Day 8

Day 8 - Rome, Italy It is hard to believe that this is our last day in Europe. It seems to have gone by so quickly until we talk about all of the things that we have seen and done. So many things were on today's itinerary. We had a 6:45 am wake up call and were on the bus by 8:10 to head into Rome. Our hotel is outside of the city limits due to hotel availability and prices. After a quiet drive into the city (because a majority of us were trying to catch up on a bit of sleep), we parked just outside of the walls of the Vatican, the smallest country in the world. None of us had any idea how many tourists were on the other side of those walls! The line to enter was about 1/4 mile long, at the least. Fortunately being in a group, we were able to bypass that line and get a direct entry. We had to pass through security with our Vatican guide, Giuseppe, which was quite the experience. There were so many people there!!! It was challenging to hear Giuseppe as we went through the gardens and the galleries because the Vatican issued headsets were very poor quality, but we managed to muster through and try our best. We passed through so many galleries of statues and amazing architecture. On the gallery ceilings there were beautiful paintings that made them look as if they were 3D, in other words, painted as "tromp l'oeil". And finally, we arrived at the entrance of the Sistine Chapel! It was amazing, the artwork is indescribable...to actually see these paintings in person were phenomenal! Just knowing that Leonardo da Vinci spent so many years of his life painting these incredible works! And then realizing that the week before the Cardinals of the world met there to make the most important decision of the Catholic church!! WOW! From the Chapel, we moved over to St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the world! It. Was. AH-mazing!! Pictures do not do this place justice! Being there made me appreciate it so much more. Being that we were there on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, there were tons and tons of people visiting the Basilica. The personnel at the Vatican were all getting prepared for Palm Sunday services and the first official mass from the new Pope, Francis I. After our Basilica tour, we had some free time for lunch and then we were going to our tour at the Colosseum and the Forum. Our tour guide was fabulous. She was an archaeologist who really knew her information. She gave us amazing details and interacted so nicely with our group. After this portion of our day in Rome, it was time to walk over to the restaurant, which was about 30 minutes away. We passed the Pantheon and several fountains along the way (Rome is known as the city of fountains). Dinner our last night was a green salad, pizza and a flan-type dessert. Dinner ended around 8 pm and we had the choice of returning to the hotel or staying in the city for 2 more hours to explore the monuments on our own. We split, some of us stayed and some of us returned to the hotel (which we fondly referred to as our "Shining Hotel" - as in the movie). Once at the hotel, I was witness to a shoe funeral for a pair of fav shoes which had literally been worn out and one boot, whose partner had been left in Nice, France. It was hard to believe that our trip was over and we were headed home in a few short hours. We had done so much in our time in Europe. Our exhaustion levels were high, but so worth it when we thought about everything that we had done. Hopefully everyone who saw the Trevi Fountain threw in their coins for their eventual return to Rome.