Rome In A Day

Well, I went to Rome for less than 24 hours. Not how I envisioned going to Italy for my first time. As many of you know, there are quite a few of us here on crew with the Africa Mercy who's visas expire today!! Our Management Team (of which I am one) decided we needed to have a 'test case' to go out of the country over night, come back in the next day to see if we could get a visa status changed from voluntary worker to ship's seafarer as we have now been able to sign on to ship's articles... well, guess who got to be the 'test case'. I rushed to Rome leaving at 7:30 am, and arriving just before 2 pm. I threw my backpack onto the bed at the hotel, and rushed to find the metro...took the metro down to St. Peter's Square, hopped a City Tour bus and got off at the Colloseum (which you see above). It was absolutely fantastic. And also bittersweet. Italy has been on my 'must see' list for quite sometime, so knowing that I was going to be there less than 24 hours was very sad for me. But the good news is... I got my visa changed! I know that I want to revisit Italy in a 'proper' fashion as the Brits would say! and I paved the way for others to feel more comfortable about going out of the country and coming back in to change their visa status. I am also now the first person to sign on as an official crew member of the Africa Mercy (photo to come next week :-) ... stay tuned!