What a day today has been. (Yes, I’m posting this a day late. I couldn’t get my pictures to upload on to my computer last night.)
My roommates and I woke up around the same time as yesterday, ate nearly the same breakfast and 
headed back to our room to get ready for the day ahead.
Our group met in the lobby of the hotel to take the bus to Vatican City! The first stop of the day was a cultural visit to Vatican Media.
We had the chance to speak with multiple people who work within Vatican Media. They told our group about the role of the media within the Vatican, how the media gets distributed all over the world, and how social media has played a role in the process of reaching the Vatican’s audience.
One of the most interesting points made throughout the panel discussion was by Alessandro Gisotti. He talked about Pope Francis’ role and how he is opening up the conversation via social media, even saying, according to Alessandro, “The internet is a gift of God.”
After leaving Vatican Media, we headed out to get lunch. Victoria and I ate at a small indoor-outdoor restaurant. It was funny, when we walked up, the host didn’t realize we were American until we started speaking to him in English. It was nice. It made me feel like I don’t stick out as much as I thought I do.
We had our pizza and headed back to the Vatican for a tour with Katja!
She was super informative about the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, and St. Peter’s Basilica. I loved seeing all of the artwork in each. The works of Michaelangelo were especially incredible. The amount of work that went into Vatican City is absolutely insane. Everything is so beautiful and well thought out.
After the visit, we were headed back to the hotel when our group got on to the wrong bus. After such a long (and disgustingly rainy) day, it wasn’t something I was totally thrilled about. Our tour guide, Andrea, made it as enjoyable as he could and I really appreciated it.
Finally getting back to the hotel, Victoria and I ran out to get pizza at a shop around the corner (as did mostly everyone else). We sat in the lobby, consumed pizza and headed off to bed.
That was about it for today. Busy and incredible, all wrapped up in a nice day in an amazing city!