the Pantheon. It was some sort of fountain, I remember that. We also saw a few more churches and a Gothic church, which I think I liked the best, after the Basilica. Sorry, I’m pretty tired right now and I’ll explain later but bear with me for right now. Not many things were open during the Mos, which didn’t really bother us until we got to the Pantheon; which was doing service during this time. So we thought “ok, well let’s just grab lunch.” So we went out to lunch and we ate. Then we go back to the Pantheon and it turns out it’s closed for the holiday. So that was extremely disappointing. But hopefully we can try to go see it again on Monday. After we found out about the Pantheon being closed we went to see the Spanish steps which were a lot less impressive then they were made out to be. But we still got to climb them and enjoy the view. After that we went back to the hotel and rested up for a while before heading back out to dinner.

We went out to dinner at a different restaurant that usual which was pretty ok. Then after that we went to the market, which was actually open today! Kind of, our teacher says it’s not nearly as big as it was last year but at least it’s something because the whole time that we were here the market from the previous years has not been set up. So we got to shop around that for a while. Then, when it got dark, the fireworks show designed by Michelangelo started, and I think it was the first time in my life that I truly appreciated fireworks. It was absolutely magical; the whole sky was filled with flickering lights of different colors; red, white, purple, and green. It was just amazing. The sky was enchanted with the fireworks. It’s something that you just have to see for yourself to appreciate.

And once we come home it’ll pretty much be the Fourth of July so hurray for fireworks!

Today the excitement picked back up. It was our last day of class in the class room. We didn’t have anything planned for the early afternoon so after class and lunch we were able to go out into town and shop around for a few hours. It was kind of disappointing because around ninety eight percent of the shops were selling things for women. Like clothes, shoes, jewelry, ect. It was annoying because I actually wanted to shop for a bit. But I got some gelato so it’s fine. Everything is fine with gelato.

We went out to dinner and I had ravioli, which was good. All the food seems to be better in Italy. After that we went to the Vatican museum which was life changing. It was like culture was just pile driving me in the face and it was awesome and awe inspiring. I really, truly enjoyed every second of it. It was just so cool, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to describe something like that.

Oh, and after that we went for gelato again. Gelato is nice.

Today was so exciting. We’ve only been here for two days but it has felt so much longer. We went to the Colosseum today after lunch I was surprised because you came out of the metro and it was right there, immediately in your face, nothing else blocking your view. You’d imagine it to be ridiculously big, and, it IS, but not to the point where it doesn’t seem reasonable. It seemed like it would be an impossible size from what we see in the text books and television and movies but really it’s a very realistic size. Yes, it was still humongous and awe inspiring, but after I took it all in I realized it wasn’t as ridiculously huge as I thought it would have been. Another thing I noticed is that a lot of the signs in and around the Colosseum are written in Italian but then have English subtitles. I thought that was neat and interesting; that they would have that for all of the tourists. After the Colosseum we went to the noble district and saw Julius Caesars tomb.
We went out to lunch then came back to our hotel to relax after all the walking. Then we went out for dinner and to experience the nightlife but the market that is usually there wasn’t. So that was a tad bit disappointing, but we still got to see some of Rome at night! So that’s pretty awesome.

Today we went to the Jewish ghetto. We woke up and took the bus to where we were supposed to meet our tour guide. Once we got there she started walking us down some of the alley ways around the Great Synagogue. We saw some architecture in and around the Jewish Ghetto and our tour guide did a wonderful job of explaining everything. We also took a tour of the Great Synagogue, which was nice and interesting, but the museum employee was very null and boring.

The Synagogue was absolutely beautiful on the inside. The Jewish emblems and relics were all gold and red and it looked amazing. I wish we could have taken pictures but we weren’t allowed. After the Synagogue tour we went for Gelato then took the bus back to our hotel. We rested up a bit then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in the streets of Rome. I was excited at first, but most of the things they were selling were merchandise for women, and very little of anything for men. I was still happy to walk up and down the streets though. After that we all went for dinner then headed back to the hotel for the night.

Today wasn’t as exciting as the days before. It was definitely exciting, just not as much as seeing the Coliseum or climbing the Basilica. We went to the United States Embassy of the Holy See. It was really quite interesting although I don’t remember much. We took a bus across the city, past the Coliseum to the Embassy grounds. They checked our passports and put our phones in a box then we sat down for the presentation. The ambassador was very friendly and kind and answered all of our questions. I can’t remember them all but I remember that her answers were exactly what I was looking for. After that we toured a few nearby smaller churches which were beautiful themselves because no one was there and it was very quite, excluding the sound of my classmate’s footsteps and whispers.
For dinner I had lasagna and it was fantastic. The dessert was called something I can’t remember but it was great too! Afterword we went to look for the market again and I looked around again. I still haven’t found anything I like yet but hopefully Florence will fix that.

Today we went to climb the St Peters Basilica. It was 551 steps up and then another 551 down. The view is just completely indescribable. I’m sorry, but really there are no words. You can see a full view of the city from 360 degrees and its breath taking. Everything is there, and I mean everything. It’s just so incredible I really don’t know what to say about it. You just have to go there and experience it, like a lot of things on this trip.

After we got down from the climb we went back to the hotel. I crashed on my bed and slept for an hour to let my feet and legs rest. Then we went out to dinner which was great just like it has been. I still can’t wrap my head around how good the food is here. Then after that we went out to get some gelato for the first time. That was life changing. Once we had some of that we went to a market close by and shopped around. I didn’t find anything I liked but other people did and it was fun to watch them haggle the prices. I think the best part about the day was still the gelato.

Today is the day that we landed in Rome and we did so much and a lot of things happened and I’m tired and I’m just going to do my best to remember this. We had woken up Saturday morning to get to the airport for our first flight, which was really quick and easy. Our second flight was delayed a short bit (less than an hour.)  Once we boarded the second plane it really started to sink in that we were going to Rome. But we also knew it would be a long nine hour flight until we would get there. I think something interesting about the international flight is that when we took off the translations were less noticeable than when we were landing. I talked with my classmate and he agrees with me too. When we took off there was English and a little bit of Spanish. When we were landing there was Italian, English, and Spanish. It seemed like there was this change in mid-flight of what the standards were. I guess that connects with the international relations.  I was planning on writing more but I’m extremely tired from all the fun we’ve been having so I’m going to go crash into bed now.