ROME!!

Rome, Italy! Of course I have always wanted to go to Europe (which is essentially why I accepted the internship in Brussels) but I never foresaw myself coming to Rome! It is absolutely amazing here! If I only came to Belgium so I could end up coming to Rome, it would definitely be worth it. The people of Italy are so friendly and although Rome has much of the same wonderful architecture of all the other European cities...it is unlike any other. (Ok with my limited knowledge of only The Netherlands, Belgium, and France). But Rome has these spectacular ruins that are just remarkable. The Roman Forum (near the Colosseum) has these breathtaking ruins that are really just rubble mostly now but it's difficulty to accurately express the feelings I had as I looked across the ruins up to Palatine Hill.

The girls I met with were April and Sheri. Both are originally from New Mexico and are currently living in Texas. Turns out April is an inactive member of the church! Go figure! I ended up giving a Book of Mormon to Sheri since she had never read one despite her contact with many Mormons and she really wanted some reading since she'd finished all her English books already! :)

Overall the first day was the best in Rome but I did have a great time. I got to see all of the famous things...the Pantheon, the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, etc. It was wonderful and I was so glad to have April and Sheri with me throught all the hectic travels. We actually had a lot in common and April invited me to come visit her in Texas. I will definitely have to do so!

To see the full spread of my photos visit my photo website at http://photos.yahoo.com/erikaann_4