Rome: Day 2

Today was going to be a busy day since there is so much to see in Rome and so little time for us to do it in. Our agenda was to go to the Vatican City, see the Colosseum, and then have a tour of the Roman ruins. Vatican City was amazing. It's incredible to think that that itself is it's own country. There were so many beautiful things in the Vatican, but one of the most beautiful is with out a doubt the Sistine Chapel. It's amazing to think that the ceiling is all handpainted and in fresco, which is very difficult to paint with since it dries so fast. There are many famous parts of the chapel, but my favorite is the part of the hands reaching for each other. It just seems so powerful and looks so real that it's scary. After our time in the Vatican, we had a guided tour of the Colosseum. That place is amazing! Even though I had been there before it still blew my mind at how big the stadium really was. I thought it was interesting that there was only about 4 entrances for the nobles and other people and the rest of them were for the common folk. Our tour director for this tour wasn't very exciting, so it made paying attention to the facts a little difficult. She was the same tour guide we had for the Roman ruins too, which were beautiful to look at and made great scenic shots. A lot of us had a better time just exploring on our own and reading about the pieces ourselves instead of trying to listen to someone who wasn't holding our attention very well. After these long tours, we decided to go back and see St. Peter's Basilica, because we couldn't be in the Vatican City and leave with out seeing it! The outside of the church didn't do it any justice. It wasn't very nice on the outside, but once you stepped inside it was incredible. It's a huge church that doesn't even seem like it is a church to begin with, until you go to the back and see the beautiful alter. After a long day of tours around Rome, we all went to a little restaurant for dinner in Trastevere. It was a lot of fun to all be together getting to know each other a little better and bonding. Once we got back to the hotel, even though we had such a long day it didn't stop us from going out to explore the Roman nightlife. We weren't out for long, since a lot of the group had to get up very early for Florence, but just long enough to experience Latino night at the club down the street. It was definitely interesting to say the least!