Roma (insert over-used phrase here)

Rome was the place that we stayed in by far the longest (a whole 3 days!), which ended up being perfect. Our timing was excellent as the first day was the day we spent the most time walking around outside and it ended up being the only rain free day! We ran around to all the big sights right away, which is Rome is no easy feat (pun intended).

A Castle, I forget the name..

View from the top of said castle

In front of the wedding cake

More cake

Anna and I made it inside the Colosseum!

View of the center of the Colosseum

Snapping photos left and right

A city of ruins

Its Rome, what did you expect?

In front of the colosseum

By the end of the day we were all dead tired. Despite this, I still managed to stay awake long enough to see one of my friends from UPS, Mara. It was so nice to meet up with someone who knew the area and of course catch up with someone from home, Mara, if you read this, I am so glad we got to meet up!!

The next day we got up at the crack of dawn to wait in line to go to the Vatican Museum. This ended up being an excellent idea as the line was huge and we managed to get in before most of the tour groups. The Vatican Museum, possibly one of the largest and most extensive Museums I have been to thus far (this is saying quite a lot, I think I may have had my fill of museums for several years to come).

My favorite part, the ceilings

A little bit of rain didn't damped our moods

We spent a very content morning wandering through the exhibits and of course seeing the Sistine Chapel. Anna and I ended up seeing it twice on accident because we didn't realize that the exhibits beyond the Chapel you could only access by going through the Chapel again.







Another gelato stop was necessary afterwards at the best and cheapest place thus far. They gave us huge scoops of delicious frozen goodness for almost half what we had paid in other places.

The discovery of the gelato mecca

Satisfaction, gelato

Needless to say we deemed it the best gelato in Italy!

A close runner up with millions of flavors

We took it easy for the rest of the day as the following day was a big day for us, Easter with the Pope!


Again the day started early to stand in line, but this time we were greatly rewarded. We got in line at 7:30am, the gates opened at 8:30 and after a mad dash we found ourselves in practically front row seats!

Ready for Mass

Mass didn't start until 10:15 so we watched as the square steadily filled up, and then witnessed the most public and multi-lingual mass I have ever seen. The Pope presided over the mass, however he didn't do as much as one would've thought, given his age. All and all, not a bad way to end a trip in Italy.

I see the Pope

This whirlwind trip of Italy hardly scratched the surface of what the country has to offer, but its one of those trips that I will always remember. I made it back to Vienna exhausted, with my hard shell and sanity a little scratched but completely satisfied. I hope to make it back there and maybe I will be able to venture more off the beaten track, but for now Arrivederci, ciao bella Italia!

Sitting for Mass