Vatican and Pompeii

I. Love. Rome. Wow is the first word that comes to mind. I have learned so much, seen so much, and absolutely loved my time here so far. Staying with Tiff has been a luxury- refrigerator, kitchen, washing machine... Amazing! On top of the comforts of her apartment, I have been on two amazing tours and seen so much in just the three days I've been here. My first day here, Tiff took mean a walk around the city. We covered some serious ground and I saw the colosseum, pantheon, trevi fountain, and lots of other cool stuff. Just walking around with her is incredible because she is a wealth of knowledge. It's honestly like a walking textbook and I've been learning so much. The next day was the Vatican tour. It's hard to describe how amazing it was to just be in Vatican City. Growing up Catholic, the Vatican is a big deal. I remember sitting in my principals office in high school, obviously skipping class, when they elected Pope Benedict XVI. Seeing the white smoke on TV was cool, but actually standing in St. Peter's Square was awesome. The church is the biggest in the world, and it doesn't disappoint. Seeing Blessed/Pope John Paul II's grave was really cool especially since he is only one step away from being a Saint. The history, the artifacts, the artwork, and the interesting stories and details made the Vatican tour pretty sweet. Having my friend from college do it and have her giving credit to her St. Mary's education- AWESOME!
Today Tiff set me up on a bus trip down south to Naples to see Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii. I of course knew the story of the volcano and the preservation of Pompeii, but I learned so much hiking up to the top of Vesuvius and having a guided tour of the excavation site of Pompeii. I can't even behind to describe how neat it was to walk down the streets and take in all of this preserved history. You really feel like you are in 79AD right before Vesuvius erupted.
I'm not sure words can do justice for how much I am learning and loving it. I definitely took school for granted and have no problem admitting that. Recently I have noticed how much I enjoy learning new things and researching ideas I'm interested in even though I've been out of school for 3 years. Wth that said, these past couple of weeks could translate into 10 years of schooling. The best part is the living textbook of traveling and seeing everything first hand. I remember vividly the day I learned how to write my whole name in cursive in Mrs. Frain's second grade class. I also remember the day I memorized Sick by Shel Silverstein in Mrs. Bolam's 4th grade class, I successfully solved an equation before anyone else in Mrs. Kennedy's Algebra 2/Trig class in 11th grade, and getting my praxis score and calling my professor Mrs. Vanmeter to make sure that was passing (it was). These memories of my education will now be joined by so many new educational experiences this summer alone. And the best part is... I still have a couple of more days in Rome, as well as Paris and Dublin to explore.

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