Day one… it seems like it’s always the hardest day because you’ve just gotten off the plane (which you got very little or no sleep on) and you’re trying to go right into things while doing your best to stay awake. And although we were all ready to crash by the time we got back to the hotel, we did enjoy seeing our first glance of Italy.

When we first stepped off the plane we all learned very quickly that to get from place to place in Italy you have to be assertive. Very assertive. You basically just say “mi escusi” (excuse me) while pushing your way through the crowd. You don’t stop for people to pass you because if you do, the line never ends! The use of personal space is virtually non-existent, which is why it is so easy for people to pick-pocket you. Thankfully nobody in our group has learned the hard way yet, but we are constantly told to be careful in crowded places.

After we dropped our luggage off at the hotel and had something to eat, we took a tour of Saint Peter’s Basilica, which was absolutely stunning! I can’t even tell you the amount of times my jaw dropped completely at the detail and thought that went into building this massive church! It makes you feel so small compared to the size of everything, which I just learned today is the exact intent of the designers. The people entering the church are supposed to feel small compared to the God that they come to worship, which I thought was really cool.

You know, I didn’t realize how many sets of stairs there were in Rome! It makes sense though considering there wasn’t the luxury of elevators back when these buildings were made. We had to climb a total of 320 steps just to get to the top of the Basilica. When you’re walking it seems like the staircase never ends! You’re basically just going up a spiral staircase for a good 15 minutes or so looking at what looks like the same set of stairs over and over again.

I think my favorite part of Vatican is how it is so unique among any other place I have visited. Not only is it the only county that literally feels like it’s about the size of my suitcase because it’s so small, it is also the only country whose borders interchange with Italy. I learned that this happens whenever the Pope is speaking in Vatican, of which he is the head of state and also the spiritual head. When this switch happens, a small part of Italy surrounding Vatican is then transformed into part of Vatican. I know this because our tour guide once got arrested for crossing Vatican borders. Long story short, the police took her to the police station (literally a block away from the Basilica), and when she called her lawyers, they informed that it was in fact Vatican. True story.

By the end of our tour, we stayed in the Basilica for mass lead by a Cardinal in the church. It was amazing to see the way things worked. It did make it hard though because not only was I getting distracted by the amazing architecture, but the whole service was in Italian, but I did pick up on some key words throughout the service which helped me to understand a little bit of what was going on. Although the service was amazing, I thought it was funny that while we were sitting down, you could look around and see that the whole group was struggling to keep their eyes open. Our lack of sleep was catching up to us by the end of mass, and we were ready to hit the sack.