For our third official day in the beautiful Rome, the Dodge Challenger and I didn’t waste a second; as if any of us would allow that!
I’ll start off with this morning…and I mean the wee hours of the morning. One of my roommates and I winded up staying up (accidentally) until 4:00 a.m. I then had to wake up at 6:30 am in order to be fully prepared for the day ahead. Woohoo!
So imagine the exhaustion as both of us set foot into the classroom at the Pontifical.
Luckily, our instructors and the courses were stimulating enough to keep us awake.
After our classes ended, we all went for lunch. There was a small bakery not too far from
the hotel where some of us purchased sandwiches. Some of us went to an Italian supermarket and purchased a few things to our liking. That was an experience. It’s smaller than any major supermarket in the US, but it’s still stocked with many different items needed for everyday life. Also, the produce actually smelled like…PRODUCE! (who knew apples and bananas actually have scents prior to biting into them???)
I bought these amazing gummy bears called Fruit-Tella, along with these delicious chocolate covered cookie sticks called Mikado. Yum!
After lunch, and a bit of down time, we met up with Jill, who coached us on our FIRST Italy 
Metro ride. It was amazing (and thankfully less crowded than the buses)!
Once off, we met up with another tour guide named Ava, who showed us around more of Rome. We got to see many different Egyptian obelisks, including the Egyptian obelisk marking the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary.
Not too far from that, we got to see one of the most awing architectural structures to ever exist: The Pantheon! (Mr. Hesting’s personal favorite)
The dome structure, the large hole on the top center, the portrait of Raphael, the history, and the beauty are only a few reasons I can give as to why everyone able should witness this masterpiece. Arriving to the front doors literally takes your breath away.
After parting from the Pantheon, all of us excitedly walked to the Piazza del Popolo,
where we tried our hardest not to look like tourists as we gathered with people to watch Italy take on Uruguay in futbol. (Unfortunately Italy lost, the game was 1:0. It was interesting to see the gathering of people, all supporting and interacting with each other just to support their team. That kind of support and pride without an all out brawl was admirable and I was so thankful to be a part of that.)
Italy may have had lost the game, but we kept on moving. We caught the metro back to our side of town, arriving just in time for our reservations at a quaint Italian restaurant. My roommate and I (her name is Sara-Kay; I keep saying ‘my roommate’ but she’s actually a really good friend of mine and thus I shall call her by her name) combined both of our budgets, split an immense Parmagiana pizza and a bowl of lemon and crema gelato. It was a brilliant idea if I do say so myself.
That was today in the lovely Rome, alongside my five year old brother’s toy matchbox Dodge Challenger. Tomorrow is just as promising! For World Religions, we kind of get to see Papa Francesco (only the coolest pope of popes. No big deal). So very excited!
Until tomorrow,
Drive safely 🙂