the vatican and my last day

On our final day in Rome (and my final day in Europe - AH!) we visited the Vatican. We put on our most conservative clothes and headed over to see where the Pope does his business. As I mentioned in the previous post I am not the religious type so it was a good thing I have Mel and Sarah there to answer all of my questions. 
Also Vatican is a separate country. So we kind of just sauntered into a different country part way through the day...oh how I love Europe. 

The inside of the Vatican was overwhelmingly beautiful. I could have wandered around the various areas all day.
My last day abroad was kind of awesome. And kind of ridiculously hot. I am pretty sure we camped out inside a gelato place for an extra long amount of time. At that moment I was ready to stop living out of a backpack but equally as ready to head back to Scotland and see my favourites. Of course this wasn't possible since they were already home and I had a plane back to Canada to catch the next day but you know. xo

getting ourselves confused

My favourite part of Rome was all of the history. It was overwhelming how much surrounded us that dated back to a time I can't even imagine. The history, and the importance of religion (aka the nuns walking around everywhere - literally everywhere) consumed most of our conversations for the entire time we were in Rome. By the third day we had gotten ourselves so confused with all of our questions and lack of knowledge of things Roman. Typical day in the life of me. 

acropolis

Athens got pretty awesome by the second day. It may be because we went to the Acropolis. It could also be because the city wasn't in the middle of a public service strike and riot. Or you know, both.
So, the Acropolis. I don't think my words can adequately describe how cool it was. So I am not even going to try. No it is not because I am somewhat lazy today and frantically trying to find all of the things that are still missing from when I came home from Europe. So here are some photos. Some pretty freaking-awesome photos. So you really can't complain.

pondering life. and how this was built back then.

the view was pretty cool too.

The Acropolis was great. You should go. Hop on a place and head over. Because that's exactly what I want to do after looking at these photos again. xo

learning to survive a riot

After our time in Munich we flew to Athens to start our week long adventure in Greece. I had been waiting so long for the Greece-Italy portion of my travels that I could barely contain my excitement. These two countries were must sees once I decided on exchange. With such rich cultures (and delicious food to be eaten) I had high hopes for the last two weeks in Europe and neither disappointed.

The sisterhood-of-the-travelling-pants adventure through Greece started with Athens. It was different then what I expected. It lacked the picturesque scenery that some of the other places had but made up for it in old, historical sites. I think we were all awe-struck when we saw the numerous ancient ruins located perfectly throughout the city.  

This was about the time we got ourselves mixed up in the public service riot. not the best place to be situated. Do we run? Or does that look like we are involved? Instead we stood on the outskirts and shot some photos. How often are you in Athens for a riot? Hopefully never again, but it probably tops some of our lists in hilarious stories. 

Our night finished off wonderfully though. A beauty view on the top of our hostel roof of the Acropolis. Perfection I tell you, perfection. Plus Mel and Sarah are some pretty cool girls to be spending time with. Just an added bonus of course.