| ...considering I got back from Rome a week ago now. AND I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!!!! Going into this trip I expected to have fun and it be ultra cool to see the sights and everything, but I even told this to everyone when we were having big group sharing: I didn't expect to have as good a time as I did. I don't think I remember a happier event in my life. And that's not exaggerating. Here's a list of all the cool things we did day by day: Saturday- checked into the hotel, refreshed ourselves, went for lunch (my group got jipped by a waiter who thought he would have some fun with the "stupid" Americans), saw the ruins of the Roman Forum, tried to get into the Colosseum but we were 5 minutes late, went and saw Capitoline Hill, dinner, free time (everyone crashed and went to sleep since no one slept on the plane) Sunday- breakfast, Mass at Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major, Our Lady of the Snows, one of the 4 major basilicas in Rome), got a closer look at the church after Mass, went to the Castel Sant'Angelo (the Pope used it as a fortress in the 1500s, a tunnel runs from it to the Vatican- really awesome view at the top), had lunch in the Piazza Navona, saw the Pantheon, saw a guy get arrested for sitting on the fountain near the Pantheon, went with Gail and her seminary friend who goes to the North American Seminary at the Vatican, went and saw the Vatican at night, back to the hotel. Monday- breakfast, Vatican Museums, saw the Sistine Chapel (I was in absolute shock and awe), St. Peter's Square, climbed to the top of the dome in St. Peter's (OH MY GOSH, WHAT A VIEW OF ROME), had lunch at a cute cafe by the Vatican, went inside St. Peter's (that was another experience of shock and awe- all kinds of cool saints and popes and such are in the basilica with incorruptible bodies), Mass and tour of the Marianist generalate, dinner (I can't remember the name but it was the coolest dinner we had, it was Gary's birthday and they brought us cheesecake and champagne on the house) Tuesday- breakfast, Galleria Borghese where we saw lots of cool art, saw a park right next to the Borghese (I think it might be called the Borghese Park, told you I was bad with names, but it is kind of like the NYC Central Park of Rome), then we had a free afternoon. I went back to the Vatican with some people to see the crypt and see JPII's tomb- I cried my eyes out, then we split and I went with Erin back to the Roman Forum, just to see the ruins again and walk the Via Sacra, the oldest road in the history of humankind, met up at the Trevi Fountain for pictures and to throw coins in, had dinner at a place where the dinner was strictly appetizers, it was quite neat. Wednesday- this was our free day- Cor Jesu you are going to love this- I saw Sr. Doretta!!! She is in Rome this year coordinating mission work for the Apostles of the Sacred Heart. We had breakfast and caught up, I hadn't seen her in over 3 years. It was wonderful, a smile was plastered to my face the rest of the day. Then I high tailed it to the Vatican for the 10:30 Papal Address (everyone there received the Apostolic Blessing!!!!), then the group that had gone to the adress either stayed in Rome for the rest of the day or hopped the train to Anzio, a beach town south of Rome where a major WWII battle was fought. We walked around the town for awhile then went down to the beach. The beauty and height of the cliffs we stood and played on was amazing!!!! Then we tried to find a place for dinner at 6:30, but pretty much no one opened until 8. (That's another thing about Europe- dinner is much later and it lasts 2-3 hours.) But then we found a place that opened at 7, overlooked the water, and served the best seafood that I have ever tasted in my life. Trains ran on the hour, or so we thought, so we paid our bill hurriedly at 8:50 and ran back to the train station for the 9:00 back to Rome but as it turns out the last train was at 9:45, so we waited around for 45 minutes.And on the way to Anzio that afternoon, we saw ruins of the aqueducts from the train! It was so cool! Thursday- we went to Florence this day and on the hour and a half train ride saw the most magnificent countryside I have ever seen. All Italy is is hill after hill after hill. We got to Florence, saw Michelangelo's David and the rest of the museum where it is kept, then we saw Florence's Baptistry, then we were free until 6:30. I went with a group for lunch, then we climbed the dome of the Duomo and saw the inside of the Church, then we shopped in Florence's open air market. I got really cool souvenirs for everyone and I got myself a pair of Italian glass earrings. Then we had dinner at La Spada. The second course, the Tuscan Meat Platter, was probably the best pork and chicken I have ever had. Then we caught the train back to Rome. Friday- By now everyone is absolutely exhausted with the pace of the week. But this is our last day and what a day it was. We went to St. John Lateran and St. Paul Outside the Walls, which are the other 2 major basilicas in Rome. At St. John Lateran is the Scala Sancta, or Holy Staircase, which was transported to Rome in the year 335 by St. Helena and is said to be the staircase Jesus climbed on His way to the high priest's house the night before He was crucified. It was so cool and powerful to be able to pray on it on a Friday during Lent. Then we went to an Italian discount grocery store, each of us bought something and then shared it with the rest of the group. Then we gave the leftovers to a mother and her two children who were beggars on the steps of St. Paul's. That's another sad thing- there is a lot of poverty and begging in Rome. After that we wanted to go to the Catacombs, but everyone was so tired we just went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner, which was at the same place we ate at the first night, and was only 2 blocks from the hotel, so that was nice. After dinner we sat on the roof of the hotel and drank wine and champagne. Hardly anyone went to sleep because we had to leave the hotel at 3:30 in the morning to catch our 6 am flight to Amsterdam, then we flew Amsterdam to Detroit, then chartered a bus back to Dayton. Wow, this is a long entry. Sorry about that, but I wanted to share everything with you! This week has been crazy and the next few weeks until the semester ends will be even crazier. Now I have to get down to work! |
