Semana Santa Part II- Rome

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Finally I'm getting around to recording my last four days of Semana Santa.

On Holy Thursday I woke up early and walked 15 minutes or so from Niki's apartment to the train station and bought a danish on the way for breakfast. My train was 10 minutes late but other than that everyone ran smoothly. The train was only 1.5 hours and then I followed directions to the hostel by taking the metro a few stops from Termini where the train came in (and the only stop where the two metro lines in Rome overlap). Right when I checked into the hostel I met up with my GW friends from the Newman Catholic Student Center whom I was meeting, Marissa who is studying in Geneva and Matt who is studying in Freiburg. I was so excited to see both of them since I didn't have any family or friends visiting me in Madrid and would have friends to celebrate Easter with.

After I put my stuff down we got a snack at a supermarket on the same block and then bought metro passes and hopped on the bus. Matt had talked to a priest friend from his Jesuit high school in Ohio about getting tickets to the papal masses during the Holy Days and we needed to pick them up at one of the offices near the Vatican. The traffic was pretty bad and eventually we found the right place. Unfortunately, the secretary informed us that she was not able to get us tickets to the mass for Holy Thursday or Good Friday. I was disappointed but not devastated or anything because without Matt I wouldn't have gotten anything anyway but Marissa was a little upset at first.

Then we re-grouped and decided to start our sight-seeing. Thankfully Marissa took charge of most of it because I was burned out from planning Paris and Florence. We started by walking around to visit different churches but a lot were closed in the afternoon. (Do the Italians siesta too??) We decided to stop for lunch and we all ate some delicious pizza in a cafe on a random street. We went to the Pantheon which was pretty impressive. Then Marissa navigated us to the Piazza Navona which was a really cool plaza with a huge fountain. We got our first (of many) gelato and strolled around. Nearby we visited St. Ignatius Church and said a rosary together in the side chapel. Next we saw the Trevi Fountain which definitely lived up to my expectations. We stopped for an early dinner at a cafe and I had the best lasagna of my life!

We chilled at the little restaurant for a while and then headed back to get a seat early at St. Ignatius for the 7 pm Holy Thursday mass that the secretary at the Jesuit recommended. We walked in at 6:10 to find that a mass had already started-and was in German! I recommended that we just stay since we wouldn't know when other masses were going on so we got a seat in the back. Matt was able to say the correct responses in German since he can't find an English mass where he lives but Marissa and I were having a terrible time. We tried to sing along to some of the songs but at one point just started cracking up because we sounded so ridiculous trying to pronounce a language we didn't know, no less that harsh German accent. Mass was 2 hours and I definitely wished I could've gone to one in English but it was an interesting experience. After that we walked to the center of town "wedding cake" monument and enjoyed the sights downtown. Since we had an early dinner we decided to just get a gelato snack before heading back to the hostel. Marissa convinced me to branch out from my beloved mint chocolate chip and so I tried kiwi which was great. At 10 pm we took the bus back to our hostel and went to bed around 11:30 pm.

In general the hostel was very clean and surprisingly better than the Paris one even though the Rome hostel was cheaper at 20 Euros a night. The only problem was that it was far from the center of town and so our game plan was to just pack up for the day and stay out so we didn't waste time. There was no breakfast but we were able to buy fruit and yogurt at the supermarket a few minutes away and there were 3 computers with internet to use for free. My only complaint was the girl sleeping in one of the beds in our 10 person room kept making weird noises in her sleep Thursday night.

Friday morning we woke up at 9 am and then took the metro to the Spanish Steps. It was in the ritzy part of town and the weather was great so it was a really nice walk around that part of time. Matt's friend named Allison from his study abroad program came with us for the morning as well. We stopped at a bakery for a danish and passed by SMOM (Sovereign Military Order of Malta) which Matt was dying to see. It looks like a little embassy and isn't a country but is some kind of "sovereign entity" (whatever that means). It apparently has observer status like the Vatican in the UN. Whatever, it made Matt happy so Marissa and I snapped a few pictures of him with it. Haha. After that we stopped into a church briefly around 12:30 pm right before it closed that had some well-known paintings by Caravaggio who I had studied in art history.

Then we walked to the Colosseum. Of all the things I saw in Rome, I was definitely most impressed by this and the Roman Forum. The line was pretty long and the Colosseum was going to close at 2:30 to prepare for the Stations of the Cross to be held that night with the Pope, so we agreed to go with a English-speaking tour guide we met on the street. It was more expensive than the regular ticket but we figured it might be the only time we would have enough time to go with our packed schedule and the weird hours of places during Holy Week so we decided to just do it. The tour was so-so and I didn't have time to read everything I wanted to (which is probably true for every place I go, because I feel the need to read everything) but it was pretty amazing. We entered around 1:40 and then after the tour had about a half hour to wander on our own. We ate pizza for lunch outside at a place a few streets away and then had gelato next door. This time I went for eggnog and hazelnut; you wouldn't believe how many flavors each place has!

After eating we walked to St. John the Latern to see inside where the Pope had said Holy Thursday mass the day before. Like St. Ignatius, it was pretty big and ornate. I definitely have a lot of pride in the beautiful churches in Spain but one interesting difference I noticed is the Italians used colored marble which the Spanish do not. Right when we walked in we realized mass was about to start in a few minutes at 5 pm so again we grabbed a chair. The mass ended up being 2.5 hours since the line was pretty long to kiss the cross and again for the Eucharist. Like the Holy Thursday mass, there was a small choir of priests singing but nothing big. This time it was in Italian but thankfully Marissa had her "The Word Among Us" booklet which had all of the readings per day so we could read along. The Gospel completely was sung line by line and took a very long time but it was unique.

When the mass ended we decided to return to the Colosseum to stake out our spots for Stations of the Cross. I liked where we stood because it was close enough to see what was going on but not too close. It was so fun all weekend to be surrounded by religious brothers/sisters, priests, and other Catholics in general- I have never seen more different orders in one place in my life! We couldn't help but giggle when we saw a group of priests eating gelato next to us or a group of sisters sight-seeing. Matt definitely got a little over excited and started chasing a group of Missionaries of Charity (the order founded by Mother Teresa) to take a picture.

The Stations were ordered differently than I've always done them. Apparently they are written by someone different every year and this year it was done by an Indian archbishop so it had an interesting international perspective. We got the Italian books so we didn't completely understand but we looked up the English translation on the Vatican's website later and it was pretty cool. We all were given candles with different colored holders and although the Pope didn't say much he opened the Stations and remained up front during it. That started about 9:15 and was 1.5 hours so by the time it was over we were pretty tired and took the metro straight back to the hostel.

Saturday morning we woke up at 7:15 am because we wanted to make sure we could tour the Vatican right when it opened. While we were getting ready Marissa accidentally dropped her Tiffany's bracelet down the drain and so Matt had to ask the front desk for a wrench but he successfully got it out. We left at 8:15 am, grabbed breakfast and took the metro. We got there right at 9 and barely had to wait in line. We got the audio guides which Ashley had recommended since she and Amanda (who I saw in Sevilla) were staying in our hostel but doing their own thing and had gone the day before. It basically took us 4 hours to see everything, and should have taken longer except for the museum was closed for renovations which I was a little disappointed about since I hear they have some amazing things. It was amazing how many Egyptian artifacts and other pieces of art they had in the museums leading up to the Sistine Chapel that I've never even heard of. Apparently the Vatican has started a modern Catholic art collection as well. The Sistine Chapel was awesome but looked a lot different than I pictured it would. The guards had to keep yelling at people to continue moving through and to stop taking photos so it was a little hectic.

We left around 1 and ate lunch (pizza and pasta again! My favorite!) at a place a few blocks outside the Vatican's walls. Our waitress was hilarious and just kept referring to Matt as "boy." I really did find that I loved the Italian people! After lunch Matt and I got gelato (peach and mango this time) while Marissa had tiramisu. Then we decided to use the second part of our Colosseum tickets to tour the Palatine Hill where Augustus build his house and is said to be origin of where the legendary Romulus and Remus lived. We ended up jumping on a tour sponsored by a different company by accident but we figured we were getting the same thing either way. The weather was so nice all weekend and it was great to be outside. We looked down to the Circus Maximus, saw the ruins of the house, and napped on the grass. Then we walked all around the Forum which was so cool.

We decided to take a trip on the metro out to the Basilica of St. Paul, especially since the Pope named this year the Year of St. Paul and we knew we'd get some "extra graces" haha. Unfortunately it was closed in order to prepare for the Easter Vigil but the outside was very pretty. We stopped for dinner at a little pizza place across from the metro. While we were on the metro on the way home Marissa realized she had left her bag of gifts she had bought at the Vatican so we quickly switched trains and ran back. Thankfully, it was sitting up on the counter so she was able to take it home. We knew we had to wake up early again for Easter mass the next morning so we got back around 9:30 pm and then went to bed early.

Easter Sunday we woke up at 7 am, took the metro to the Vatican and arrived to get in line at 8:15 am. We had received tickets from Matt but they were never checked so it seemed like anyone who arrived there early enough could go to the mass. Luckily since we arrived early before the mass started at 10:15 am we got seats pretty far up. There were Swiss Guards everywhere in their special ceremonial uniforms and there was a cool procession before mass started. We were near the center isle but the Pope actually came in from the side. Luckily there was a jumbo screen nearby so I could see him better when he talked. The mass was about 2 hours and ended right before noon. Afterwards he left the altar outside and went upstairs to a little balcony and gave his Urbi et Orbi (basically the Pope's "state of the union" to Catholics that he makes every year on Easter). It was in Italian like the mass but also looked them up in English online and they were pretty interesting because for being such an intelligent man Pope Benedict has a way of simplifying really complex theological ideas so you understand everything he's saying and at the same time there's no extra fluff. My favorite part was the end when he said "Happy Easter" in some 63 different languages or something which was exciting.

After mass we wanted to eat nearby so we chose a nice restaurant but had to wait about 20 minutes because everywhere was so packed. I had an amazing veggie soup a ravioli and we split a white wine to celebrate. On the way back we got gelato (chocolate and vanilla this time) and then got in line to see St. Peter's Basilica. It was SO huge. Marissa and I managed to find a part of the church with confessions in different languages so we were both able to go in English on Easter which was great. We met outside after about a half hour of touring the basilica and then picked up some Easter flowers for the religious sisters that we had arranged to meet at 5 pm. After one of the sisters spoke at the GW Newman Center last year, Marissa contacted the order because their mother house was located close to her home in Connecticut and since then she has visited a few times. Before we came she asked if we could visit their sisters in Rome and so we set up a time to meet. Luckily their apartment was very close to the Vatican. There were only three sisters living them. Two were from the US originally but both spoke Italian fluently (unfortunately I can't remember their names) and St. Raphaela was from Rome. I can't remember the named of their order, but the cool thing about them is that they all do different jobs according to their charisms. One of the sisters worked with an interfaith council, one worked at the Vatican's library, and St. Raphaela worked with their orders' missions. We told them all about our different study abroad experiences and we got to hear about their work and lives in Italy. They invited us to join them for evening prayer in their little chapel and then after that they gave us rosaries blessed by the Pope before we left. They were all so sweet and so interesting to talk to, I'm so glad Marissa invited Matt and I along!

We left their apartment around 7 pm and went to get gelato (again) to a place nearby called Old Bridge. I swear we weren't actually hungry for it, but the sisters swore it was the best in the city so we figured we had to try it. We decided to get one cup and all split it which was good. Then we walked around some souvenir shops and got back to the hostel at 9:30 pm. When I checked my e-mail I realized Ashley and Susan were planning to take the last metro to Termini station at 11:30 and then take the last shuttle bus to the Ryanair airport outside of Rome so we wouldn't risk missing the flight in the morning. I decided that plan was the safest bet so I checked out, said goodbye to Matt and Marissa (both were leaving early in the morning anyway), and hopped on the metro. I got there with more than an hour before the bus left but I had a lot of trouble finding where it was leaving from. People kept giving me different directions and cab drivers kept annoying me by asking me if I wanted a ride to the airport. Finally I found someone who worked for Italy's tourism industry who spoke good English and knew exactly which bus I was talking about and told me it was leaving in 10 minutes and to hustle there. As it turns out I was standing in the right spot originally until Italian police officers pointed me in the wrong direction. I found Ashley and Susan on the bus and we left less than 5 minutes after I boarded so thank goodness I figured it out in time.

We drove on the bus for an hour and then got to the airport around midnight when our flight didn't leave until 6. The airport looked like a refugee camp with everyone camping out on the ground for their early flights. We did the same thing and awoke around 5 am when people started to get in line for boarding. It was pretty awful being up that early without any real sleep but luckily the flight went smoothly and we even arrived early. I went straight home and napped. That night Patricia fed me lots of veggies because she said she knew I had only eaten pizza and pasta in Italy!

Rome was definitely old and a little dirty like Patricia said it would be. I can't say I was completely charmed by it but I think some of that has to do with the fact that I visited during the most touristy time of the year. One thing is for sure- I can't say enough about the food in Italy and the wonderfully welcoming people there. I'm definitely glad I got to celebrate Easter at the Vatican which has always been something I wanted to do before I died but never knew if I would have the chance. I'm also grateful that I spent Holy Week with my friends Matt and Marissa and we were able to make our trip to Rome part pilgrimage and part sight-seeing.

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Photos

Rome
All Italian churches look the same!

Comments

[Christine]

Yay Julie!
That sounds like a fun trip!!! Thanks for writing it!