italy is amazing! i'm having the time of my life. we went out in roma today and it was great. in the morning we headed to the vatican to go through the musems. it was so neat. we saw the sistine chapel, some of michaelanglos work, some da vincis, roman and greek statues, and just some amazing works of art. the whole musem was just gorgeous with everything that was in it. it was hard to take pictures but it was incredible. the picture above is st. peters chapel. we got to it and the line was like 4 miles long. thats not even a joke too. we decided not to go in it but just looking at it and seeing the beauty was enough. we also got to see the plaza and that was just incredible. the columns everywhere and the balcony was just beautiful. probley my favorite part about the vatican was its pure beauty. i loved looking out the windows and seeing the pretty green trees and fountains and old buildings everywhere. it was breathtaking.

next we walked for a loooonnnng time. but it was cool to see all the sites and just roma. it was beautiful. everyone lives in apartments, like the ones in the very first picture. the traffic is incredible. everyone drives so fast, parks everywhere, and it feels like you are going to run into someone. seriously, there are cars and vespas everywhere. they are all small cars too. the vespas go up and down the lanes and the lines don't mean anything to these people. its really quite cool. they are always cutting each other off and its so great to watch. after we walked for a while we ate lunch at a litlle italian cafe. it was so fun and cute. the food was soooo good. so in italy, there are some wierd customs you have to get used too. first, they eat their salad after their dinner. that was wierd for me and i messed that up the first time. second, they don't like ice. i asked the waitress for some ice, and she gave me the funniest look. i guess europeans don't like ice. i love ice. i couldn't believe it. needless to say, she never brought me any ice.

after that we got to old rome. the place where all the history is at. its amazing. we stopped by a spanish piazza and it was so pretty. the work that must have gotten into these must have just been so hard. next we walked. ha. but then we got to one of my most favorite places. the trevvi fountain! (picture at the top) that place was cool. there weren't that many people there. but a lot. i got some pictures. (don't worry mom, i've been taking pics and i'm in some of them) and the best part, i got to make a wish and throw a coin in the fountain. it was great.

next place we went was the panthenon. we were walking down this little alley when, bam, there it was. it was amazing. a true roman buliding. it was everything that i imagined it would be. the inside was just beautiful. gorgeous paintings and sculptures. thats how the whole city is. there are baliscas everywhere with just some amazing artwork adn architecture. there are also little fountians and sculptures and all the town plazas. they are just so pretty.

i also bought my first souviners today. a really cool italy jacket that says "italia" on it. its blue and i love it. i also got sam's present. ;) but i bought this little poster for my room of audrey hepburn and gregory peck on a scooter in rome. its a ad for their movie "roman holiday" and its all in italian. i love it so much. if you haven't seen that movie go and rent it. its a keeper.

well, i got my first of many gelatos yesterday. my goodness, it was so divine. i got coconut, and it was just so good. holy cow, i've never tasted anything better. i think thats where i'm headed is the gelato shop. ha yea!

to sum it up i love italy so much. the best place in the world. i can't believe i still have so much time left. ciaobella!

italian word of the day- grazie (grat-zie) one of the words i use a lot. means thank you.