Rome

We just spent three days in Rome, which I actually liked quite a bit. I had heard that Rome was really hot and crowded and not very exciting, but it was fine for me. Yes, it was hot, and, yes, it was crowded, but I enjoyed my time here.

We saw a lot of old buildings, monuments, and churches. It’s so interesting to think back to what life was like 2000 or more years ago when they were being built, and what the people did back then. I don’t even remember all of the names of the monuments we saw, but I liked them. I especially liked the Trevi Fountain. And the churches are so beautiful—wonderful architecture with lots of paintings all over the walls and ceilings and also lots of statues.

We went to the Vatican, too, of course. Saint Peter’s Bascilica is huge. The Sistine Chapel is also beautiful. I was extremely impressed. It’s the place where Michelangelo painted a bunch of scenes from the Bible on the ceiling. The really famous one is the one of Adam and God reaching hands to each other, which I’m sure you’ve seen before. There were so many people there, though, so it was kind of hard to spend time really looking at everything. Plus, it hurt my neck to look up at the ceiling for so long. But I loved it.

I also loved the Roman ruins everywhere, like the Coliseum and Palestine Hill and the Roman Forum. It’s so amazing that it’s all still standing. We took a short guided tour at the Coliseum, which I liked because I learned a little more about its history. Next to the Coliseum was Paul’s prison cell (Paul from the Bible). It is so dark and dreary, with no daylight at all. It made me think about him living there and being persecuted for what he believed. I can’t believe I got to see all of these things that have so much history.

Italian food is so good. We had pizza for lunch every day, and pasta for dinner. Some days were better than others, but I finally found the BEST pizza in Rome on our last night. It had chunks of mozzarella cheese with tomato sauce and basil. Mmmmm. Like it should be. Although, I think I’ll be full for a week after all of this food.

Now we’re about to head back home. Our plane leaves really early, so I’m staying up all night so I’ll be able to sleep on the plane. This is my last blog, because now I’ll be back in the US. So that means we’ll have to talk in person. Thanks for reading about my summer.