Roma

Two days ago was my first trip to Roma! I was so excited to take a glimpse at the eternal city and it was very much like I had imagined with some differences. I will not go into detail about all of the touristy things that we saw, but just say that the Pantheon and the Sistine Chapel were my favorites. In the Sistine, Michelangelos painting on one wall depicts a man holding the limp skin of a human. It is said to be Michelangelos self portrait. Very interesting! There are many trees even for a big city and gelati everywhere! There are also gypsies, which you have to be careful for, because they are very sly thieves and quite scary in many ways. It is not hard to be safe if you are careful and after two days there, I was already feeling very at home. OH! I was incredibly lucky (my mom says because I found a four leaf clover when I was young) because just as we walked into the square near the Vatican, Pope Benedict came out!! I have a great picture of him which I will post on the Flickr link as soon as I can. Anyhow, it was amazing, even though I am not Catholic, to have that experience. There were hundreds of people in the square waiting for him, since he always comes out on Wednesdays, and they cheered triumphantly when he appeared. It was truly beautiful.
On the first night in Rome, one interesting experience we had was staying in a monastery. If you ever want to travel Italy for cheap, stay with the nuns and monks! The bed was hard, but we had one, and the showers flooded a bit, but we were clean. It was beautiful because the monastery was located on top of a mountain and when we woke up the view was breathtaking! If you are going to be a monk, that is definitely the place to be!
I got a little homesick last night, and I know more of that is to come, but I am happy. I am looking forward to seeing my kiddos and friends in the 2nd Parenze group...if any of you are reading this, you are going to have a wonderful time!!!
Much love to all of you at home!