First week

 Welcome to Rome, so make yourself at home, as I take you around the city and Europe!

The gang with St. Peter's Square in the background.

View of St. Peter's from our rooftop terrace.

From L to R: Matt, Peter, John, Tim, Nolan, Minh, Greg

Colosseum at night.

I realize that many of these posts will get out of hand, as I tend to ramble, but if you want, follow along and have a good time. Sorry, but since this is my first post, it is pretty extensive.  Regardless, benvenuti a Roma!

February 5, 2011

            Got into Fiumicino Airport on Delta at about 7:30 and went to pick up my luggage with no problem.  An absolutely beautiful, sunny day as we came in from the north over the Alps.  We flew down the western coast, looking down upon various Italian towns as they dotted the countryside.  Matt Slattery was the first one at the airport, as I joined him soon after, as did Maddie Coulter and Naomi Boclaire.  Thanos Zyngas, the director of the Bernardi Campus, had sent someone to pick us up, and we arrived at the Bernardi Campus, Lungotevere Delli Armi, 16, after about an hour, at 10 a.m. local time.  After we early birds got unpacked, we went back downstairs, and we went to a supermarket a block away with Mary and Sarah, who are staying the entire academic year.  We got some stuff for a midday meal of pasta, the ingredients of which were paid for in meal tickets.  Italians do not use preservatives, so whatever we buy will go bad if it is not consumed within a week at the very most.  Others trickled in, and the main group arrived at Bernardi shortly before 2, at which time Matt and I just got back from walking to the Vatican, which was simply astounding—and that was just St. Peter’s Square! The giant, ringing colonnades encircling you are very imposing, not to mention the giant sculptures adorning the top.  We probably took the long way there, but on the way back headed straight for the Tiber then took a left, following it until we reached Bernardi. On the way, we passed St. Michael’s Castle, and there were some sketchy street vendors (probably Arabs by the look of it) pawning off fake merchandise as real.  It is very illegal, however, to buy counterfeit items, as it is a 1000 euro fine; also, they take off d own the street, with merchandise in hand, and they often outrace the cops (something tells me that they may have spotters).  Anyway, we had a brief orientation session, but I missed it because I had been locked out on the rooftop terrace by someone thinking that he didn’t need to leave it unlocked when he went down.  So I was up there for 1 ½ hours pounding on the door (not the best start), though to no avail, when part of the group (which numbers thirty-two) came upstairs to look at the terrace, which possesses many inspiring views, not least of which is the dome of St. Peter’s.  At night, after Mass, Matt and I again ventured out, as this time we went over the Ponte Matteotti in the direction of the Angelicum, although we didn’t see it.  We did, however, visit the Piazza del Popolo, over which the Borghese Gardens look, and which contains the obelisk that once stood in the Spina of the Circus Maximus, complete with Egyptian inscriptions.  So, we moved on, looking for the Trevi Fountain (never finding it), seeing the Spanish Steps and Piazza, and we got lost, going in and out of the walls of the city as we tried to find our way back.  We did, fortunately, make it back by about 10:45 p.m.

Sunday, February 6/morning of 7^th, 2011

            Today we had more intensive orientation sessions, but were served some Italian snacks.  We had a midday break, and most of us got out of the house and explored the city a bit.  Some went to the Spanish Steps, but I went down the street toward the Villa Borghese, and Peter D., Nolan, Peter “the Lesser”, Tim, John Baumgardner, Dan, and I threw around a couple Frisbees in the park.  We all met Fr. Carola, who is a very intelligent and great priest. He led us to the Vatican, and we got to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, which is the absolute largest and most beautiful structure, internally and externally, that I have ever seen.  With so many varieties of marble, forming the columns and statues, I was truly left in awe.  We had an official “Benvenuti a Roma” dinner and Mass and Vespers later that night, after which Mary, Jodi, Tim, Maria, Dan, John, Peter D., Nolan, and I left at about 11:30 p.m. to go to the Abbey Theater, a fun but cramped foreign-catering bar, to watch the Super Bowl, which needless to say, did not go well, as the Steelers fell to the Packers, 25-31.  Nothing else to say on that, but we meandered home at about 4:10 a.m., getting to Bernardi at 4:45, allowing me perhaps two hours of sleep.

February 7th, 2011

            First day of class--holy buckets.  Dead tired, but it was a great walk to class, with all the different sights on the way.  With the Trevi Fountain, many churches (not least of which is the Church of St. Ambrose and St. Charles Borromeo), Piazza del Popolo (with the Villa Borghese and its gardens on the left) on the way, and I'm glad that I don't have a 45 minute walk back at UST, or that would get very, very boring.  Dr. Elizabeth Lev talks very quickly, but is very fun, and it should be a great semester.  Got some gelato, and some American tourist in a big Hawaiian shirt asks, in a Southern accent, for "dos gelato". Later that night, I got a great lesson in Italian voltage, when I shorted the circuit in my room, sending off a big spark, and killing my surge protector for my computer—oh well, easy come, easy go.

February 8th, 2011

Front of the Pantheon

             We went on a field trip to the catacombs of Priscilla, taking a couple buses from the Roman bus system, which is untimely at best (we actually took one on the way there since the connecting bus didn’t show).  The catacombs were awe-inspiring, to say the least.  Just to be in the same place that the ancients walked and buried their dead—up to 40,000 graves in this catacomb (1 of 60 in Rome) alone.  Unfortunately, picture taking was forbidden, but in there is the earliest known depiction of the Madonna and Child, as well as many frescos depicting all sorts of scenes, many of which contained Christian symbols of death and resurrection.  The volcanic tufa rock into which these tombs were cut is apparently soft, but when exposed to the air, hardens, making for the ideal place to bury the dead.  Underground burial was increasingly necessary, especially as the population of the city exploded and there was little room left for buildings, much less cemeteries.  One funny story on this is that the Italian tour guide told us that there were “13 km, or 8 miles, of tunnels to go.  Ready?”  We laughed, but he just told us straight-faced, “Is no joke.”  Of course we didn’t end up walking that much down there, but in just one catacomb, there were eight MILES worth of tunnels.  NB: Early Christians did not use these catacombs for hiding places during persecution times, since every catacomb was catalogued, and, therefore, not a good hiding spot—not to mention the decaying flesh all around.

            After the catacombs we went to the Pontifical Gregorian University where we’ll be able to use, but not check out, books from a selection of over either two or three hundred thousand.  Later, some of us went to the Pantheon, which is extremely incredible, and was the first pagan Roman temple to be turned into a Christian church.  Anyway, this post has been long enough, but as Rick Steves (who has become a demigod) would say, “Until next time, keep on travelling. Ciao!”

February 9, 2011

"Papa Bene" delivers his blessing on us at his weekly audience.

            Wednesday we saw Pope Benedict in an audience with thousands of others, but we were relatively close (plenty of pics/video).  That was impressive, and he waved and spoke to many people in several different languages from many different institutions.  The energy in that room was absolutely awesome, and could probably only be rivaled by that shown by people for John Paul II.  Later was Italian class, which was kinda fun (especially considering that I found out that we can have wine in class).

February 10, 2011

Madonna and Child, as depicted on a triptych at
                     the Vatican Museum

Tomb of Pope Pius XII

Today, we went to the Vatican Museums for the first time, and there were many, many pieces of ancient and Medieval and Renaissance art that we saw, including sarcophagi, tapestries, wood panel paintings, mosaics, and oil paintings.  They were all very impressive and apparently very expensive and time consuming to make (go figure).  I took pictures of a lot of those, and also of the long corridor that one of the popes commissioned, which is simply stunning.  Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures in the Sistine Chapel, but maybe one of these days I'll sneak one in.  The scavi tour was really fascinating, as we walked in a necropolis, filled with many mausolea, which lined the streets of the ancient mini-city, which lied right outside the city walls, underneath the present day basilica.  We saw the bones of St. Peter, went in an underground chapel (got some shaky video), and saw the tombs of Pius XII (got a pic) and JPII (couldn't take a pic).  Apparently, however, JPII may be moved to the main level to the left of the pieta (as you look at it) after either his beatification or impending canonization.

February 13, 2011

Statue of Constantine outside St. John Lateran

View of Colosseum from Via dei Fori Imperiali.

            Went to St. John Lateran for Mass at 6 tonight, which ended up being about an hour and a half long walk from Bernardi, but that was because there was a women’s rights demonstration going on in Piazza del Popolo, so rather than being clawed at by a bunch of angry feminists, we decided to walk along the river on the opposite side (where more happened to be walking down the street).  It was amazing as we walked into the old city, seeing the Flavian Amphitheater (or Colosseum) right down the street, with the forum on our right, and Trajan’s Market on our left.  One can only imagine the sight that a traveler or foreign dignitary must have seen as he came down the  main street, seeing some of Rome's greatest architectural and cultural achievements, although with no car pollution to mar the stone.  To hear the roar of the crowd from the stadium, or the roar of people in the Forum Romanum or the marketplace, with all its shops and stalls.  Anyway, I'm rambling again, so until next time, ciao da Roma!