WARNING:Extremely long, detailed entry ahead!

What a week. I'm sorry my dear blog, I've been absent for a week & I think it's a great time to sit down and blog on one of the more quieter nights here in Roma. It's been quite a ride, so, hm, I think I left off on Tuesday? Yeah,Tuesday...

On Tuesday, I woke up early because I thought there was a walking tour of Giancolo Hill but it was actually cancelled. So, instead, I went to go buy our AS ROMA vs PALERMO soccer tickets. I walked to Via del Corso and found the AS Roma store and got my tickets. I was by the Pantheon and decided to check it out in the rain (as suggested by my trusty 'When in Rome' guidebook) and found it to be quite spectacular. The rain falls through the opening right in the middle of the Pantheon and hits the marble floor beautifully. I can only imagine it during a serious rainstorm. Afterwards, I came back for our 2pm theology class (shoot me) and then went out to buy icecream at Standa. A concoction to die for was made, including various ferrero and twix chocolates and bananas.

Wednesday morning rolled by quickly, and after class finished, the Giancolo hill tour was rescheduled for the beginning of the afternoon. We met up with Dominico, the student affairs coordinator/quirky italian man with an interesting singing voice, and a bunch of us boarded the bus and headed towards the hill. This was my first bus ride in Rome and it was sort of surprising. It flew through the streets and I was clutching onto the bars with all my strength. When we finally got off, we were in a neighborhood called Trastavere. We began our trek up to the top of hill, passing by another American University and avoided cars where we could along the trail up. We stopped at this great fountain (they have a lot of those here) and took some snapshots and saw a great view of Rome. But, Dominico said, "There's a better view up there. Let's keep going." And so, going we went. But not before he observed a couple by the fountain as we left by saying, "Ohp, looks like things are still going good." and laughed, adding, "We're very nosy." Lol, oh funny man. We climbed a few more minutes before we reached the top of the hill and what a sight! It overlooked all of Rome and the sun was shining quite perfectly. After relaxing and taking some photos, we headed back down (not before we all sat on three long benches overlooking the city and talking), and headed straight for a gelato place near the Vatican. If you decide to go to Rome, and plan to visit the Vatican, the BEST gelato place I've been in so far is called Old Bridge and it's right across the street from Vatican City. It's only 1.30 euros for a small cone and three flavors!

After the hill, I passed out, but then woke up again for ROMA vs PALERMO at the Olympic Stadium! You could feel the excitement as you walked through the streets all the way up to the Stadium. The closer you got the more crowded and crazier it got. This was my first soccer game, ever. I mean, ever. The only times I've ever watched soccer was if they broadcasted a D. Beckham game or whenever Ines would come over and she'd flip to the soccer channel. Unfortunately, Camay and I bought our tickets separately from the rest of St. Johns so we we were separated, but we weren't far. The only perk of sitting next to the STJ kids is that none of them would be smoking throughout the entire match. We had found ourselves encircled by smokers and no matter which way we turned, we inhaled smoke. If there's anything about Europe I'm not loving, it's the smoking. I'd prefer not to die of secondhand smoker lung. Anyways, Palermo (the other team) had a fan section all the way on the top, all by themselves, and were surrounded by over 20 policemen. I must admit, those Palermo fans got balls for coming to Rome and cheering for their team, which equals, risking their lives. After song and cheer, the game began, and I was definitely into it. Sure, I didn't know one thing about soccer except to get it into the goal, but it was amazing! Rome won, of course, and we jumped up and screamed and sang along with the Romans! We walked all the way back to campus and happily found our beds.

Nope, not done yet, folks. ;]

On Thursday, we recovered from the match by crying over a quiz. I don't like this theology class at all. So, to make up for broken hearts, we ate at this nearby restaurant and had pasta and wonderful desserts. I got this fruit cream thing and Camay got this tart thing. The name's were in italian. After our spirits were lifted, we headed down a different route and took some hilarious jumping pictures that Camay has yet to upload.

On Friday, we woke up around 1pm (ahh, bellissimo!) and cleaned the room because they were supposed to have room inspections but they never came around. We headed to Termini to buy our Florence and Pisa train tickets. Camay and I had been feening for 'American' food (like fries, nachos, etc) so we were in search of TBone Restaurant, the American-style restaurant. However, since all of Rome halts at around 3-4 and do not reopen 'till 6-7pm, we happily ran over to see some skeletons and crypts at Chiesa di Santa Maria della Concezione. If you watch the Travel Channel, or just have any interest in dead things, then you know about this famous Capuchin Crypt where hundreds of bones line the walls in an 'art-ful' design. The artist is unknown but he used over 400 skeleton's bones to create it. I've been wanting to see this place for forever, but once I walked in, I became absolutely terrified. Why the hell am I so morbid?! Why would I want to see skeletons on walls! But at the same time, it was thrilling. We weren't supposed to take pictures, but we snuck some in. Again, they're on Camay's camera. After we saw the bones, we walked back to Tbone and they STILL were not open. I couldn't wait anymore. We literally turned the corner and saw a Chinese Restaurant! I freaked out and we decided (since it took Ticket Restaurant) that we were eating Chinese instead. The chinese food tasted the same but the best part was the fact that the chinese waiters/waitresses spoke chinese, english, and italian. Awesome. For dessert, we had fried ice cream. So to sum up the day: saw some skeletons, had some Chinese. Good times.

Saturday morning was an early one since we were headed to Florence for the day! We got to Termini and didn't know where to go at all. We got to our train by pure luck. It was a great ride to Florence and being 'stuck in Rome' (oh, what a bother), it was the first time seeing really beautiful green pastures roll past the entire way. We arrived in Florence at 11:30am and bought a map and got lost for a good hour before we found David. (Please tell me you know who David is!) So we weren't allowed to take pictures inside Galleria d'Academia for some reason so, once again, we snuck pictures. David is absolutely breathtaking. You can see all the curves of the abs, the veins, and beatifully sculpted behind. Ah, gorgeous. After David, we got some grub, then headed to the Piazza Michaelangelo, where there is a copy of David. This Piazza literally overlooks Florence. After a good 1/2 hour of walking through the magnificent streets of Florence, we climbed a ridiculous amount of stairs, and arrived at the Piazza. It was worth it all. The sun on my face, the view, and a green copy of David was beautiful. After pictures, we trekked back down and headed straight for the train station to go to Pisa. We crossed Ponte Vecchio, a bridge with tons of little jewelry shops ON it. Then we got on the train. What I believed was an hour ride, took nearly two hours, and we missed climbing up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. First, we got lost trying to get to the damned overrated tower, and when we finally arrived, we spent a ridiculous amount of time with it, despite it not being as 'leaning' as I believed it to be or as tall as I believed it to be. We headed back down Borgetto Street and got to the train station around 9pm and were told the unfortunate news that the last train left at 8pm. And the next one wouldn't leave till 2am. I was slightly mortified, but even more annoyed. We bought the tickets and roamed back out to figure what to do till 2am. We headed to the movietheatre and caught the last 1/2 hour of 'Doubt' in italian and then went back to Borgetto Street and found this 70's lounge and got some drinks there. It was hilarious how it was all 70's themed but had New York landscape posters on the wall. We just happened to stumble upon the one lounge with NYC posters on the wall. Finally, we went back to the station around 1am and cried/laughed until the train came. Our night train surprised us by being very Hogwarts-train-like and we enjoyed it for a good 5 minutes before ultimately passing out. We arrived back in Rome at 6:45am and got back to campus 7am. What a long, long night.

The majority of Sunday was spent sleeping. We woke up at 5pm, bummed around a bit, and then headed to Standa for our weekly groceries. Note to self: always go early because all the stuff on sale is gone by 6pm.

Monday was spent in art class on site to Tiber Island, Theatre of Marcello, two churches, the Turtle fountain, and Bocca della Veritas. We had our weekly foodstamp meeting then talked about drinking and dying.

On Tuesday, I woke up and studied, then went to class till 7pm (gah! can't you see my hate for theology), then went out and found a "shortcut" to Barberini, stopping @ piazza navona at night. You know you're really becoming a local when you're searching for shortcuts. And we finally saw the Pantheon at night, watched birds, and headed to Suggestum Cafe for pasta. We had horrible wine and they gave us a free shot of horrible syrupy limoncello (go to my other entry about limoncello) then 8 euro desserts each! We cried about it on the way home and then blasted Hollaback Boy by Cobra Starship in the dorm.

Today (FINALLY!), was incredible! Today was the Papal Audience and I woke up early and made a dash for the Vatican. I wanted an incredible seat and I did! I was third row and I spent over one and a 1/2 hours waiting for the Pope. When he came out, I half expected someone to start playing 'We Will Rock You' because it was such a rockstar entrance. The auditorium was jumping and cheering. Pope Benedict XVI began the audience by delivering a speech in italian. Then a prayer was said in various languages by different bishops/priests. Then bishops/priests announced the attendees of the audience and when he said St. John's, of course, our group cheered. But, in comparison, our yelling was nothing to those who prepared songs and banners and cheers. Being in the prescence of the leader of the Catholic church was moving. I'm not sure if some people realize how big this is. Pope John Paul II (everyones favorite Pope) last came to New York in 1995. This was his last trip to the United States before he died in 2005. Pope Benedict XVI's first trip to the United States was early 2008. And he was in the New York area for a few days and I was not able to go to any of his appearances. The pope being in your area and being able to attend an appearance is usually a once in a lifetime experience. So, to say the least, I was disappointed last year. But now, not even a full year later, I am sitting right in front of His Holiness in the Vatican in Rome, Italy, with Catholics and other believers, from different countries who speak different languages, recieving his blessing. I was unbelievably moved that I was blessed with such an opportunity and for the fact that he acknowledged St John's University (even if he does this every week with different groups of people). That will probably be (although I will pray for more chances) my closest moment with a Pope.

After the papal audience, Camay and I headed back to campus and recharged a little before heading to Pastarito for lunch. I had some, you guessed it, pasta and tiramisu. Afterwards, we went on an incredible tour with Fr. Reinert (a priest based here in Rome) of St. Peter's Basilica. Although, by this time, it had been my 3rd visit, I'm glad I went on this tour because I learned a lot. He was practically our own personal tourguide because we were the only ones who signed up. He showed us where Pope John Paul II was shot and took us to the crypts of those on their way to sainthood. I prayed before the tomb of Pope John Paul the II (once again, a very emotional moment) and then before the tomb of St. Peter! Fr. Reinert told us that the size of the letters near the ceilings were 6-feet-tall and that the reason there are monuments to Pope's inside the basilica itself is because their families were rich and paid for such a monument to be made. John Paul II's tomb is simple as well as a few other Pope's. I forget the name of the Pope, but his body was actually exumed and his carcass looks like he died just yesterday! Crazy. The original design of the basilica was actually to be modeled after the pantheon but Michaelangelo didn't want that kind of dome. Under the Holy Spirit window is believed to be the actual chair that St. Peter used when he was Pope. There is also an altar close to the spot where it was believed that St. Peter was crucified. I wish I knew where Fr. Reinert did mass so I could go visit him. I'm so thankful I went on that tour because I wasn't feeling it in the beginning cause it was raining and I was tired. So some notes about mass schedules: there's a daily mass at 5pm and every morning from 7am-830am, there will be always be a priest serving mass in the crypts, and there's like a gabillion masses on Sundays. Afterwards, we got gelato from Old Bridge and happily walked home.

After we returned back to campus tonight, we literally passed out. I woke up at 9:30pm and have been writing since then. It is almost 12:30am. Thank you if you read this. You're a real trooper.



PS.I'll post a separate entry just for pictures. I'm no longer updating my flickr. I'm just using this and facebook.