That's right, I saw the Pope! Before I get ahead of myself, I will explain the breakfast that we get in the morning. A lady comes and makes breakfast for us in the morning, bringing it to us in our rooms on trays. The breakfast consisted of espresso, yogurt, croutons, croissants, and juice. It was the cutest
thing ever. Anyway, Morgan met us at our B&B at 8:30 and we walked down together to St. Peter's Basilica (I have seen this place so many times, I know it like the back of my hand now). Morgan's class got cancelled so this was her chance to go down and see the Pope address the people. We waited outside the gate for a while because as we watched people go in, they had tickets. They had to go through security as well. We didn't have tickets because we thought we didn't need them but we didn't want to chance going up to the security guards because they looked scary a
nd I did not want to mess with them. But we overheard an American lady who went up to the guards and asked about the tickets. Apparently we didn't need them and we followed the lady right on through! Thank goodness that lady was fearless when asking the guards because we didn't want to at all. We walked in fe
eling kinda stupid as well but we were really really early so we made camp by the pillar in the center and waited for the Pope. After a while, we saw people waving and cheering by a corner of St. Peter's. Then on the screens it should the Pope, but he certainly came in style. He was riding a car which was named, the Popemobile! We rode it up and down aisles waving to everyone before going up to the stage. Once the Popemobile was at the stage, the Pope got off and sat in his chair at the center. They started off the ceremony
with verses and some other things in different languages: German, Italian, French, English, Latin, and it looks like he knows a little bit of Portuguese. Groups of people from all over the world sign up to be read by a person and then the Pope acknowledges them. The groups that speak the same language are read together and then after all the groups have been read, the Pope reads off a piece of paper in that language blessi
ng them and such. There were so many people here! I couldn't get very close with my camera but I got some pictures of him on the screens that were places everywhere. After the Pope had read off all the groups, in every language possible I swear, everyone dispersed. We left Morgan so she could go to her class and get some lunch and we headed over to the Piazza del Popolo. It's another piazza but we bought some gelato (mint with whip cream this time!) and climbed up some stairs to a se
ction that overlooked the piazza but had a nice park on the top. After staying up there for a bit, we took the metro to the Colosseum to have our pictures taken with some gladiators. We found three older men very happy to see us. We each got a picture taken with them. Teresa sat in the chair holding grapes, I stood on the chair with my arm on one gladiator's shoulder and my hand being held by another, and Mel stood on the ground with her leg up on the chair. We all got to wear crowns and they would say funny comments the entire time. They were so much fun! It cost 5 pounds for each picture but it was worth it. Unfortunately, Teresa accidentally lost her memory card when we were on the island of Mykonos during the cruise and the gladiator pictures were on it. It was
a little disappointing but it's just a picture. I'll definitely remember it. I had an idea though, we could dress up each of our dads in a gladiator costume, pose with them, and then photoshop the Colosseum in the background! Anyway, after the pictures we got onto the tour bus and went to the Isola Tiberina. It is an island in the middle of the river that has a hospital on it. We walked around the entire island and then headed right back to St. Peter's Basilica where we did the dome climb. We had t
o wait in a really long line for 2 hours but it only cost 5 pounds to climb up. There were 520 steps that winded up in a circle and then went up corridors that were slanted and made it a little difficult to walk. Once we reached the top, it had a awesome view of Rome. It was extremely crowded at the top so we didn't stay very long but before we went back to our B&B, I bought myself some earrings and a statue of the Colosseum. We rested a bit at the B&B and then met Morgan at 7 at St. Peter's Basilica. We walked to the restaurant called La Scalletera. I split a cheese pizza wi
th Teresa and for the main dish, spaghetti with ham. The ham is not like American ham and I wasn't too fond of it. After dinner we got gelato at Morgan's favorite store again and this time I got mint, stracciatelli, and viscoli. While licking our wonderful gelato, we walked to the Trevi Fountain to se
e it all lit up. There were still tons of people there. We walked back to our bus stop where I said goodbye to Morgan. I still couldn't believe I was able to hang out with her in Rome. But we promised each other to get together in summer to exchange stories and pictures. We got back to the B&B, packed everything up and then headed to bed. Tomorrow was another adventure to find our train, get to the airport, and then fly to Athens, Greece!
thing ever. Anyway, Morgan met us at our B&B at 8:30 and we walked down together to St. Peter's Basilica (I have seen this place so many times, I know it like the back of my hand now). Morgan's class got cancelled so this was her chance to go down and see the Pope address the people. We waited outside the gate for a while because as we watched people go in, they had tickets. They had to go through security as well. We didn't have tickets because we thought we didn't need them but we didn't want to chance going up to the security guards because they looked scary a
nd I did not want to mess with them. But we overheard an American lady who went up to the guards and asked about the tickets. Apparently we didn't need them and we followed the lady right on through! Thank goodness that lady was fearless when asking the guards because we didn't want to at all. We walked in fe
eling kinda stupid as well but we were really really early so we made camp by the pillar in the center and waited for the Pope. After a while, we saw people waving and cheering by a corner of St. Peter's. Then on the screens it should the Pope, but he certainly came in style. He was riding a car which was named, the Popemobile! We rode it up and down aisles waving to everyone before going up to the stage. Once the Popemobile was at the stage, the Pope got off and sat in his chair at the center. They started off the ceremony
with verses and some other things in different languages: German, Italian, French, English, Latin, and it looks like he knows a little bit of Portuguese. Groups of people from all over the world sign up to be read by a person and then the Pope acknowledges them. The groups that speak the same language are read together and then after all the groups have been read, the Pope reads off a piece of paper in that language blessi
ng them and such. There were so many people here! I couldn't get very close with my camera but I got some pictures of him on the screens that were places everywhere. After the Pope had read off all the groups, in every language possible I swear, everyone dispersed. We left Morgan so she could go to her class and get some lunch and we headed over to the Piazza del Popolo. It's another piazza but we bought some gelato (mint with whip cream this time!) and climbed up some stairs to a se
ction that overlooked the piazza but had a nice park on the top. After staying up there for a bit, we took the metro to the Colosseum to have our pictures taken with some gladiators. We found three older men very happy to see us. We each got a picture taken with them. Teresa sat in the chair holding grapes, I stood on the chair with my arm on one gladiator's shoulder and my hand being held by another, and Mel stood on the ground with her leg up on the chair. We all got to wear crowns and they would say funny comments the entire time. They were so much fun! It cost 5 pounds for each picture but it was worth it. Unfortunately, Teresa accidentally lost her memory card when we were on the island of Mykonos during the cruise and the gladiator pictures were on it. It was 
a little disappointing but it's just a picture. I'll definitely remember it. I had an idea though, we could dress up each of our dads in a gladiator costume, pose with them, and then photoshop the Colosseum in the background! Anyway, after the pictures we got onto the tour bus and went to the Isola Tiberina. It is an island in the middle of the river that has a hospital on it. We walked around the entire island and then headed right back to St. Peter's Basilica where we did the dome climb. We had t
o wait in a really long line for 2 hours but it only cost 5 pounds to climb up. There were 520 steps that winded up in a circle and then went up corridors that were slanted and made it a little difficult to walk. Once we reached the top, it had a awesome view of Rome. It was extremely crowded at the top so we didn't stay very long but before we went back to our B&B, I bought myself some earrings and a statue of the Colosseum. We rested a bit at the B&B and then met Morgan at 7 at St. Peter's Basilica. We walked to the restaurant called La Scalletera. I split a cheese pizza wi
th Teresa and for the main dish, spaghetti with ham. The ham is not like American ham and I wasn't too fond of it. After dinner we got gelato at Morgan's favorite store again and this time I got mint, stracciatelli, and viscoli. While licking our wonderful gelato, we walked to the Trevi Fountain to se
e it all lit up. There were still tons of people there. We walked back to our bus stop where I said goodbye to Morgan. I still couldn't believe I was able to hang out with her in Rome. But we promised each other to get together in summer to exchange stories and pictures. We got back to the B&B, packed everything up and then headed to bed. Tomorrow was another adventure to find our train, get to the airport, and then fly to Athens, Greece!
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