I am back from 2 very exciting and HOT days in Rome!!
Yesterday morning I started off my day by going to visit an orphanage that is about a 15 minute drive away from the port. When we got there one of the teachers at the orphanage explained that it was very unique because this orphanage creates families with the children that live there. There are 4 houses and 8 kids live in each house. There are 5 boys and 3 girls in each house and then 1 male educator or psychologist and one female educator or psychologist. This group becomes a "family" and it gives the kids more of a sense of belonging. The youngest kid that lived in this particular orphanage is 9 and the oldest is 15. They do not allow international adoption out of this orphanage and adoption is not very common within Italy, so many of the kids will live there until they are into their 20s. Many orphanages have to "kick" kids out when they turn 18, but this orphanage helps the kids get a job in the town and save their money so they can move out when they turn 20 or 21. We got a chance to walk around the orphanage and then we sat in the courtyard waiting for the guide to finish his presentation. I am obviously not one to sit still for very long, so I saw a few of the younger kids were playing fuse ball outside. I tried to signal if I could play (There was obviously a language barrier) and they were nice enough to let me join. Eventually we had a game going, me and another kid from the ship vs. two 10 year old Italian boys. Needless to say the Italians kicked our butts!! It was a ton of fun and I think the kids really enjoyed having us there to hang out with!
Later in the day I took a train to Rome with my friend Sydney. We checked into out hostel and then walked the cobbled streets of Rome for the rest of the night. Our first stop was the Colosseum. We did not get a chance to go inside, but it was really really big from the outside. It was literally right in the middle of the city too. Many of the places I have visited the buildings have been built away from the sites, in Rome they just built everything right along with the sites.
Next we walked through the streets to the Pantheon. Personally I thought the walk to the actual Pantheon was the best part. We got to walk through a bunch of small side street and we came across a massive church. We went inside and it was breathtaking. The paintings on the ceiling and the walls was amazing. I am telling you these Italians know how to build a church!
Next we went to the Trevi Fountain. I think this was probably one of my favorite parts of Rome. It was really large and the sculptures all along the fountain were beautiful! We spent some time just sitting and looking at the fountain, which was nice. I also threw a Euro into the fountain for good luck. After the Trevi Fountain we went to the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps were really crowded, but it was fun to sit down and look at all the different people who were traveling in Rome. There had to be families, tour groups, and young people from thousands of countries. I have heard so many different languages spoken over the past few days here in Italy.
This morning we checked out of our hostel and made our way to the Vatican City. Luckily we bought our tickets online a few days ago because when we walked up, there was a line that had to be about 2 hours long. We talked to some other SAS students who were standing in line and they said that they had been there for an hour and they were still outside when we came out of the museum. The Vatican Museum was amazing! I am not usually an art museum person because I get bored pretty easily, but the paintings, sculptures, and oddly enough carpets were so beautiful! We walked through the museum for about an hour and a half and then at the end we went into the Sistine Chapel. I wish they allowed pictures because it was AMAZING!! I swear I almost fell over 2 or 3 times because I kept leaning farther and farther back to see everything on the ceiling. The chapel itself was a lot smaller than I originally expected but the beautiful walls and ceilings made it so much larger. We spent so much time just looking at every part of the chapel making sure we did not miss anything. After the museum and the Sistine Chapel we walked around to St. Peter's Basilica. It was really really cool! They seemed to be doing a lot of construction in the Vatican City area, but it was off to the side so we were able to see everything.
Now I am back on the ship for the night. We have one more day in Civitavecchia and then we leave to Malta on Saturday morning. I hope everyone is enjoying their last few days of July! I cannot believe it is almost August. I looked at the calendar and I come home in exactly 4 weeks from today. I do not know where the last 6 weeks went and I have a feeling the next 4 are going to go by just as fast. I will be soaking up every single minute of this experience!!!
Love
Kelly
No comments:
Post a Comment