colossal

peace everyone from Rome,

We just got back from a day of sightseeing all over the place. We started off the day in the Vatican City with our preppy British tour guide. This sprightly little lady was hilarious. She hated Mussolini, was lukewarm towards the Vatican, and by her own admission, "couldn't understand modern art". We saw the Sistine Chapel, which was voted as most over-rated place in Rome (except by me, of course. I really liked "The Last Judgment". I feel like Michaelangelo really got a sense in that of the despair and the desolation of that day...and I also like the fact that the smaller images in the picture form the larger picture of a skull or a Darth Vader mask. That's pretty legendary.)

St. Peter's Basilica was awe-inspiring. This church was built in commemoration of St. Peter, supposedly the first pope. The story goes that Peter was fleeing from Rome, when he had a vision of Jesus Christ, who told him he was going back to Rome to be crucified for a second time. St. Peter then went back to Rome, where he was crucified upside down (because he didn't feel it was befitting to be crucified the same way). Obviously, we don't believe in the story, but to me what was inspiring about St. Peter's Basilica was the clear spirit in which it was built. Throughout the church, I could feel the same yearning for something higher that I feel. From one (aspiring) believer to another, I could share in the desire to glorify God, to create something truly magnificent to remember Him. As Mustafa noted, you actually feel a great sense of loss when you see the way tourists behave in the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.

We also went to Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Circus Maximus. That last one was very amazing because....there was no one else there. There was nothing to see there. It was very sad.

In other news, we have discovered that "aqua vitae" is not really mineral water, that Mustafa thought that the statues near Trevi Fountain were eating donairs, that Indian people can make a living anywhere, that Zohaib has hairy legs, that Abdur Rahman's slippers aren't really the greatest for walking around in, that we have to pay for the AC that we used all night (and we still aren't going to pay for), and that I have an uncommon fondness for ice cream. I scream for ice cream!

Adieu Rome, we leave tomorrow for that romantic getaway: Venice!

AF