Roma

I've been doing a lot of walking around, taking in all the sights! It takes a few minutes to look and appreciate everything I see. You have to stare and think "How on Earth did they create this without cranes or any of the technology we have today?"

The first picture is of the Pantheon. The square that it’s in is fairly small so to get a full picture of it (without losing my friends and getting lost), I had to take it from behind a fountain that was in front of the Pantheon. Inside, most of the area was roped off but I did get to look up and check out the dome which was made up of concrete sunken squares that gave a dizzying 3-D illusion. I don't have a picture of that but I'm sure you can Google it : )

The buildings in the second picture were also in the square the Pantheon was in. The fading paint, missing bricks on the sides and the roofs; it let me imagine what the area could have looked like 2000 years ago. I did see people inside of the buildings, though I'm not sure if they were living there or if they were offices... Pretty cool!

The third picture, though it looks normal, is the creepiest place I've been to in my entire life. It's the Catacombs of Rome. The things I saw and touched were literally 2000 years old. Etruscans built an underground burial for their dead that cover seven miles on foot, just to give you an idea of how many dead souls I was amongst. Romans continued the tradition afterwards. Thankfully, I was with a big group and a tour guide (who constantly reminded us that it was very possible to take one turn and be lost for days, even weeks, but not to worry because they always find you... I wasn't too sure who she was referring to as "they," so I was stuck to her hip!) We first walked down at least 2 stories by stairs. It was cold, dark, and ridiculously cramped; I mean you could not even stand two by two. At first I refused look to my left or right, where the niches were built onto the walls and the bodies were placed. In the area where most of the children were placed, there would be like 3 niches in a row on the wall, they looked like small beds that were sealed with clay. There weren't any remains as far as I was told, but I think the catacombs in Paris still have a collection of skulls or something like that. We went down a few pathways, I saw lots of those niches and practically any wall I would lean against there would be another burial spot. I don't even know how else to explain what a creepy, weird, but interesting place this was. I was terrified but knew I was seeing something absolutely amazing. Pictures were forbidden inside because it's a sacred area. Sorry!

The last picture is the ceiling of the church that was built above the catacombs several years later by Constantine, I believe. I've been to a lot of churches so far and this one was in 3D! It was so bright, unlike what I'd seen at previous churches. The man in the middle and the angel are like mannequins or something. It's crooked because I set my camera on the floor facing the ceiling and just set the timer, otherwise, it would have come out blurry and I wanted you guys to see this!

That's all for today, leave comments! Arrivederci!