When in Rome!

My weekend in Rome was amazing!! It is such a beautiful city and I'm so glad I could visit while I was in Europe. I wish I had more time but I definitely got to see a lot.
Our flight left from Barcelona at 6:00 am! We left for the airport at 4:00 am. When we got to Rome we first went to our hotel to drop off our luggage. Even though our flight was early and we were exhausted it was nice to have that full day in Rome. After a nice Italian lunch, we headed to the Vatican. This was something we all were very excited to see! It was breathtaking. The Sistine Chapel was my absolute favorite part.  It is absolutely incredible.  I wish I had had more time there.  There is so much to look at, that it is a little bit overwhelming.  I could have stood there craning my neck for days.  After the Vatican we went to the Christmas market and found a place to eat dinner.  I had gnocchi with mozzarella and tomato sauce.  It was heaven.

The next day we went on a tour of the city.  We saw the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain and many other sights! It was great to get to see so much in only 3 hours.  We had heard that the Pope was going to be in town on this weekend because December 8th is the day of Immaculate Conception, a holiday celebrated in the Catholic Church.  We found out that he would be in a parade near the Spanish steps, so after the tour we decided we wanted to see the Pope! After fighting through the crowds,  we managed to get a pretty close spot to the road.  We waited about 45 minutes and then he came driving by, smiling and waving! We were all so excited! The crowd was crazy.  There were so many people and everyone was cheering for the Pope.  It was an awesome feeling to see him and so many other people who love him so much.  After seeing the Pope, we went to get some gelato to let the crowds die down.  The Spanish Steps were something we really wanted to see.  So after the crowds dissipated we found the steps and relaxed there for a while.  It was nice to sit and people watch! We did such a good job at seeing all the sights that we had the whole evening to relax.  We went to the Spanish steps, the Trevi fountain and had an awesome last Italian dinner of pasta. I had such a great time in Rome and I can't wait to go back!

The Pope!!!!

Trevi Fountain

We definitely ate our fair share of gelato!!! :)