Bursting fireworks light up the night sky with a multitude of colors as you sit overlooking the vast enchanting city of Rome as the minutes count down until the New Year. For most people this is only a dream or a scene that a person sees in movies.

Normally, people spend New Year’s Eve with friends and family at a party celebrating the end of the year and welcoming the unknown of the New Year. However, for the Snapp family, New Years was much more exciting than just a party with friends in St. Louis, and their dream became a reality. They took an eight hour flight from New York to Rome to bring in the New Year.

“Rome is absolutely wonderful and I loved being somewhere where everything had so much history. It was weird thinking that the roads we were walking on or the building we went in were some of the same places that famous artists such as Michelangelo had been or where Jesus and other people from the Bible had been,” said Mary Snapp, senior.

The Snapps went to a lot of different churches, The Pantheon, The Vatican, The Spanish Steps, The Trevi Fountain, The Coliseum, among other places. They had tour guides take them around different places so that they would  not miss anything.

“I was so excited to go to Rome because I love all of the art, the city, and everything there. I would love to go back if I ever have the chance. It was interesting and sometimes confusing to be in a place where people did not speak English,” said Mary Snapp.

In Rome, they saw the different styles of building and went on different tours to see the different attractions around the city.

“The most exciting part of the trip was probably seeing some of the Roman architecture such as the Pantheon and Coliseum,” said Sam Snapp, junior.

They also got to experience the difficulties of understanding another language when it came to ordering in restaurants, trying to get directions, and understanding their tour guides.

“Even though it was hard to order, the food there was so yummy and Italy really does have wonderful pasta and pizza,” said Mary Snapp.

The rumors about the food being incredible proved to be true for them, and they also got to enjoy the New Year’s Eve celebrations. They were able to see the similarities and differences between New Year’s Eve in Rome and New Year’s Eve in the U.S. In Rome, the people get much more into the celebration and go all out for it.

In The U.S. it is custom to gather with family and share a toast or a kiss when the clock hits midnight. Sometimes there are fireworks and people will watch the famous ball drop on T.V. in Times Square.

Similar to this, in Rome, the big celebration is held in Piazza del Papolo. There are fireworks, rock and classical concerts, and people dance in the streets.

Also, near the Colosseum on Via dei fori Imperial, there is a huge firework display and concerts outdoors.

One main difference from the U.S. is that in Rome on New Year’s Day thousands of people gather in St. Peter’s Square to celebrate and recieve the Pope’s blessing.

The Pope has a Worldwide Day of Peace and there are parades celebrating life, cultural diversity, and the goodwill of the people.

It is a very special holiday since it originally began in Rome. Every person in the city celebrates and prepares weeks in advance.

“One of my favorite parts of the trip was New Year’s Eve because it was so celebrated there. We went somewhere overlooking the city and there were fireworks going off everywhere below in the city. It was absolutely wonderful,” said Mary Snapp.

The people in Rome all go out into the street to celebrate and drink to bring in the New Year so it was a quite an experience for them. On the morning of Jan 1, broken glasses covered the streets, but it is part of the thrill of the holiday.