Wednesday:  The rest of the day, we relaxed, which was greatly needed.  After dark, a few of us walked to the Collesium to see it at night.  It was really strange to see this monument that has become such a huge tourist attraction.  It is crazy to think that this is where people were brutally killed for sport.  At this place, people flocked to see others killed.  And they enjoyed it.  It is so uncomprehensible for me.  Christians were fed to lions or forced to fight gladiators.  It is just not right.  I am so thankful that I live in the time that I do, not having to face harsh persecution and being free to believe what I wish. 

Thursday:  We walked a million miles today in the sweltering heat.  It was boiling outside today, I'm sure of it.  We walked down the Via del Corso, saw all of the sights and the shops along the way.  We saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is a type of memorial to all of those who have died in battle.  We saw the Pantheon, which was pretty neat.  There is just a hole in the middle of the ceiling.  We also saw the Fontana de Trevi, which is this huge fountain.  It was gorgeous.  The Spanish Steps weren't near as pretty as I have seen them in pictures, I guess because they are doing construction.  We finally made it to the piazza at the end of the day, where we sat and rested for a while.  It is amazing that I am seeing all of these sights in this city that was once one of the greatest ruling empires of the world. 

Friday:  Today, we went to the Collesium and got to go inside.  They are beginning total reconstruction, and within a given time, it will be all built back up.  Even at 10 euros a person, it will take time for it to be rebuilt.  Rome wasn't built in a day, you know.  Kate has a theory, which I think is pretty smart...  The Collesium will probably be finished by the time of the AntiChrist, and at that time, it could likely be reused for the same purpose.  Kind of makes you think.  Seeing it today in the light just brought back all of the same feelings I had the first night I saw it.  I just can't even imagine what it must have been like, and I really don't even want to.  After we left there, we went to Palantine Hill.  And I thought yesterday was hot.  Wow, I think today was even more hot.  Palantine Hill is basically a huge hill of Roman Ruins.  In its day, there were beautiful palaces, gardens, temples, government building, and a lot of other famous buildings and monuments.  It was really neat walking around there and trying to visualize what it must have looked like.  It is beautiful as it is, and so it was difficult to picture it being even more amazing.  Today was Katie Reffitt's birthday, so for dinner, she picked the restaurant.  It ended up being a wonderful place.  The guitar player played and sang happy birthday to her, and they brought her a piece of pie with a candle.  It was a lot of fun.  When we were leaving, Michelle and I got a rose and a kiss on each cheek from one of the waitors.  Katie R. got two roses, minus the kiss. 

Saturday:  Today was the hottest yet.  We had a choice of either riding the bus to Vatican city or walking.  Rach, Pat, and I chose to walk.  About 5 or 6 miles later, we arrived at Vatican City.  It was really pretty.  We went straight to the Vatican Museum because it closes early on Saturdays and you have to go through that to get to the Sistine Chapel.  We went straight through the Museum to the Sistine Chapel to make sure we got there on time.  It was glorious.  The paintings in there were amazing.  They have done a lot of restoration to them.  It was breathtaking.  Rach, Pat, and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what each painting was depicting.   After we finished looking at that, we decided to walk back through the Museum.  There were a lot of interesting things in there.  The Modern/Contemporary Art was really out there.  We walked through it about 3 times because we couldn't figure out where everything was, but we eventually made it.  Then, we went outside and met up with all the slackers who rode the bus, and we went into St. Peter's Basilica.  This is a huge cathedral where the Pope actually goes.  We didn't see the Pope, though.  This place was very upsetting in the manner that it displayed wealth, power, and evil.  I just do not agree with many of the beliefs that were displayed there.  We celebrated Michelle's Rome birthday tonight.  We went to a restauraunt next to our hotel.  It was delicious, and we had strawberry cheesecake for her birthday cake.  Yum!  Then, we went back to the hotel to pack up all of our things!

Sunday:  We woke up this morning about 3 am, got ready, and headed outside.  The shuttle picked us up and 4 am and went to the airport.  We flew from Rome to Zurich to Dallas.  Now we're safely home in America!  Hooray!

Well, only 4 more days left!  I can't believe it at all.  The time has just been flying by!  I'll be back home in no time...  Here's what I've been up to...

Monday:  Well, I guess every trip needs a day like today.  We went and ate breakfast at the OK Bar again, then headed for the train station.  We took a train to Modena, then headed for the Maserati plant, only to find out that they never confirmed our appointment for a factory tour.  We waited around for a while in their showroom, but to no avail.  Since it was already so late, an executive decision was made to skip out on the Ferrari museum.  Half a day wated.  We were pretty disappointed.  Well, by this time, it was about 2:30 in the afternoon and we still hadn't eaten lunch.  So, we walked to a restaurant, went in, and then they told us they were closed and at this time of the day, it would be very hard to find somewhere that wasn't.  Sweet.  A wasted day and no lunch.  As we were walking away, a woman came out and said, "Pizza?"  Yes!  So we got our lunch, which was actually very good.  Afterwards, we got back on the train and headed for Pisa, by way of Florence.  About 3 hours later, we pull into Pisa.  We took the longest walk of all time, in which Rach and I made up stories about where the name 'The Leaning Tower of Pisa' came from (since it is so unique), played 'Mother May I,' and sand "This is the Walk That Never Ends."  So, finally we get to the tower, which was pretty cool.  Finally, we decide to head back to the train station to catch the next train to Florence at 10:22 pm.  Upon arrival at the station, a man tells us that there are no trains after 9 pm.  What?  They're on the schedule!  Sure enough, there were no trains after 9 pm.  They were on strike.  So we go outside where there is supposedly a blue bus that will take us to Florence at 10:45.  10:45 rolls around and there is no bus.  Then, people start saying the bus will come at 11:45.  11:45 rolls around, still no bus.  We begin to get a little restless.  Rach and I find a spot in the grass and cuddle to keep warm, only to be joined by Katie R., Kate, and Dave.  Yes, we had a 5 man spoon on the grass in Pisa.  12:45 is the time.  People are sure of it; however, we have become a little skeptical from recent experience.  About 12:30, everyone got up but me and Rach.  We were tired, cold, and homeless.  About 12:45, we heard Pat yelling, "blue bus!  Blue bus!"  Rach and I scramble to our feet and make it safely to the bus.  Florence to Pisa by a speed train takes about 45 minutes; by automobile, about 2 hours.  We were not looking forwar to a 2 hour bus ride, then a 1 1/2 mile walk to our hostel at 3 in the morning.  Little did we know that the bus driver wasn't either.  Let's just say we made it, very roughly, from Pisa to Florence in about 50 minutes.  We were all exhausted and ready to go to bed!  Pretty eventful for a totally uneventful day.

Tuesday:  Since we didn't get in until 2:30 the night before, we got to sleep in today until about 11 am.  It was great.  We went to the central market and shopped all day long.  There was tons of stuff!  It was also steaming outside!  After we were done, we headed back to the hostel and packed up most of our stuff.  Then we went out for dinner.  I got the spaghetti carbonara.  It was delicious.  We watched a band playing in the center of town for a while.  There was this crazy woman with hairy armpits that was dancing around by herself.  People kept asking her to leave.  Then, we walked around town and found an ice cream place.  I got strawberry and kiwi, which was wonderful.  The gelati (Italian ice cream) is amazing.  There was a parade going around, so we watched that for a little bit.  Then half of the group headed back to the hostel and the other half of us headed to the festival.  I almost got my purse stollen, but Patty and Rach saved my life.  I was terrified!  We walked around there for a while, and it was pretyt neat.  It reminded me of a fair or Alley Fest, just in Italian.  We watched an Italian band for a little bit.  We were all pretty tired, so we headed back to the hostel and prepared for our last night in the 'Hell Hole' as it has been termed.  No air conditioning in the sweltering heat, bed bugs (literally, poor Jincy), mosquitos (and some that are plastered on the wall from past occupants), and who knows what all else.

Wednesday:  I get to see my boyfriend a week from today!  Hooray!  This morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed for the train station.  We took a train to Rome, which was about 3 1/2 hours.  Not too bad.  It's crazy that this is the last place we're going.  I finished my book Redeeming Love the other day.  It was so good.  It's mind-blowing to me how strong and everlasting God's love for us truly is.  It was an amazing book, I suggest everyone read it (Francine Rivers).  Our hotel here is much nicer than the last, but how could it not be?  According to Dave, which all of us agree with, a cardboard box on the side of the road would have been better, as long as it didn't have any bugs. 

That's all for now!  Yay for Rome!  I'm really excited, and I'll be home Sunday!  I can't believe it!

Well, it's off to a new country...  So, hello from Italy.  Let me catch you up on what's been going on...

Friday:  Still in Switzerland, Rach and I got up early and ran around town for chocolates.  First, we went to the small chocolate store, then we went to the chocolate place in the mall, then back to the small chocolate store.  We came back to the hostel to eat breakfast.  After that, we went to the photography museum.  It was really interesting.  Then, Rach and I went back to the small chocolate place, to the mall chocolate store, the small chocolate store, to the ATM, then back to the small chocolate store.  After lots of time and searching, we finally got exactly what all we wanted.  And we're pretty sure everyone is going to love us for all of our hard work!!  Finally, we got on our swimsuits and layed out by Lake Geneva for a few hours.  We also jumped in and swam around for a while.  It was super cold but super fun!  After that, Rach, Pat, and I cooked chicken stir fry and rice for everyone.  They all said it was really good, and it was.  Then, we went out for ice cream, which was heavenly.  Thank goodness for straciatella, it's my favorite!!  It tastes like frozen whip cream with chocolate chips!  After that, we watched the sunset and savored every last moment of our final night in Switzerland.  Out of all of the places we've been so far, Switzerland has definitely been my favorite.  So peaceful and relaxing, I love it. 

Saturday:  Today has been a true test of my patience!  We caught a train around 9:40 am in Vevey.  We got to the next station about 11 and our next train left at 1120.  Then, that train got into the station around 145 an our next train left at 2.  Not too much extra time.  So when we get off the train, we can't find the Dr. and Mrs. Fairweather anywhere.  We wait and search the station for about 10 minutes, but they are nowhere to be found.  So finally, Pat decides to just take the train on to Florence and figure it out from there.  So, we start sprinting across the station (keep in mind we have our huge backpacks on), just in time to see our train slowly pulling away.  Pat finally gets ahold of Fairweather, and they made it safely and comfortably onto that nice train to Florence.  We were stuck.  Patty did a great job of figuring out our options, and got us on the next train to Florence.  Little did he know that the train was pretty old, and made a ton more stops than the train we had reservations on.  We were accidentally in 1st class for about 15 minutes until a man nicely told us where 2nd class was.  Rach, Jess, Michelle, and I found a cabin with 6 seats to sit in.  When we got there, there was a young guy sitting in there.  After we had been in there for about 5 minutes, he just got his stuff and left.  Guess he didn't like us too much.  So, eventually we got started on our train ride.  The other train was about a 2 hour ride.   But we had managed to get on the longest train in all of history...  5 hours, 3 hours longer than it should have been.  But it was eventful, and we eventually got here...  So that's all that matters.  After we got off the train, we had about a 2mile walk, with our backpacks on, to our hostel.  We have a shower in our bedroom, which is really interesting.  We went out for REAL Italian food for dinner last night.  I got ravioli and it was delicious. 

Sunday:  We had devos this morning.  We each discussed how we got saved.  It was really neat to hear everyone's personal experience.  Then, we went and ate breakfast at a little bakery.  After that, we went to the museum that The David was in.  That was an experience.  There are supposed to be no cameras in the museum, but we snuck a few pictures.  It was definitely a mission!  They had people scouting out everywhere!  After that, we saw The Dome, which is like an opera type place, then just walked around the city.  It really is pretty.  We also saw this really cute old bridge that has buildings on it.  I really like Italy so far, and I am so excited about eating more tonight!!!  One week left!!!

Sunday:  We got to sleep in late since we stayed up so long on Saturday night...  Oh, one thing I forgot.  We had stayed at the Eiffel Tower until about 1am, so we were riding the metro around 130am.  It was kind of scary.  Rach and I sat next to these three girls.  We think they were all sisters, and two of them were identical twins.  Pretty sure they were prostitues.  It was really sad...  Okay, Sunday we went to the Sacre Coeur.  It was a beautiful church, and since it was Sunday, they were having mass while we were there.  Then, pretty ironically, after the church we went to Moulin Rouge.  That, if you don't know, is in a really bad section of town, but you can't come to Paris without seeing it now because of the movie.  Finally, we went to Napolean's tomb, but didn't get to see it because we got there too late thanks to mine and Jess' bladders.  We ate at a pizzaria, then came back to the hotel.

Monday:  Today was shopping day!  It was soo much fun!  And I love Europe because they make all of their pants long here!  Amazing!  Michelle and Jess were struggling because all the pants they tried on were so long, but I was totally loving it.  There was one store called Zara, which was amazing.  Everything I tried on fit me perfectly!  I totally loved it.  Rach and I split this delicious strawberry pastry today.  Wow!  We shopped over by the Arc de Triumph, so we got to see that, too.  It was massive and beautiful.  For dinner, I was brave and tried a steak.  Not only did I have to cut it myself, but it was definitely not my dad's.  I was highly disappointed, but it's nice to know that my dad makes the most amazing steaks ever.  After we get done here, we're going back to the hotel to have a fashion show and pack up.  We're leaving in the morning to go to Switzerland, and I'm super excited! 

Side note:  I have conquered escalators.  The other day at the Louve, I came to terms with the stupid things, and my terrible fear of them has ceased.  I think everyone on the trip is very relieved and amazed.  I've also realized that Rach and I are so much alike that it is almost scary.  Pretty sure we're basically the same person sometimes.  So I've realized that throughout my 20 years, I must not have gotten out much...  I had never been on a train, metro, or the like until this past week.  I had been deathly afraid of escalators until 2 days ago.  I have never ridden a horse, which I might get to do in Switzerland.  I had never been any where out of the country, other than Mexico, until about a week ago...  it's really amazing.  I am in heaven because I eat dessert after every meal basically, and the fruit here is to die for.  Next time I post I'll be in Switzerland!  Talk to you soon!