Audience with the Pope and some more Rome adventures

Today we woke up bright and early for our audience with Pope Benedict the sixteenth. We actually did not have a hard time getting up so early (6 am) and were ready to go around 8 in the morning. I was a little pissed off because I lost my metro pass and had to go buy one before we left. We were on our way to Vatican City before we knew it but it had not really set in where exactly we were going and what we were about to do.
When we entered Vatican city all of that changed immediately. Walking into St Peters square is an amazing experience. It was like the first time walking into Disneyland as a kid. You just get amazed and want to look at everything, and you get a huge appreciation for your religion and you become proud to be Catholic. We were all so amazed that we began taking pictures of everything, stopping to look at things, and our professor got so far ahead that we lost him. Thankfully we found him and were able to enter the hall where our audience with the Pope was going to take place. Vatican city and the Pope have A LOT of security you realize when you walk in. Police, military, and the Swiss guards are EVERYWHERE. It was kind of crazy.
We waited for a while for the Pope and when he did come out, it was really how our professor described as "a rock concert". People began cheering, taking pictures, jumping up and down. He did several readings in different languages and it was a really crazy experience because we had really good seats. The highlight of the service was when they began to announce groups that were present in the crowd. If your group is announced you basically are allowed to cheer and sing a short song for the Pope. When the english speaking priest got on the microphone and said "Saint Mary's College from Moraga, California" we all went crazy and sang our short piece. To make it even better, when the Italian news covered the event, our class was shown on the broadcast. It was a really unique experience and it made me proud to be a catholic.
Afterwards we had a lot of free time and spent it wandering around that part of Rome. We ate at a pretty good restaurant and i had spaghetti with clams. We went to this place called the Lay Centre for a bit for a lecture, and afterwards we were free to walk anywhere. The Roman Colliseum happened to be down the street so of course had to stop there. It was another crazy experience seeing that. We got close up to it and were even able to touch it. we thought about all the gladiator fights that happened there and the history behind it. I imagined what it must have been like around there centuries ago. What is funny about it, is locals walk by it like its nothing, just a random collection of stones. But we were all amazed.
We later came back to where were staying and hung out for a bit, before going out to a little bar/cafe. It was a good way to unwind after a very interesting and busy day. Heres some pictures, check back tomorrow for some more blogging!


makes me feel safe to be on the metro...


me getting ready to enter vatican city


entering the city


st peters square


the christmas tree still standing in the square


the nativity scene


the basilica

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the pope himself!


more of vatican city








Im in two different countries. Rome and Vatican City haha


ballin


the colliseum at night


i can feel all the history, the bloodshed, and the hearts of all the warriors who stepped within these walls....not really haha but its cool


downtime in rome!