There's No Place Like ROME

The last day in our last city was one of the coolest of the semester. We got up early again and started our day where we ended it the night before, at the world famous Coliseum. Despite Ben's pessimism, all of us went inside to check out the ruins. And of course, Ben was wrong because it was freakin' sweet. It's unbelievable to think this stadium was built about 2000 years ago. If fully constructed, it could have easily been used today, seating nearly 50,000 people. Did you know, in addition to holding gladiatorial contests, the middle could be flooded in order to host naval battles as well? Pretty incredible. Also, it was just cool to be in the place that you have seen so many pictures of.

After the Coliseum, we walked across the street to the site of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. These ruins were what I was expecting from Rome. Seeing all of the remnants of ancient buildings (including the site of Caesar's assassination, "Et tu, Brute?") put into perspective the historical importance of Rome. For centuries, this site was the center of the world. The cave within Palatine Hill is said to have been where Romulus and Remus where found by the mother wolf. From Palatine Hill, we could see the remnants of Circus Maximus (the chariot-racing stadium). This whole experience pushed itself into the top 5 coolest things I have done.

After the Roman Forum, Tori, Haley and I continued along the Tiber to Castel St. Angelo. This site was of significance to Tori and me because of Angels & Demons (Dan Brown has clearly had an impact on me, hahaha). For those of you who don't remember (and this isn't a spoiler), this is the lair of the Hassassin. Anyway, a little history: It was originally built as a mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian around 130 AD, but was turned into a military fortress. Later, the popes used it as a refuge from the siege of Charles V. More importantly, the top offered an awesome view of the city and St. Peter's Basilica.

After the Castel, we met back up with Ben and Alyssa and headed to the Spanish Steps for a little meeting with Benedict. Who's Benedict, you ask. The freakin' POPE! (Benedict XVI, actually) Apparently, every Immaculate Conception the pope places a wreath at the base of the Statue of Mary and gives a speech to the crowd. (Thanks to a devout Catholic, we got the tip the day before) By the beginning of the ceremony, we had wriggled our way to the PERFECT spot. The Pope Mobile stopped about 20 ft. from us! (By the way, Benedict, Batman ain't got nothin' on you!) We were so close, we could see the wrinkles on his face, the whites of his eyes and even his ruby red slippers. (I wonder if he can pull off the same trick as Dorothy?) Anyway, we couldn't understand the speech at all, but being that close to the Pope was a once in a lifetime experience.

From here, we walked by the Pantheon once more, but to our dismay it was closed. Instead, we treated ourselves to an awesome dinner for the last time on our travels. We drank some wine, ate some pasta and reminisced over the coolest 4 months of our lives. It couldn't have been a better way to wrap up our traveling. After dinner, we headed back to the hostel for a couple more drinks in order to prolong the night as long as possible. Early in the morning, Tori, Haley and I boarded a RyanAir flight for the last time...