Our last day!
We had to make it the best.
Today was exhausting, fun, and lots of walking.
I got to see a few places in
Rome I hadn’t before, which was exciting.
We went the
Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, then St. Peter’s Basilica.
Just breathtaking.
I saw many paintings and sculptures that I studied in my art history class this quarter.
The famous “Creation of Man” scene by Michelangelo on the Sistine Ceiling was amazing. We went to Spanish steps, which weren’t as impressive as before when I had seen them because there was construction in front of them. Shortly thereafter, we went inside the Pantheon, which I hadn’t seen before. The top of the Pantheon had a big hole open to the sky that Pete told us our Contiki bus could fit through.
Gelato was next in line, a requirement of course. We did some little errands, like the internet café, picking up cards for our Tour Manager and Driver, then did some shopping. After meeting with the big group, we had dinner at a restaurant which overlooked the Collosseum! Yummy food too.
Back at the hotel, we had a toga party!! We all got dressed up in sheets and went downstairs to exchange our Contiki compadre gifts. My Contiki compadre was Alvaro, and I had gotten him a glass plate from Venice, famous for their Verano glass. I got the award for best packer, because my suitcase was the smallest out of the whole group. I found out my Contiki compadre was Marian, who I had been hanging out with all along and I didn’t know! She got me a cute t-shirt that says “Ciao bella” with a matching hat. After that, we were all just hanging out in the hotel rooms and saying goodbye to people as they left to take the bus to the airport. I said my goodbyes and I was off to the airport with all the So-cal peeps for a long plane flight ahead of me.
Reflecting upon my trip, it was a great experience and I would love to do it again!!! I met some really cool people and will actually be taking a trip to New Zealand with Contiki in the summer of 2007! And I will get to reunite with some of the people I met on my Contiki Europe trip. YAY. Hope you enjoyed reading. Peace out.
