After I left Florence, Tessa, Lindsey, and I went to Rome. Rome was the first place I flew into upon arriving in Italy and I had already seen a lot of the ancient sites to see but it was good to go back. Initially I hadn't really liked Rome that much because I found it overwhelming but the second time around I was impressed with how much I remembered my way around and how much more I enjoyed myself.
The first day we were there we went to the Vatican, which was the only real reason I needed to go back to Rome because I hadn't been yet. There are truly no words! The place is incredible and I don't think I have ever been so proud to be a Catholic. We went to the Vatican Museum first and the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Collection is amazing and I loved finally getting to see sculptures such as Laocoon and Sons and the Apollo Belvedere. The School of Athens was also a favorite of mine but I couldn't wait to see the Sistine Chapel and the anticipation was building up the closer I got. Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel was the entire reason I decided to major in art history. I'm a huge fan of his and find everything he has done absolutely fascinating so I knew this was going to be amazing for me. Upon entering the chapel (true to form) I started crying as gut reaction. It's the most perfect thing that I've ever seen. The fact that Michelangelo didn't even consider himself a painter or want to be doing the chapel in the first place baffles my mind as well. The ceiling is stunning but I think my favorite part of the chapel is The Last Judgement which he did 30 years after he painted the ceiling. It is with this piece that Michelangelo reached perfection with his figures suspended against the bright blue background, basically telling the story of the day when we are all going to be judged. It's a sobering moment to see this place in person and it was one of the highlights of my entire European sojourn. After we did the Vatican Museum, we went into St. Peter's Basilica. It's HUGE but its gorgeous on the inside in its decoration. We also got lucky because by the time we got inside there it was Saturday afternoon and we had the opportunity to go to mass at the Vatican. I'm not the best person in the world when it comes to routinely going to church but even for me this was a special moment and the mass was beautiful.
The School of Athens, Raphael
The rest of our time in Rome was spent doing things I had already done the first time I was in Rome. Tessa and Lindsey really liked the Trevi Fountain so we spent a lot of time there. I also threw three coins in the fountain with the wish and hope of returning to Italy someday. We also went to the Pantheon and walked around the city a lot. On our second day there, we left Rome and took a night train to Venice. I will never do this again unless I pay for first class and air conditioning. It was miserably hot and I was stuck in a car full of French people who would not stop talking. Sometime in the middle of the night, I had somewhat of a mental breakdown/crisis and had no idea what I was doing in Europe. I was so close to having a meltdown that I almost got off the train in the middle of the night with out any cell phone when we stopped in Florence but I controlled myself and made it to Venice just when the sun was rising.
Venice is such a cool city! Despite having a bit of a trash problem (it resembles a fraternity house at times), it has so many nooks and crannies and is the perfect place to go exploring. Our hotel was beautiful and right on the water and we just spent our time in Venice walking around, shopping, and relaxing. The weather was beautiful, although a bit hot but I enjoyed my time there a lot. It was nice to just chill after being on the go constantly my entire time in Europe. St. Mark's Square is amazing and we just sat by the water and had a drink, enjoying the fact that we had nothing to do. The highlight of the whole trip was definitely going on a gondola ride. The city is a completely different city by boat then it is by street. It was on the gondola that I saw all the charm and character that Venice has to offer. It has an entirely different feel than any of the other places I've been in Italy and I would go back in a heart beat. We were only there about two days and we saw the entire city pretty much! It's a great city for a vacation and I'm so glad I decided to go because before that I didn't have much of a desire to go there. 
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