My Italian exam this morning went really well. It was only part one, but my studying paid off. After lunch, we had a trip to the Vatican Museum. Ali, Joe and I split up from the rest of the group and rented audio tours, which were definitely worthwhile. The Vatican has one of the greatest collections of art in the world, including Raffaello's School of Athens and the Sistine Chapel ceiling frescos. Another set of works I can't believe I saw in person!

After the museum, we went to St. Peter's to have some things blessed. The guard led me to the Italian and French priest and asked him to do the blessing for me. I knelt down and he said a prayer over the rosary, I thanked him and then went to meet Ali and Joe. I had never seen anything blessed before, so it was really interesting to watch.

Somewhere along the way we were separated from Willa and Song, who had joined us in the church. We sat in St. Peter's square to wait for them. A little while later Ali and Joe went to dinner, but I had dinner plans with Willa and Song and decided to wait a bit longer.

At seven o'clock the church closed and I still didn't see them. I assumed they must have thought we left and went to dinner on their own, but I wasn't quite ready to go back to the hotel, so I decided to take a walk around the area. When I reached the church that we ate next to at the beginning of the trip, I decided to take the side street past the restaurant. There, sitting outside, just happened to be Willa and Song. I couldn't believe my luck. Out of all of the restaurants and all the people in Rome, I happened to run into the two I was looking for!

They had just ordered when I got there, so I added my arancini (delicious rice balls) and spaghetti con oglio, aglio e pepperoncini (spaghetti with oil, garlic and chili peppers) to the list. The food was fantastic (and filling) and after we finished, we took a walk to the Trevi Fountain.

The fountain is even more breathtaking at night than it is during the day. The crowd was unbelievable, but we pushed our way to the front to take pictures and then found a spot along the wall to sit down and admire the view. We sat there for a long time before we decided to get gelato. Tonight's flavors were coconut and mango. I was feeling tropical, and it was really refreshing.