Adventures in Roma!

This weekend, API took us on a visit to Rome. We took 2 buses and a plane to arrive in the famous city from Granada, and although there was a lot of traveling and walking involved this weekend it was a really incredible time for all of us!

We left Friday morning and spent most of the day traveling. Upon our arrival at our hotel, we dropped our bags and went out for some genuine Italian food! I went with a group to Taverna del Corso, where we enjoyed pasta and pizzas and tried out our Italian.  I was especially terrible at remembering not to speak Spanish...at least most Italians can understand Spanish, given its similarity to their own language!

 We also saw the Trevi Fountain that night, which was really beautiful.

On Saturday, API arranged for a panoramic bus tour of the city. We saw a lot and learned a lot about various sections of the city, and got to get out in one or two places to walk around. We walked around near the Coliseum, outside St. John's, and ended at St. Peter's in the Vatican. Our guide was really great, and sitting in the very front of the bus really gave me a taste for Italian driving. That may have been some of the scariest hours of my life! But well worth it!

When the bus tour was over, I went to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. The museum was overwhelming without a guide, with many rooms of many different artifacts. The path to the Sistine Chapel was incredible. There was a hall full of tapestries woven with gold, silver, and silk; a hall of old maps; statues and extravagant ceilings. The Sistine chapel itself was beautiful, but my experience was slightly let down by people taking pictures and making a lot of noise.

That evening myself and friends went to a restaurant where we had to wait a half hour just to get in! It was rumored to have amazing pizza, and it looked like a legitimate hole in the wall, so we tried it. The pizza was very good, but I couldn't tell the difference between the other great food we had over the weekend. We headed back to the hotel in preparation for an early morning.


On Sunday, I got up very early to take the subway to the Coliseum and see the inside. I met with friends Matt and Rachel from Saint Mike's, which was very exciting! They arrived in Rome last week to study abroad there for the semester. The inside of the Coliseum was breathtaking, it was so big. Standing on the ground level after walking the upper levels, I tried to imagine walking out into the stadium with it full of people, wondering if I would live or die. It was very intense. In all my theater classes we've studied Roman theater and entertainment, so going to the Coliseum was really fascinating, especially seeing the underground part where prisoners were kept; where elevators brought wild beasts up to fight; where the gladiators prepared.

 I split from Matt and Rachel for the day to go to the Pope's weekly blessing at St. Peter's Square. There were a lot of people, but not the crushing crowd that I expected. There were a lot of school groups there, and one in particular from France was very excited. They sang songs and waved their flag. It was very touching to see so many banners and groups coming for this. The Pope spoke in Italian and Latin for the blessing, and then greeted groups in English, Spanish, French, German, and Polish (maybe?) which was very nice.

After that, Rachel (from API, not SMC) and I waited in line to get into the basilica and again to climb the cuppola. 551 winding, twisting, uneven, wild steps later we saw the best view of Rome that you could ever ask for. It was well worth the long, slow lines!

Later, after seeing some outdoor markets at Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori, I met up with Matt and Rachel again and we went to a church service at St. Maria in Trastevere, the neighborhood they are living in. The Catholic mass here was in Italian, but familiar from the masses at home. The music was very prevalent and reminded me of church when I was younger, when Penny Arslanian dominated the music at my local churches. It was beautiful, and to actually sit in a mass in a huge, decorated church after visiting so many of them was really a treat! I lit candles there for Jordan Porco and for Patrick Devlin, two people I didn't know very well but wanted to remember and pray for.

After church, we went out for dinner and gelato. The Trastevere area is cheaper and less touristy than the area my hotel is in, so that was a lot of fun. The streets are narrower and remind me more of Granada. We enjoyed dinner and talked about Saint Mike's and our experiences so far....it was so nice to see familiar faces out here! I saw Rachel's apartment and eventually took a cab to the hotel as it was raining and I wasn't sure of the bus system here (the cab was a measly 10 euros, so well worth it!) And this morning, we were up before 7 to start the journey back to Granada.

I really enjoyed my weekend in Rome, though it was hard to plan with so little time and so many monuments! I did not get to see the Pantheon or the Spanish Steps, unfortunately. Although it was a wonderful weekend and I spent time with new friends and old, I am glad to be back in Granada. Thank you for reading, as always.