Small girl conquers big city

I can't even begin to explain all the sights we saw today, which I feel like will just be all of Rome. So I'll make a list, and you can decide if it's worth listening to me show off all my pictures when I get back.

Breakfast isn't much more exciting here, but they do have cereal. I thought it would be impossible to mess that up, but I managed to find the milk for the coffee, which was hot, and pour that on my rice crispies, so it was more like taking a bowl of cereal and then microwaving it until it steamed. Gross, but edible. Lesson learned.

We started with the Santa Maria Maggiore, which is this huge majestic church with a ridiculous clock tower on it. There are several buildings in Rome with just mismatching pieces. There was a service going on in one of the chapels, and I even knew one of the songs (even though it was in italian). It sparked a conversation about spirituality and the likelihood of this becoming somewhat of a religious pilgrimage for some of us,and we decided to try to go to some type of service every Sunday (which really, there aren't that many!) after that, we went to st. Pietro in vincoli to see michelangelo's Moses. If you put a coin in a slot, the lights would turn on so you could see the sculpture better, which was a clever way to make some extra change. It also had the chains that bound Christ under the altar, which we saw. I've never seen a holy relic before, and it was just too overwhelming to really fathom, so I think maybe I didn't get the whole experience.

We went to the coliseum, which was literally right around the corner. That's another thing that happens a lot on this trip- you're walking,and then you just run into this huge piece of art, or building, or something you never really imagined actually experiencing. It kind of sneaks up on you and demands your attention, when what you really need is a bunch of signs saying "hold on to your breath, x is a few steps away". We walked around it, and the to the Paletine hill to buy a ticket that would get us into all of ancient Rome for a week. I wasn't sure going into this, but I definitely got my money's worth; it is so expensive to see anything here.

They had gladiators walking around that you could pay to take your picture with; kind of a disturbing version of Disney world, but with Italian men that fought to the death. The whole time touring Rome its hard to ignore the dark history. Going inside the colosseum was amazing, but impossible to not think about how many animals and men were held in these tiny little cages until they came out and entertained people with violence. But then again, they didn't have tv, and we watch the same stuff all the time.

Being in an ancient collapsed city makes you think about how people will look at our society hundreds of years from now. Are people going to be paying to see remnants of the empire state building someday?

We went to Palatine hill, where Megan and I walked for a while, then sat in the shade and observed, then explored some more, then people watched. The whole thing took about 3 hours, but I also ordered myself a delicious pepperoni-ish and cheese wrap, which was pretty satisfying. We went to one more church before being set loose. I went on the subway! It was hardly even scary. In one day, I've gone from being terrified of the city to finding my confident "I'm going somewhere" walk. Then we found our way from the train station to the hotel, with a stop for gelato in between.

I finally got a chance to FaceTime Doug, which was nice. I'm doing a lot better with being homesick, because I honestly just don't have time to be. I'm sure it might sneak up on me again, but like I said- its crazy how much I've grown and changed in such a short time.

Not entirely different, though. We stopped at the market to get some fruit, then wandered around looking at stores. I bought some cute italian shoes, looked at some tops. Then we ended up wandering into a McDonald's, where I got a happy meal :) in case you were wondering, it doesn't taste any different :)

Back to the hotel for some more bonding, then I called home and got to talk to mom, which was nice. Tomorrow we start at 8:30, so I'm going to try to get to bed. Ciao!