Benvenuto a Roma!

St. Peter's Basilica 

inside the Basilica 

One of the excursions API had lined up for us was a weekend trip to Rome, Italy and what better way to spend Valentine's Day weekend than in Rome?! Where do I even start? On Friday, Feb 14th, all the API study abroad kids were suppose to meet at the I point in Plaça Catalunya at 5 a.m. and then take a bus to El Prat Airport and fly out to Rome, but here's what happened, I woke up at 5 a.m... I must have slept through my alarm. Luckily, I was able to catch a taxi to El Prat and made it at the same time the bus had arrived. At the airport, we checked in and waited till it was time to depart. We arrived in Rome at around 9 a.m., and checked in at the NP Leonardo Da Vinci hotel. Once all settled in, the girls and I walked around the neighborhood until it was time for the panoramic bus tour. After the panoramic bus tour, we went on a tour through The Vatican and went inside St. Peter's Basilica. Once the tour was done, we went back to the hotel to freshen up and then the UB group headed out for some pizza dinner. 

                                       The second day in Rome, we toured the Colosseum!

Colosseum

Gelato 

That was probably my favorite part of the trip. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes, I was breathless. The Colosseum is beautiful, and to think that I was standing in the building dated far back to Roman times (A.D.) where gladiator fights took place, was just unreal to me. In addition, we also toured the Roman ruins that are located around the Colosseum. Once again, I felt like I was dreaming. Once the tour was finished, our group headed back to The Vatican to check out the Sistine Chapel. Words like amazing, beautiful, breathtaking, etc cannot describe this masterpiece. After seeing the Sistine Chapel, the girls and I decided to get some gelato. We went to a spot next to The Vatican where apparently they have "the best gelato" and boy, was that saying right. Before ending the night, a few of the girls and I went to the Trevi Fountain and made a wish. Afterwards, we went out for our last dinner in Rome. 

     

Trevi Fountain 

Trevi Fountain 

                                                                 

Sunday morning after breakfast, the group headed out to The Vatican for 12 p.m. Sunday mass

Sunday mass at St. Peter's Square with Pope Francis

with Pope Francis! Yes, you read correctly, The Pope! We arrived in St. Peter's square and waited for The Pope to open his office window and read to us. He spoke in Italian, and surprisingly I understood half of what he was saying, thanks to my two semesters of Elementary Italian, haha. But seriously, how many people can say they had mass read to them in Italian by The Pope? Very few. Once mass was over, we grabbed more gelato and walked around the city until it was time to depart back to Barcelona.

This is clearly the best Valentine's Day weekend I ever had, this weekend in Rome was everything I expected and more!