All Roads Lead to Rome: Did (All) of That Just Happen? In One Day?!

+JMJ+

It's late! Again! Bah, so much for going to bed earlier. Today was SO full! And SO crazy! One of my classmates who was with me all day apparently did some calculations and concluded that of the 13 hours we were out and about, we were on our feet standing, walking, and even running for 10 hours! Why am I not sleeping??

I went to Mass at St. Peter's this morning, so my day started around 5:30am. I never want to get out of my bed in the morning because it is the only place I am warm and cozy. However, the fact that Jesus is waiting for me at St. Peter's Basilica has trumped my warm cozy bed every opportunity so far.

Believe it or not, this is morning, not night time

We were supposed to have Mass on the Clementine altar this morning, but another priest swiped it apparently. (The Clementine altar is pretty much THE premier altar at St. Peter's basilica, built over the bones of St. Peter. It typically has to be reserved months in advance and can only be seen on special tours.) Monsignor said that some cardinal's nephew got it. Ha...nepotism joke...or was it a joke...

After Mass, Monsignor Soseman showed my classmates and me around a little bit. One thing he pointed out was the stone that Charlemagne knelt on. You would never know what it was unless someone pointed it out to you! There's a lot of things like that in St. Peter's. If they put up plaques for everything in the basilica that is significant, the whole basilica would be covered in plaques! Instead, you just have to find yourself a monsignor who knows a lot.

Some of my classmates kneeling on the stone that Charlemagne knelt on, probably praying for his soul

In my "Art and Architecture" class today, we explored the Trastevere neighborhood! First, let me tell you how I got from St. Peter's to Trastevere. Well, after Mass, we obviously needed to find somewhere to buy pastries for breakfast. There are plenty of pastry shops in Rome, they're practically around every corner. However, we weren't looking for just any pastry shop. We were looking for the 30-cent pastry shop that happened to be underground. That's not its real name, but that's exactly what it is. This venture took quite a bit of time, but we finally found it!

All the pastries on the top shelf are between 20 and 80 cents! (That's a great deal, even in euros!)

This venture ultimately left a group of American students who had arrived in Rome only 4 days ago, can speak practically no Italian, and had only been navigating the city with a guide with delicious pastries and only 30 minutes to both figure out how to get to class and actually get there. Here's where the running I mentioned earlier comes in. First, we thought we'd try the bus. Then, we asked an Irish priest for directions. He told us it would be faster to walk. By then, we only had around 20 minutes to get to Trastevere. So we ran...for like 5 seconds, then opted for power walking. It took a while to get there, but we all ended up making it, and only 10 minutes late! Praise God!

In Trastevere, we visited different piazza's and churches. Our professor lives in Trastevere, so he also pointed out the best spots to eat, shop, and go to Mass. We were a little rushed, so my pictures aren't that fabulous, sorry!

Santa Maria Della Scala

Ceiling of Altemps chapel in Santa Maria in Trastevere

Santa Maria in Trastevere

I also went out to eat for the first time today! I ordered a pizza that ended up being HUGE. Thank goodness they made the crust really thin (normal for Italian pizza's, I've heard).

In the afternoon, I did something really exciting and unexpected. Are you ready for this? I went and checked out an internship I might take! I'm still surprised! Four other students and I met with Aleteia and EWTN, both Catholic organizations that work a lot with the media and evangelization. The director of our study abroad program gave us this incredible opportunity. He has some pretty crazy connections, speaks four languages, and is amazing in about a million other ways. I will have to tell you more about him sometime. Anyway, we have another meeting with both organizations on Monday. I'm still not sure if taking the time to do this internship is how God wants me to spend some of my time here in Roma, so I am very blessed to have the weekend to take it to prayer before I have to decide!

One project Aleteia has going for the year of faith is called "A Moment with Mary." They have different groups (parishes, schools, youth groups, pilgrims, etc) lead the rosary around the World Youth Day Cross in St. Peter's Square. Broadcasting it on Italian TV. So basically I was on Italian TV today! Saying the rosary! Didn't see that one coming. (make sure the link takes you to the rosary from January 31st! You should see me on Italian TV!)