New Years Day

After only 3 hours of sleep, I went to the papal mass at the Basilica of St. Peters in the Vatican. The church is absolutely beautiful! Mass was cold and long but definetly a once in a lifetime experience. Here is a picture of the pope, as well as the crowd outside of the Basilica. 

The crowd was even crazier than NYE at the colosseum! Afterwards we went to lunch, and then explored the city. We went to a lookout near piazza del popollo where we could see over the entire city of  Rome! Then we went to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and Pantheon. We also saw the church that Saint Ignatius of Loyola is buried at. After a long afternoon of walking we got some gelato then headed back to our apartments. It's amazing to think I have only been in Rome for 3 days, it feels much longer!