The past three days have by far been the most exciting and most exhausting days of the entire trip so far. We just returned to the palazzo in Sansepolcro from a fantastic break in Rome! We shopped downtown, tossed coins in the Trevi Fountain, went to the Colosseum and Palatine Hill, saw the Roman ruins, spent a day in Vatican City, went in St. Peter's, scoped out the Sistine Chapel, and the most exciting part of all: we went to the Papal Blessing and saw the Pope! Since Rome wasn't built in a day we decided we would take three to conquer it all and we were quite successful!
Monday we spent most of the day traveling so by the time we reached Rome we were starving. Food is always a priority for this crowd and somewhere at the top of our to-do list was visiting the Hard Rock cafe so we did! After a delicious salad, we regained enough energy to make our way down to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. What a beautiful sight lit up at night. It was breathtaking! And we saw someone get proposed to in front of the Trevi Fountain, that was quite impressive!
Tuesday we decided to conquer the Roman ruins. First stop, the Colosseum. It was jam packed full of people but totally worth the visit. We climbed up and down the floors on the inside and listed along to our iPods as Rick Steves commentated our tour enlightening us with all kinds of interesting facts. After the Colosseum we made our way to Palatine Hill where we strolled through all the Roman ruins, vinyards and gardens.
Wednesday we started our day out bright and early taking it to the streets of Vatican City! We arrived at 8:15am and baked in the sun until 11am when the Pope finally emerged. It was seriously the highlight and greatest moment of my trip. He rode by in this bullet proof Mercedes, waving to the crowd as a band played in the background. Such a surreal moment! Oh, and did I mention we were on the fourth row! Sitting in a massive crowd, anxiously waiting, and roasting in the heat was completely and totally worth it. The cardinals read a letter from Paul to Timothy and then the Pope gave a speech, in Italian of course, but just listening to him speak was incredible. After that he blessed the crowd in probably 10 different languages, recognizing the importance of family and love. We then said the Lord's Prayer together in Latin followed by a final blessing from the Pope. The entire experience was absolutely incredible and words simply cannot accurately describe how blessed I felt. Once the Papal Blessing was over we were able to venture inside of St. Peter's where I was completely awestruck by the magnificent sights in front of my eyes. The ceiling of the main Duomo was the height of two football fields and at the very top you can see a blue and red blur, but if you were able to see it up close you would see an image of God! The main alter was incredible and lined with candles and gold trim. Also, the body of John Paul XXIII the "good pope" was in the right section of the church which was really cool to see! He wasn't the only embalmed pope we saw either. We ventured downstairs to stroll through the tombs of the past popes. After a couple hours of ohhing and awing over the beautiful basilica we moved on to the Sistine Chapel. It was yet another amazing experience. In the very center of the ceiling was an image of God breathing life into Adam which was by far my favorite. I can't even describe how exhausted we were after a full day of Vatican City. I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life, but the incredibly long day was so so worth it. This trip has truly been a blast but my day at Vatican City was by far the highlight. Being blessed by the Pope, it just doesn't get any better.

The Trevi Fountain

group shot

out infront of the Colosseum

the back of the Colosseum

me THRILLED to see the Pope

The Pope!!!!

in the inside of St. Peter's

John Paul XXIII

Allison & I

inside the Colosseum