When in Rome...

...don't stay in a hotel that is forever outside of the city, because the public transportation stinks! We stayed out in the suburbs of Rome, which was a good idea in theory, but because the public transportation was so unreliable, it made getting around pretty difficult. In retrospect, though, it was probably for the best, considering we had a final during our week in Rome. It made it a lot easier to be motivated to study when we couldn't go anywhere else!

The few times we did get out, however, we saw SO much every time. One day we went to St. Peter's, the Vatican Museums, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Trajan's Forum, and the Monument to Victor Emmanuel! Needless to say, it was a crazy day. I think my favorite part was the Colosseum, although St. Peter's was up there. The Colosseum is just SO big and SO old...I couldn't get my mind around it. Standing there I had one of the moments I've had from time to time this semester where I can't believe I'm actually where I am, doing what I'm doing. I kept saying..."it really happened here - gladiators fought here, people died here! Right here!" It was just really unbelievable. Anyways, it just blew my mind how old everything is, and that it is all still there. St. Peter's was really great, too. We got there pretty early in the morning, so it was glowing in the early morning light and it was really beautiful. Then we got to go inside, and Michelangelo's Pieta is in there, which is one of my favorite pieces of art. We also got to see the Sistine Chapel, which was every bit as cool as I imagined it to be.

We spent a lot of time in Rome studying and taking tests, and when we weren't doing that we were trying to figure out the public transportation!