Monday, November 7, 2011

When in Roma..Sleep doesn't exist, you walk more miles in a day than the calories you consume, and you see things you thought you'd never see!!!

Ciao!!!!!!

Well, I finally made it to Roma and it was beautiful! Although, it was not what I expected it to be at all, it was much worth the trip! I thought that the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps would be more secluded, but the fountain was surrounded a bunch of random buildings and the Spanish Steps just had a little fountain in front of it. The Spanish Steps are always packed with teens and young adults. In fact, Brit and I had the pleasure of meeting several Italian military men! haha..

When we arrived Friday afternoon we headed straight for the Colosseum! The history inside of it is fascinating, but I felt very weird standing inside such a place! I can't imagine filling that place to watch people be slaughtered!!! EW! ha. Afterwards, we toured the Roman Forum, which was very pretty! Both the Colosseum and Forum remind me of Pompeii, which has been my favorite thus far! The Forum existed before Jesus Christ, which makes me wonder why people do not believe in him! This trip I have met so many people who do not believe in God. I know I went through a time when I questioned things, but never doubted that there was a greater power above me! I have experienced too many miracles in my life not to believe. I know that having my dad make it through his accident and feeling my Papa close to me when I'm struggling that there is a God and I will one day walk through those Golden Gates and meet him! I may not agree with every rule in the Catholic Church, but I am truly proud to be a Catholic and I hope one day those who don't believe will experience such miracles and have the faith that I have.

Roof of the Pantheon
The last destination of Friday was the Pantheon. It was pretty but not one of my favorite places. An interesting fact is that it has a hole in the ceiling and it is the only original roof in Rome!

Spanish Steps!
The Vatican was my favorite part of the trip!! We started in the Vatican Museo, which consists of 10,000 rooms!!! How insane!! We spent all of Saturday morning there then went into the Sistine Chapel! We weren't allowed to take photos, but everyone was so I snagged a few! It was soooo packed and consumed by beautiful architecture! :) From there we headed inside of St. Peter's Basilica!!!!! OMGGGG it is HUGEEEE!!!! The Firenze Cathedral would fit inside of it!!! The architectural style is extremely Renaissance! I love all the gold trimming and the High alter is so beautiful!! (I feel like I always use the same words over and over, but really these places are unexplainable!) The beauty and history is so extraordinary!

Once our tour was finished we headed down to the Catacombs where most of the Popes are buried. Marissa, Brit, Ian and I then climbed to the Dome of the Vatican! It was about 300 steps, but the view was soooo worth it! The view reaches miles and miles wide!

Sunday was an extremely long day! We were all so tired, but we made it out alive!! We went on a walking tour then we literally booked it from one end of Rome to the other in order to see Pop Benedict the 16th give a speech!!! I was dripping sweat and wanted to fall over, but I think my life is finally complete! He spoke 7 different languages, drew a crowd of 1000s, and gave me goosebumps! The applause from the the crowd was so overwhelming, I nearly cried!!

I hope everyone is doing well and I miss you all but only a month and a half til I am home!!!!! Time is Flying!!!

Love and Miss you all!,
Meek






Making a wish and throwing a coin in the Trevi Fountain



Sistine chapel




View from the Dome!




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