DAY 14

In the city of Rome, there was so much to do and so little time! We started off visiting a Monk cemetery with our group. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but the inside of this building was extravagant. The bones of these Capuchin Monks had been placed all over the walls and ceilings to portray their message. There were altars of femur bones, shoulder blades, and even one with the skeletons of children as Monks used to house orphans. There was a quote in the final altar that stuck with us. It read: “What you are, we once were. What we are now, you will become”. Although a bit eerie, the cemetery was very intriguing. Afterwards, we left our group to roam around Rome on our own (…bah-dum-chhh). First, we went and took a photo of the Spanish steps and captured some great views of the city from the top. Next, we walked to the Basilica San Giovani in Laterno. It was a gorgeous church that we enjoyed walking through and taking photos of the artwork. Near there, we saw the Holy Steps. These are the steps Christ walked up when his father told him he was going to have to be killed. You can walk up them now, but only on your knees. On each step you would kiss your rosary and make a prayer because these steps are so holy. After that, we then headed closer to town and walked past the area where the Roman chariot races used to take place. Near there was a church called Santa Maria where we took some photos of us with our hands in the Mouth of Truth. Back in the Roman days, it was said that if you put your hand in the mouth of this lion on the wall and told a lie, he would bit your hand off. All of that sightseeing probably required 5 miles of walking! But now it was time to meet our group for our Vatican and Sistine chapel tours. Everything we saw and learned about on this tour was amazing, especially the paintings on the ceiling done by Michelangelo. To end the tour, we walked through St. Peters basilica, the largest church in the world. Leaving there, we could see where the Pope’s office windows were, and also the balcony that he walks out on to speak to his worshipers. One of the Pope’s bodyguards walked right past us! We learned so many interesting facts on this tour, and after it was over we were just exhausted and in much need of some coffee. With a few of our friends, we headed to a coffee shop that is said to sell the best coffee in Rome. We each ordered a cappuccino, and it was downright delicious. It’s hard to describe how it was so good, but it was definitely the best cup of coffee we’d ever had. After that, we headed to dinner. We ate on a small back street near the Pantheon where we ordered a seafood salad and a pizza. Once again, it was amazing food. With all the energy we had left, we made our way back to the hotel on the metro. We were ready to hit the hay, but all of our friends convinced us to experience the Roman nightlife. The line that got us was, “When are you going to be in Rome next?”. So, we got dressed and split a cab out to a nice area called Piazza del Fiori. We found a bar called Numbs where we were able to get a nice deal on drinks. For 12 Euro, you could drink as much as you could in one hour. We definitely took advantage of that! After a great night with our Aussie friends, we headed back to our hotel and went to bed.