Rome/Florence, Italy. July 1st

        Vatican day! Got there at 9:00 am and was able to cut all the lines because we were with SAS.. Spent two hours and learned so much information.. As a Kosse listening to one person for that allotted amount of time becomes difficult, but I occasionally was able to ask Barrett “wait what did she just say.” Barrett would roll her eyes and banter off the statement..  But seeing things from Michelangelo’s Pietá to the Sistine Chapel to rubbing St. Peter’s foot for good luck ended up being an amazing experience. (amazing becomes a common word on this trip).. especially the Sistine chapel.. how Michelangelo remained upside down for so long painting that enormous ceiling baffles me…
 Last minute we took a train to Firenze (Florence) at 12:45 because we were planning on going to a small town named san giminano.. On the train ride I sat next to an American woman from New York whose international teaching program sends her to a different country each summer… not a bad job… we arrived to Florence and immediately realized how the atmosphere differed from Rome. It wasn’t as crowded, more quant, and nobody was trying to run you over. We stayed in Hostel Greci, “the hostel with the big green door” as the lady said.. with Hannah, Katie, and Janie in our room and 2 other rooms rented out by other SAS people.
That night Katie’s parents met us at Risturante Acqua AL 2. This made all of us jealous that our own parents did not love us enough to come visit in Florence. sarcasm. I ended up sitting across from her parents whom I actually had a blast with.. we ordered so much food and wine and coincidentally her mother went to UK and name dropped a ton of familiar people. That night we attempted to go to a small bar, but I was exhausted and resided to my pillow around 1.. swearing my bed had bedbugs so I set down my towel and slept on top of it.. (such a Kaitlin move).