A Whirlwind Tour of the Ancient World: Rome, Athens, and Istanbul

After two weeks in Florence, we headed to Rome for five days. Seeing the Coliseum, various ruins, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the Vatican were real highlights. We also attended mass at St. Peter's Basilica, and saw the Pope because it was a holiday!

The Pantheon

The Trevi Fountain

The Coliseum

St. Peter's Basilica

We got a whirlwind tour of Athens during our six hour layover. It was enough time to get a great tour of the Acropolis.

In front of the Parthenon

Yesterday we arrived in Istanbul. Today after class we took a tour of some of the major city sites, most notably the Hagia Sophia. It is a beautiful city, but definitely very different from the European cities we've seen so far. I'm looking forward to understanding Turkey's culture and sites better in the next two weeks.

The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul