The Italian Adventure- Vatican City

A little note: I'm actually back home, in America (eeep!) But since I'm a little behind on blogging, I'm going to go ahead and finish up with my travel posts.  Thank you for sticking with me through my terrible blogging!  

Today is part 2 of my Italy trip.  Although Vatican City is technically it's own country- the smallest in the world, it's hard for me to mentally separate it from Rome.  

 St. Peter's Basilica

The Swiss Guard still keep Vatican City safe.  We learned that all of these guys, despite their somewhat jester-like dress, are Swiss war-trained soldiers, with no wives or kids, that are between the ages of 18 and are Catholic themselves.  Pretty hard-core if you ask me.

The inside of the Basilica.  In person, it feels SOOO big.  A picture could never do it justice. 

Fun fact- Only the Pope can celebrate mass under this.

Inside the Vatican Museums... The ceilings were as much of an exhibit as anything!

No pictures inside the Sistine Chapel, so this was as close as I could get.  

We saw the Pope!!!

The Italian Adventure- Milan and Verona

Thanks to a week off of school, last week my friends and I had a glorious week long break in which to travel!  I know that we've done quite our share of traveling this semester, but they're all short little weekend trips, so it was nice to have a little longer to spend exploring somewhere new.  

It was kind of crazy listening to everyone's plans in between classes at school.  Almost everyone went somewhere, and those places ranged from all over the UK, to Amsterdam to Barcelona, to Paris, to Switzerland, and to where my friend Andrea and I finally settled on... ITALY!

To make the most of our 6 day trip, we spent time in 3 different cities- Milan, Verona and Rome- though Rome claimed the majority of our time.

Verona, a little town just south of Milan, is known for being the hometown of Romeo and Juliet.  When visiting the city, you can actually visit Juliet's balcony at the house belonging to the De Capellos (the Capulets!) 

Touching Juliet's breast is actually seen as a sign of luck... awkward....

From Verona, we trained back to Milan to spend a few hours taking in the gorgeoussss fashion district, as well as a few other sights.  

In front of one of the FIVE D&G stores in the area!

Prada Milan.  In Milan.  I die.

And the Duomo.  I would have loved to go to the top, but we were rushing so much!  Thankfully we had plenty of time in Rome.  That post is coming next..