When our alarms went off at 5:30, Gabe and I both agreed that getting an extra hour of sleep would be better than having seats for the mass, so we slept in a bit. I had been concerned that the mass would be uncomfortable because you can't wear tank tops in the Vatican, but it was actually quite cool that morning and I was happy to wear my cardigan.

There were so many people at the Vatican, it was nuts! People were trying to cut in line and nuns were sending them back...it was kind of funny, but at the same time you really just wanted to say, "Really!? You're going to try and cut in line to go to Easter Sunday Mass at the Vatican?! Really..."

Despite the fact that we got to the Vatican closer to 8:30, we still got seats! They obviously weren't the greatest, but they also weren't the worst. & we were well rested, so I think that was a huge win! It was really neat people watching before the mass began—it was incredible to see how people from literally every corner of the globe made it to the Vatican for Easter Sunday mass.

I'm Catholic, but I certainly wouldn't qualify myself as super duper religious or anything...but the mass was absolutely beautiful. It was conducted completely in Latin, so I obviously didn't understand it, but I've been to mass often enough to know the various segments of the service and I was able to follow along. The mass started at 10:15 and ended at noon. Then the Pope gave the Urbi et Orbi Blessing, and you didn't need tickets for that, so the square quickly became even more packed. The blessing might have been my favorite part, because he said the blessing in no fewer than 20 or so different languages. & people would cheer and wave flags when he got to their language.... I couldn't believe how far some people had come!

It took us about thirty minutes to get outside of the square after the blessing. We were both pretty hungry and thirsty by then— it was around 1 and we hadn't eaten anything since 8ish—so we decided to stop for lunch en route to the Colosseum. The restaurant we went to had the Mozzarella di Bufala pizza that I had loved so much yesterday, but sadly it wasn't as good as my first one =/ after lunch we continued walking to the Roman Forum/Colosseum. McKenzie had told us to buy tickets at the Roman Forum instead of the Colosseum because the line is normally shorter, and man was he right. We had to wait about 15 minutes at the Roman Forum, but it would have been at least a good 30 or 40 at the Colosseum. The ticket counter there was absolutely nuts!

We got our tickets to the Forun/Colosseum and each picked up an optional Audio Guide, which ended up being a waste of €5 because it really wasn't helpful at all. The ruins aren't marked very well and you had to select a site to listen to on your own, so you could be listening to something about the Temple of Saturn for instance, but actually be looking at the Curia and the Arch of Septimius Severus without realizing it (yes, that happened to me lol). Oh well... just another reason why I prefer an actual guide =]

The Forum is huge, too—you could spend an entire day walking through it, but unfortunately we were kind of pressed for time, so we gave up on the audio book and moved through the ruins rather quickly. I think next time I'm going to have to bring Mrs. Poirier, my seventh grade history teacher, back with me next time so she can explain all of the crazy things that happened in ancient Rome.

After a couple hours walking around the ruins, we exited the Forum and headed for the Colosseum. It was seriously incredible; I couldn't believe I was actually there! It was easier and more enjoyable to walk around and take pictures here, but it would have been more beneficial if we had taken a tour, I think. Again, next time =]

McKenzie met up with us after we finished at the Colosseum and took us to the Circus Maximus first. This was the spot where the ancient Romans held sporting events, namely chariot racing. To get there, we took the road that the Roman Army would take when they were returning to Rome after battle, walking through the Arch of Constantine. Kind of crazy to think about!

After seeing the Circus Maximus, McKenzie took us up a hill to this park that had a great view of the city. I'd say it was even better than the view from Il Pincio, and this time it wasn't raining so I was able to take some pictures =] After the park we continued up the hill and stopped in front of this building with a line in front of it. Everyone was waiting to look through this little peep hole in a door, and when I asked McKenzie what they were looking at he told me to wait and see for myself, but promised I wouldn't be disappointed. Boy was that an understatement! When you look through the peep hole, to the left and right are hedges, which frame St. Peter's in the distance. It was stunning, especially at sunset, and something we definitely never would have found on our own!

After the views, McKenzie took us back down the hill and in the direction of the Teatro Marcelo. On our way, we passed a church that was built in the Italian Renaissance, but who's outside columns were taken from a building in ancient Rome. So part of the building was thousands of years old! We also passed the Mouth of Truth, which was closed because it was nighttime, but we were still able to see what it looked like. Legend has it, when someone was suspicious that their spouse was cheating on them, they would take him or her to the Mouth of Truth and ask them if they were faithful. If they weren't, when they put their hand in the Mouth of Truth, the Mouth would chop it off. One time, there was a guy who was suspicious that his wife was cheating on him. He took her to the Mouth of Truth and proceeded to announce his suspicions to those in the crowd. Suddenly, the man she was being unfaithful with appeared and kissed her in front of her husband. Then her husband asked if she had kissed any man aside from the one who just had. She could honestly say no, even though her husband was really trying to ask if she had ever cheated on him. She put her hand in the Mouth of Truth, and because she hadn't lied she got to keep her hand. But the trick she played supposedly broke the Mouth of Truth, because no one has lost a hand since then...

We wandered through the Old Jewish Ghetto (apparently famous for artichokes) and stumbled upon an amazing looking synagogue and an Israeli tourist who was allllll over having Gabe take her picture. I'm not joking, we were probably there for 10 minutes while she modeled in front of the synagogue. She was climbing all over the gate and posing like crazy—pretty sure she was just showing off for Gabe ;]

After the photo shoot we walked to Campo di Fiori, which is the district that most of the students hang out at night. We went to one bar and got a Piña Colada Pitcher & then McKenzie took us to a place to get made to order Panini. So yummy... Campo di Fiori was a really neat area and I was bummed I was so tired from the weekend and couldn't fully enjoy it. Next time I visit Rome, it will have to be a longer trip so that I can take in all of the sites without running from one to the next. But still, kind of impressive how much we got done in just 2 days! =]