Roma!

So I survived a very long and not very relaxing weekend in Rome and now I'm here to tell you about it. So we (Chase, Alanna, Paige, and I) left on Friday morning like last week and boarded a train to Rome. We had purchased the tickets the night earlier, so we were for sure on that train. As we were boarding we realized that we hadn't validated so Chase ran with our tickets to get them validated. He came back and distributed them out. As he looked down at his he realized that he validated the wrong ticket. Then he realized that he didn't even have the ticket that he bought the night before. So he jumped off the train so that he wouldn't be fined 200 euro. As the train was leaving I was trying to yell out the hostel name so that he could find us when he got to Rome, but every time that I yelled the name a train employee kept blowing a whistle. I felt like I was in a movie. I would yell and he would blow his whistle. It was frustrating, but eventually Chase was able to hear me. So we left without him and we felt really guilty. We got to Rome and found the hostel. It was in an apartment complex and this hostel was just an apartment on the second floor. It was kind of sketch and a random guy showed us in. We never saw this guy again. :) We just left our stuff there because no one was there and didn't even check in. I was a little worried it wasn't going to be there when we got back. Then we went to meet Paige's parents. They were supposed to be by the Spanish Steps, so we walked there. They weren't, so we walked another ten minutes to find them. We finally did and headed to the Vatican. As we walked to the Vatican it began to pour. Everywhere I go it just always seems to rain. I think the best part was that before I left I looked up the weather to make sure that I didn't need it. I have yet to have an umbrella when I need it. :) So we waited in line for a half an hour and then took a guided guided tour through the Vatican Museum. It was so cool. The amount of art and sculptures was outstanding. The hallways full of paintings and statues was overwhelming. The Sistine Chapel blew me away. It was so cool to see everything that I had learned about in real life. It had just recently been fully restored so the colors were amazing. I was in awe... then a little girl threw up all over the floor. It was gross. :( Not a good time. I heard it splat and saw it dripping from her mouth. Sorry I am being so graphic about all this. :) So that was our cue to leave and we headed over to St. Peter's Basilica. That was absolutely breathtaking. It was so huge; the immensity of it made me feel so small. There was a mass going on so I got to see a real service in progress. Then as we left I realized that I had left my tripod in the Vatican. They made me check it in earlier and the guide took us out a different way than we came in. I then began to worry more. I was already stressed about losing Chase and the sketchy hostel that we just dropped our stuff at. So I was a little on edge that night, but I just kept praying and trusting that God had everything under control. I was not in control, He was, so I tried to not make it bother me. We went to an amazing dinner and took a cab back to the hostel. We always wind up so far away from where we need to be. :) Then the next day we got up early to take advantage of the fact that there was a hotel with nice showers. We could choose from cold hostel showers or nice hot showers in Paige's hotel room. It was a hard decision. ;) While Chase and Alanna went to the hotel I went in search of my tripod. I took the metro and went to the entrance of the museum. They told me to go to St. Peter's square on the left side. I went there and they told me to go to the right side. Then that guy told me to go back to the museum, but I said I had already been there. He became confused and sent me to another guy. He said to go back to the left side and talk to the Swiss Guard. They said to go farther into the square and talk to police in a guard shack. Now before I go on with this story I have to make a dramatic pause to announce an amazing achievement in my life. As I was walking to the guard station and I look over at this woman. We lock eyes for a moment and in that moment I realized that I was looking at Kate Beckinsale. It was the greatest moment of my life. Anyway, getting on with my story. I was in shock as I talked to the guard, but I was able to gather that I needed to take my ticket stub and go through the arches to find another guard. He then led me to a building where we went up stairs and into a locked room. He then sent me to a man who opened a closet full of forgotten objects and he grabbed the tripod. Oh, and I did almost all of the conversing in Italian. I was very proud of myself. :) Then I traveled back to the hotel and took a much needed shower. Then we headed to the Pantheon and we were supposed to go the Colosseum, but there was a huge political demonstration inside of it. We got to see it, but I was a little bummed about not going in. We did get a guided tour of some amazing ruins, though. Then we had another glorious dinner and got some quality gelato. Then the four of us headed out to see the Trevi Fountain. That was gorgeous. It was really cool. Then it was back to the hostel to head to bed because we were taking a train in the morning. Overall the trip was amazing, but emotionally it was a roller coaster. This trip was a huge eye opener for me in the sense that I needed to depend on God more. All of the things that went out of control kind of stressed me out, but being able put all of that on God was so liberating. I learned that I need to not worry about things out of my control and just give it up to God. If anything, traveling alone has made me more dependent on God then I have ever been before. I am learning a lot this trip and I can't wait to see what else God has to teach me. :)