The past few weeks have been nice for me to relax a bit from serious traveling and work on school--as the semester nears its end, the projects and presentations are plentiful. The jet lag from my many flights of the past two months caught up with me and I found myself taking more naps than usual (I've taken to having an early afternoon "siesta" on my balcony in the sun--just lovely).
I had my first celebrity sighting as well--Owen Wilson! He was sitting on a bike and I literally walked right in front of him. I didn't take a picture, like an idiot, but the nose and the hair definitely gave him away. Apparently he and Ben Stiller are in Rome filming Zoolander 2. So that was cool.
The weekend after I got back from Ireland, I took a day trip to Assisi with the school. Assisi is a small medieval mountain town north of Rome. It was about a 3 hour bus ride and once we got there, we enjoyed a short walking tour of the downtown area including Saint Claire's Basilica and Saint Francis' Basilica--both of which were breathtaking and included tombs of their namesakes. After the tour, we were given a few hours to explore Assisi on our own, so our first destination was lunch (obviously). After a quick bite, we walked--or more accurately, we hiked--through the town up to the Rocca Maggiore, an old fort/castle. The views of Assisi and of the valley were beautiful from the fort; it was definitely worth the hike.
Quite unfortunately, I brought my camera but left the battery charging at home. So please enjoy some google images of Assisi:
Assisi from the Rocca Maggiore
The Rocca Maggiore Fort
The Basilica of Saint Francis
The next week, our friend Danny had a surprise visit from his friend who is studying abroad in South Africa. We decided to show her the best of Rome's nightlife and went to a bar that served Harry Potter themed drinks--really the drinks were just named after characters from the Harry Potter series, although 'The Harry Potter' did have a small lights show that went with it. It was fun anyway and we all had a good time before Easter Weekend truly began.
There are many celebrations in Rome during Holy Week, but one that drew our attention the most was the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. It didn't start until 9:30PM, but a teacher had mentioned in class that week that I mightn't bother going if I didn't get there by at least 7:30. So a few of us headed to the city center, grabbed a quick aperitivo (where I had my first "Moscow Mule"), and tried to find a spot in the mass of people that had arrived since our meal. We ended up trapped behind a group of people and a rather annoying wall and couldn't really see or hear much. One of the few things I did see was a giant cross lit entirely by candles, in front of which stood Pope Francis (I assume).
On Easter Sunday, we woke up bright and early and left the apartment at 7AM (for 10:30 mass at the Vatican). One of my roommates had snagged last minute tickets for the Pope's morning mass, so we jumped on the opportunity and headed to Vatican City. It was cloudy and mild when we left, but the minute we arrived, it began to rain. But we had umbrellas and raincoats so we were prepared--or so we thought. Around 8, we found decent seats and took them and began to wait. The rain got harder, and it got much, much colder. I've told a few people this, and I definitely maintain it--my faith was certainly tested that day. And I failed the test. I ended up leaving about 45 minuted in to the mass--I had to pee and I literally couldn't feel my feet. Those that stayed for the remainder got the amazing opportunity to see Pope Francis close up in his Pope-Mobile as it did a few laps around the piazza. I will forever be angry at myself, but in my defense, my feet were white when I got home.
The view from our seats
The view as I exited
This past weekend, we did a "Rome Weekend"--a term coined by my friends Bridget and Danny meaning you go around and do cool things in Rome for the weekend while you're here.
On Thursday, we went to a gelato shop on the river and got a gelato-making demo. It was really cool, we learned what real, homemade gelato looks like (vs. manufactured gelato), learned how the shop sources all of its ingredients (all fruity gelato got fresh fruit from local markets), and watched the owner make gelato from start to finish. It was a really cool experience, and of course ended with us all getting gelato--they even had a number of dairy-free flavors so I had some too! We then walked through the small-town shopping districts in Rome--Campo di Fiori and Trastevere. Imagine the picturesque cobblestone streets with vendors, restaurants, and small shops along the way--that's what these places are.
On Friday, my roommate Paige and I set off to Ostia Antica which is basically a town of ruins that was the original port of Imperial Rome. It was incredibly beautiful out, and we saw a lot of neat ruins, but unfortunately nothing was labeled so we had zero idea what we were looking at the entire time. It was still pretty though, many of the buildings had beautiful mosaic floors that were still intact as well as murals on the walls.
The Ruins of Ostia Antica
Amphitheater at Ostia Antica
(As seen in the Lizzie McGuire Movie)
Some of the mosaics
These little lizards were climbing around everywhere!
We continued Rome Weekend on Saturday by visiting the "Keyhole View of Rome" atop the Aventine Hill. This is a little-known view of St. Peter's Basilica where you literally look through the keyhole of a door. The basilica is framed by a garden of hedges just behind the door. Just near this, there was a nice park which allowed a fuller view of the Tiber River and surrounding Rome.
Random street on the way up the Aventine Hill
The keyhole view* of St. Peter's
*Not taken by me, you really needed a professional
camera to capture the view!
Blue skies and the Tiber River
After enjoying the view, we went over to our favorite Whole Foods/Costco/Food Mall: Eataly! A few of my friends hadn't been yet, so we went there for some linner (lunch/dinner). We had no idea what to get, but the table next to us ordered three tiered plates of seafood, so we ordered it too. We 'understood it to be something completely different than what we got (which was two plates of calamari and a plate of fried potatoes/meats/veggies). It was still delicious, though perhaps a bit too much fried food for one sitting. After Eataly, we headed back to the apartment to let our stomachs settle.
It's been a good few weeks. The end of the semester is quickly drawing nearer but we try not to think of that! I'll be traveling the next 3 weekends to Sorrento/Pompeii/Capri, Munich and Greece. It should be a fun few weekends, a good way to close out my semester.
Things to look forward to this week: getting a presentation for my business class over with tomorrow, going to the Sorrento area this weekend!
Thanks for reading,
Kasey Ann
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