For Christmas Shannon and I decided to go to Rome. Each of us have been to Rome and have already done many of the typical tourist activities. Aiming instead for another unique and memorable experience, I contacted the US Consulate to the Vatican and arranged tickets to the Christmas Eve Mass. We arrived in Rome on Christmas Eve and I went over to the Consulate to pick up the tickets. I was informed that even with tickets we were not guaranteed to get in St. Peter’s for the mass. Apparently there are many more tickets then there are seats in the basilica. Shannon and I decided to give it our best shot. 
The square was brilliantly lit with a huge Christmas Tree and a Living Nativity Scene and there were a lot of people already there. We got in line and prepared ourselves for a long wait. Although we came to Rome by ourselves, we ran into some Americans in the line beside us. Behind us was a retired army couple that now worked at a base in Germany and in front of us was a group of students that had just visited a friend of theirs stationed at Sigonella, here in Sicily. After many hours they opened the doors and people literally ran into the Church. Without running we were able to
secure seats in about the 20th row. Not bad.The Pope was there and walked right by us twice and Shannon was able to get right up close. The service had many readings in different languages and Shannon took communion at the end. The whole thing lasted for two hours. We walked all the way to our hotel and didn’t get back in until about 2am.
The rest our time in Rome we spent doing many typical Roman tourist activities, visiting Trevi Fountain, the Forum, the Pantheon and many more sites. We spent Christmas day primarily visiting fountains and Churches because they were open and we were able to find a nice restaurant for dinner. After dinner on Christmas night we sat down at an Irish pub for a pint. We
ended up meeting some travelers from Liverpool, England and Melbourne, Australia and had a great time conversing until late into the night.Shannon’s parents met while they were both studying in Switzerland. For Easter they took separate trips. However after returning from his trip, Paul decided to hop on another train and try to meet up with Susan in Rome. She did not know he was coming and he gambled that she would soon come to the American Express office to get her mail. Arriving in Rome, he waited for her outside the office at the bottom of the Spanish Steps. He only had to wait a matter of hours and she came by and was very surprised. Shannon and I found the American Express office at the steps and photographed ourselves at the spot.
Christmas in Rome was fun and memorable. Derrick was kind enough to pick us up at the Catania airport and took us to the German brewpub in Aci Reale where we met up about ten of our friends and everyone shared their Christmas stories.
