When In Rome...

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Well, when I was in Rome, I did as all of the other tourists did!

My mom, my dad, and I just got back from a lovely three days in Rome, Italy. I can't believe all of the history and age that city had!

I suppose I should do a top 5...just to narrow it down!

1.) The Vatican. We waited in, what the locals told us, was a "short line" to get into the Vatican. Well, we waited about 1.5 hours...urg.... that's definitely a long line for me! The Vatican was so beautiful! Inside is the Vatican Museum, St Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Pope's Palace, and many other wonders. We saw so many amazing pieces of art at the Vatican Museum. The Vatican Museum is the largest museum in the world, and if you were to spend only 45 seconds in front of each piece of art it would take you 10 years of your life to get through the museum! Oh my! We also saw the Swiss Guards walking around! They're the men who guard the Pope. It was so neat seeing everything! (Well, on a kinda sad note...here at the Vatican is where my camera battery died. I have only had to charge my battery once this entire semester...and in the Vatican, my camera decided that I needed to charge her twice. *cry*tear*sniffle*)

2.) All of the colors on the buildings. I absolutely fell in love with the color of Rome. Terracottas, roses, oranges, yellows, salmons, tans, creams....it was just so amazing. The entire city just felt warm. If I could pick a smell of Rome, I would say that it smelled like a pale orange sunrise. I loved the apartments and all of the buildings that winded their way through Rome's crazy streets. Some of the paint was chipping off, and I'm sure the roofs leaked like crazy...but, there was just something so calming about the colors!

3.) All of the nuns! Oh my goodness! In my lifetime, I have probably seen 30 nuns total. And, I think that is being kinda generous. I always think of nuns as a little treat or surprise when seen walking on the street. Well...in Rome, NUNS WERE EVERYWHERE!! I probably saw close to, and quite possibly more than, 50 nuns! Shopping, driving, walking around, eating in the restaurants!! There's even a bunch of stores where nuns, priests, and other Catholic people can buy their clothes! A whole store just for habits and priest clothes! (As you can see with my terrible vocabulary, I am not Catholic) I just loved it! The picture above is of a nun at a bread store...just your average, normal, everyday nun!

4.) The Colosseum! Oh my! It was so incredible. The Colosseum holds some 50,000 people and is said to be able to exit every single one of those people in 10 minutes. The Colosseum has a very complex system of stairs which do this. It was so interesting learning about all of the history and behind the scenes things that went down at the Colosseum. It was basically just a big show...kinda like professional wrestling today. There's even a Stage Manager who controls everything!

5.) Rome at Night. Now, I know that I live in Paris, the City of Lights...but, Rome definitely competed in that Name Game! I might even call Rome the Ancient City of Lights! It was so incredible at night! My mom, dad and I took a open bus tour at night and saw everything! Wow! The colors and the sounds and the lights were just so beautiful! People say that Rome is one of the loudest cities in the world...and even at night, the Romans continue this noise! During the day and during the night, the city is just bustling with noise!

Rome was just lovely! You should go!

SPQR