My final trip during my European adventure was to Rome, Italy from 7-10 April. A group of kids from my flat decided to take one of the WSA tours, and what a great decision it was! We flew into Rome on the night of the 7th and began our tour at 10AM on the 8th. Our tour guide was a lovely Brit who had been living in Rome for the last five years. She knew all the best places to take us, and which spots to avoid as well. On the first day, we visited the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. As a Roman Catholic, this experience was very important to me, as 2015/16 happens to be a jubilee year (occurs every 25 years). We got to walk through the Holy Door into St. Peter’s, an awe-inspiring experience. I also purchased a rosary there and had it blessed by a priest in the Vatican- unreal!
The next day, we saw more ancient Rome. We started at the Coliseum, then made our way to the Forum- which took up the majority of the day. But seeing how massive these structures were and how they were made before any modern technology was an incredible experience. We had the evening free until our group dinner later that night, so we explored some shops and tossed our coins into the Trevi Fountain.
The final day was completely free to do whatever we wanted, so my flatmate and I headed back to the Vatican to receive a blessing from the Pope. On Sunday mornings, he comes out on to the balcony of the Papal Apartment and blesses the crowd standing in the piazza below. Pope Francis (Papa Francesco) is my mom’s favorite Pope, and one of mine as well, and getting to see him in real life was an experience I’ll never forget. We then explored more of the city and really just took in Rome as a whole. We did a bit of souvenir shopping, went back to some sites we had done on previous days, before getting back on our plane to London. I’m so glad I took this trip too. Rome was never a city I had much desire to go to, but I’m incredibly glad I did and am looking forward to returning!