Day 7 Continued...

MY NAME IS ZOE GIBBS, AND I AM A FRESHMAN FROM LONGMONT, COLORADO! TODAY WAS A PACKED DAY. THE MAIN EVENTS WERE THE VATICAN, THE MUSEUM AT THE VATICAN, THE COLOSSEUM, THE PANTHEON AND THE TREVI FOUNTAIN. IN TOTAL WE WALKED GIVE OR TAKE 20,000 STEPS AND OVER 10 MILES. 20,000 STEPS IN BIRKENSTOCKS IS NOT THE MOST PLEASANT EXPERIENCE I HAVE HAD BUT I DIDN’T THINK MY DIRTY, PINK NIKES WOULD MATCH MY VATICAN ATIRE AND I ONLY BROUGHT TWO PAIRS OF SHOES SO IT IS WHAT IT IS. 

FOR BREAKFAST I HAD A CROISSANT, A PIECE OF HAM, SOME FRUIT, AND AN ESPRESSO. AFTER BREAKFAST WE WALKED TO THE SUBWAY TO GO TO THE VATICAN. THERE WAS A LINE GOING ACROSS THE ENTIRETY OF THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE BIG CIRCLE TO ENTER THE MAIN CHURCH, WHICH HAD TO BE HOURS OF WAITING, SO WE DECIDED AGAINST GOING INSIDE. THEN WE WALKED TO A CASTLE AND LOOKED OVER A BRIDGE AT A RIVER. AFTER THAT WE TOOK A LONG WALK TO THE MUSEI VATICANI. OUTSIDE THERE WAS A FOUNTAIN THAT RAN CONTINUOUSLY WHICH WAS SUPER COLD. ​

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MUSEUM THERE WERE STATUES AND BUSTS. SPARSED EVERY SO OFTEN WAS A REALLY SCARY LOOKING HEAD LOOKING DOWN ON US WHICH I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED. WOULD HAVE LOVED TO MEET THE PEOPLE WHO SCULPTED THOSE BECAUSE YOU JUST KNOW THEY WERE A GOOD TIME. MY FAVORITE STATUE I SAW WAS THE DISCOBOLUS OF MYRON WHICH IS THE ONE OF THE MAN THROWING A DISCUS. I’VE SEEN THAT ONE SO MANY TIMES IN SCHOOL AND PICTURES SO IT WAS SO COOL TO SEE IT IN PERSON. YOU WOULD PROBABLY MISS IT IF YOU WEREN’T LOOKING HARD BECAUSE IT WAS ON THE SIDE OF A ROOM THAT WAS ROPED OFF. ​

AT SOME POINT IZZY AND I WERE SEPARATED FROM OUR BIGGER GROUP SO WE JUST KEPT GOING ON OUR OWN. WE ENDED UP BEHIND A GROUP AND WALKED INTO A ROOM WHERE A GUARD ROPED IT OFF BEHIND US SO WE DEFINITELY WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE BUT WE WERE. IT ENDED UP BEING A SHORT CUT BECAUSE WE GOT OUT WAY BEFORE THE REST OF THE GROUP. MY FAVORITE ROOM WAS THE ONE WITH HUGE MAPS OF THE ROMAN’S INTERPRETATIONS OF THE WORLD’S TOPOGRAPHY AT THE TIME. THE THOUGHT OF MAKING MAPS WITHOUT MODERN TECHNOLOGY BOGGLES MY MIND SO I THOUGHT THAT WAS SUPER INTERESTING. AFTER THAT WE ENTERED THE SISTINE CHAPEL. WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE PICTURES INSIDE AND SOMEONE WAS OVER THE SPEAKERPHONE SAYING “SILENCE, SILENCE! NO PHOTOS!” JUST AS MICHAELANGELO ENVISIONED I AM SURE. AT THE TOP WAS THE PAINTING THE CREATION OF ADAM WHICH IS SUCH AN ICONIC PAINTING SO IT WAS COOL TO SEE IT IN THE FLESH. CASCADING DOWN FROM THERE WERE OTHER BEAUTIFUL PAINTINGS THAT COVERED THE ENTIRETY OF THE WALLS AND CEILINGS. ​

ONCE OUT OF THE CHAPEL WERE EXHIBITS OF DIFFERENT ARTIFACTS FROM THE VATICAN. IZZY AND I GOT OUT AT 12:00 AND HAD A GOOD 30 MINUTES UNTIL WE HAD TO MEET WITH THE GROUP SO WE FOUND A SHADED BENCH TO REST OUR LEGS ON. ONCE MORE PEOPLE CAME OUT WE SAT DOWN AND HUNG OUT WITH A FRIENDLY SEAGULL. HE LOOKED OLD AND SEEMED TO HAVE A WING THAT HE COULDN’T USE TO FLY AND CLEARLY LIVED OFF OF THE TOURISTS AT THE MUSEUM. PENELOPE FED IT SOME OF HER CROISSANT. AFTER THAT WE WALKED INTO TOWN TO GRAB SOME LUNCH. BELLA, MIA, PEN AND I WENT TO A LITTLE RESTAURANT AFTER BEING ENTICED BY THE WAITER WITH AC. WE ORDERED THE CARBONARA BECAUSE A PLAYER FROM THE 2ND TEAM WE PLAYED STRONGLY RECOMMENDED GETTING IT IN ROME. GREAT SUGGESTION, I ATE MY ENTIRE PLATE. 

WE THEN WALKED BACK TO THE TRAIN AND TOOK IT TO THE COLOSSEUM. WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO THE DAY BEFORE BUT DUE TO A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS WE MISSED IT. NICK AND ____ WENT TO THE TICKET COLLECTOR TO PLEAD OUR CASE AND MANAGED TO GET US IN AND IN FRONT OF THE HUGE LINE THAT WAS WAITING. IT WAS SO CRAZY TO BE ON THE INSIDE IN REAL LIFE. I LEARNED OVER 300,000 PEOPLE DIED ON THE INSIDE WHICH IS HARD TO WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND. ​

AFTER THE COLOSSEUM WE WALKED TO THE ROMAN FORUM WHICH WAS THE MAIN AREA FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND MEETING PLACES. IT IS A BUNCH OF RUINS, BUILDINGS AND OLD ARTIFACTS RIGHT INSIDE THE CITY. WHEN I WAS A KID I WAS OBSESSED WITH ARCHEOLOGY AND ANCIENT HISTORY SO IT WAS AWESOME TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THAT. ​

​WE CONTINUED WALKING AND STOPPED AT THE PIAZZA DELLA ROTONDA, HOME OF THE PANTHEON. WE HAD 40 MINUTES OF TIME OFF IN THE SQUARE SO WE GOT GELATO. I HAD A CONE WITH STRACCIATELLA, CAFÉ, AND ANOTHER FLAVOR I POINTED TO RANDOMLY. THEN WE DID MORE WALKING. THIS TIME TO THE TREVI FOUNTAIN WHERE WE TOOK SOME PICS AND THREW IN COINS. THEN MORE WALKING TO THE SPANISH STEPS. THEN WE WALKED BACK TO THE HOTEL.

​We had dinner at the same place as the day before. The first course was Tomatoes on Bread with Olive Oil, like Caprese without the mozzarella. Next was a cheese pizza. Then a Mushroom Pizza. Then a ravioli with meat in it, in a vodka sauce. Then a huge plate of chicken legs and potatoes. One of the longest and packed days we’ve had, but for sure one of the coolest!

- Zoe Gibbs, Freshman