For the last leg of our adventure, we settled in the Italian capital of Rome. My dad quickly drew comparisons to Paris, with the wide, tree-lined streets and multitudes of tiny, city-friendly vehicles zipping past. Perhaps our favorite was the old Cinquecento Fiat (pictured above). I snuck a lot of stalker pictures of these people’s cars before finally on our last day we just decided to pose with one and hope the owner wouldn’t come back right at that moment. Standing at a proud 5’5”, I can’t get over how I’m still so much taller than these adorable vehicles. For a size comparison, my brother next to me is 6’4” and the car might as well be his toy.

These little details are part of why I enjoy traveling with my family so much. We each notice small bits of amusing everyday life that we delightedly point out to each other, helping us stay constantly engaged with our new temporary environment and able to soak up the essence of what living in each place might be like.

Despite our sore muscles and sleepy minds from our earlier days of adventure, we had an action-packed four days in the capital city planned. However, before we could enjoy any of it, my brother and I had to spend a nerve-wracking evening refreshing CalCentral every few minutes in order to complete online registration for our freshman year at Berkeley. Anyone else that’s had to deal with CalCentral recently knows that this is not always the most reliable program, particularly when you’re halfway around the world and depending on the Wifi in a very old Italian apartment building. The pressure was on as we double-checked adviser emails and time differences, fingers cramping from pressing the same button a thousand times, before finally, in a rushed couple of minutes, the process was complete and we could go explore.

Just for fun, we decided to walk down to Vatican City at night since it was only about ten minutes from where we were staying. Much to our surprise, nothing stopped us from simply walking right in. There were only a few other people there and the Vatican was lit up so it shined gently but magnificently in front of the darkening sky. We kept half expecting the police that were lingering around the perimeter to jump in and usher us away, but we were able to take pictures and simply bask in the glory of what we were seeing for as long as we liked.

By stark contrast, the next day we took an actual tour of the Vatican. While we thought we had gotten there early enough to beat the crowds, much to our dismay we arrived to see a line of curious tourists wound all the way around the outer walls. Luckily my dad had thought ahead and planned for a tour guide to meet us at a nearby cafe. Essentially from the moment he opened his mouth, it never closed. We were in awe with how quickly he spoke and the ease and finesse with which he whipped out his iPad and began introducing us to every interesting sight inside the building. He slurped down a cappuccino, which my dad softly remarked he probably didn’t need, and we were on our way. We couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as our tour guide zipped through the masses, at times actually breaking into a run in order to lead us through particularly crowded areas. My mom dubbed his evasive maneuvers “the Italian worm”, and we all attempted to replicate it to avoid getting trapped behind the slow, lumbering cruise ship groups.

The amount of pure artistic genius inside the Vatican is unparalleled and unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Our tour guide explained large chunks of history to us beforehand, so once we were inside particularly full places, such as the famous Sistine Chapel, all we had to do was look around and appreciate the beauty of what lay before us. Endless landscapes rich with color and story decorated every wall; rooms lined with thousands of intricately carved statues depicting everything from famous goddesses to camel heads branched off from every corner. Awe doesn’t even begin to cover it. Much too soon we made our way out and bid farewell to the guide, knowing we’d see him again the following day to show us around other parts of the city.

The rest of the day was devoted to some much-needed relaxation as our larger apartment allowed us the space to spread out we hadn’t enjoyed in our last two locations. Feeling refreshed, we proceeded to wind our way around both Ancient Roman ruins as well as the different sites in the historical city center the following day. It was an information-packed, fascinating yet occasionally grueling six hour tour under the hot Italian sun, but within a day we managed to see almost every single notable location in Rome.

I particularly enjoyed wandering around the Colosseum, hearing our guide’s stories about the types of people who might have fought in, worked at and watched the different games and battles that took place there. It was a surreal experience to know that centuries worth of history had literally taken place all around me, hundreds of thousands of lives could have been touched in this one structure alone, all before any part of modern life that I know had been created or established.

We spent our final day wandering a bit on our own, experimenting with the Metro and sampling a few different flavors of gelato for the last time. At this point, we reflected, we had seen so much in so little time and we were all worn out but content with our successful agenda. I have to praise my dad for his extremely well-thought out planning. Unlike previous Olson adventures, nothing major went wrong on this whole trip, and now that we’re safely back in California I can say this with certainty. It was, without a doubt, one of the most activity-packed, educational, wonderful vacations we’ve taken and I’m very thankful to have the opportunity to see the world with my amazing family.

Lessons Learned:

1. If you find some crackers you like, you MUST try to transport them on your 11 hour flight home. Crackers are surprisingly durable, even when the airline beats up your suitcase like a punching bag.

2. If you don't have something specifically planned towards the end of the trip, your whole family will just lay in bed all morning and pretend they don't see the clock. Hey, we're tired.

3. It's mandatory to shout at the top of your lungs during and after all soccer matches, even if Italy is not playing.

4. Tiny amounts of coffee need tiny cups and equally tiny spoons, otherwise you just look silly.

5. America needs to jump on the slushie train. The fake cherry and "blue raspberry" 7/11 beverages just don't hold a candle to the endless swirling containers of delicious orange, lemon, raspberry and mint granitas peeking out of every cafe and convenience store, perfect to cool you off after a long day in the sun.