Catuscaritan

The title is pretty simple to explain. This weekend was our chill weekend basically. No trip planned aside from a day trip to Tuscany on Sunday. Somehow it managed to be filled with a lot of really great things, as basically every day does in Italy. The title Catuscary. Catacombs, Tuscany, and the Procession of Mary and an additional update on the Vatican. My weekend in short. For all of you who need the basics, there it is all summed up.

For those of you who are brave enough to continue on. The extended version. So Friday were midterms and there were a lot of things that went on. In the end I had to make decisions about school and classes. After thinking about them a lot I'm confident I made the right choice for me and I'm happy about it. All in all you just need to enjoy it here and I can't worry about little things. That's always been a rough concept for me but I'm working on it. In Italian we watched a movie called L'uomo Perfetto. I am determined to get this movie, I really loved it. Small note to myself to buy it. That night I went out with Rosa and Maureen to Campo di Fiori (where all the bars are) and we had some drinks and Moscatello (my new favorite wine). It was a good time, I called Megan and left her the coolest message ever I'm sure hahaha. That really sums up Friday. Not too much going on.

Saturday I actually got to sleep in. It hasn't happened until then in Rome. This for sure is a record for me because I love sleep, but here I try to do everything and see everything I can. That means getting up far earlier than I really want to. I don't regret it because I've seen so much, but it was SO nice to sleep in. Francesca and I woke up and got around and headed out to meet Justyna, Annie, and Rosa to go to the catacombs. There are something like 11 different catacombs in Rome and they're all outside the city. We chose The Catacombs of Saint Callixtus...I think. I can't remember, it's the Christian catacombs where 8 Popes were buried. It's a long trek and they closed at five so we were rushing to get there. We made it though.

It was definitely a good choice. It happened to be very hot that day (shocker I know) and going underground was awesome. No pictures were allowed so unfortunately I can't show you how it was, but I'll try to describe. It was so cool, literally. At first it was a little eerie being in a place where so many people were buried, then I just became really fascinated with it. There were no actual bones there, I guess most of them are in this church I'm going to tomorrow. You could just see where they were buried, it was a really strange thing. To just know how many people have been buried there, people were murdered there. It's just...very moving. St. Cecilia (my confirmation saint!!) was also buried there. We heard the story of her death and how they found her. She wasn't decomposed when they opened her tomb. A sculpter was there when they opened it and he made a statue of her exactly the way she was. Lying down with a rag covering her head (she was beheaded) and her hands in a specific way. One hand had one finger pointing and the other had three, meaning 1 god in 3 different bodies. That was by far the most incredible thing to see there. Mostly we saw hollowed out holes in the walls where people (mostly children) were buried and alters that they used and still use for church services. It wasn't a long tour but there was a definite overwhelming feeling when you were there. After seeing that I really want to see the ones in Paris now!! So that's a plan for that last week. After that we went and waited for an extended amount of time to catch the bus back. I still don't understand the bus system here, it's basically when ever they want to arrive they will.

About to go into the Catacombs

That night we had a roommate dinner with Rosa and Annie on the balcony. Rosa brought some wine, Jessica made some type of baked pasta, Justyna and Francesca made an amazing salad, and I made a peach dessert. Francesca, Annie, and Justyna all dyed their hair and we just sat around enjoying everything. It was one of those nights that you end up loving for too many reasons to count. And so that ended on a high note.

The next morning we had to be to the bus at 7:30 in the morning. We were running late and of course were the last ones so Stephanie (read up on her from the Cinque Terre post) was over joyed to see us. It was about a two hour bus ride to Tuscany most everyone slept the whole way there. 7:30 in the morning is pretty early. We arrived at Pienza around 11. It's a BEAUTIFUL town that you can walk around the whole way and look out over the Tuscany fields and mountains and....other tuscan things. It looks just like it does in pictures. Usually I think postcards always make something look a million times better, but in this case they look the same. That should tell you just how beautiful it really was. My roommates, Jerry, Rigo, Alexis, Cole, and other JCU kids got some Cafe' and crepes to start off our day. Then we did a short amount of exploring before we had to leave for the other town.

The Roomies


Tuscany

Literally under the Tuscan sun. It's hot.

This time we went to Montepulciano. For all you Twilight lovers out there this is where New Moon was shot. There was a see the Twilight sights tour that I opted out on because I'm not a fan. I don't regret that really hahaha. Instead the rest of us got a head start on the tour of where they make wine, and the best part wine tasting!! Not just wine tasting, but olive oil tasting (on bread) and cheese tasting too. I tried at least ten different wines and decided I do not like dry wines. That's something I learned. I also learned that no matter how terribly disgusting a cheese may look or smell it still could taste good. I don't know if I like that, but I ate some pretty delicious stuff. I did a little bit of shopping then we had to get on the bus again. It was only a ten minute drive this time to a family owned restaurant. And by restuarant I mean huge place where they serve food, make wines and cheeses, give tours, and have a lot of other really cool things. We, however, were there for the food. We got served a five course meal which was AMAZING but at the end we were all struggling to breathe. If I remember correctly the first course was different meats and cheese with artichoke and spices. The second course was spaghetti (probably THE best spaghetti I've had here, which is seriously saying something because I eat a lot of it). The third course was a sald. The fourth course was chicken. The fifth and final course was biscotti dipped in wine liquor, which is a very thick dessert wine that I don't know if you could really drink. It's great with the cookie though!

Wine :-)

I know it doesn't look like it, but I actually kind of liked this.

MMMM Spaghetti!!

After that we headed home, did a small sing-a-long on the bus (yes we were THOSE people) and fell into a food coma. We got back home and right before we got on the train I noticed there were all these people gathered around the bridge. SO being me i had to go check it out, so I did. I found these young spanish people (because I'm pretty sure they were the only ones who spoke English) and found out there was going to be a procession of the Madonna (or Mary) on the Tiber River. It's a traditional Italian ceremony that hundreds of people go to. So I ran into Tony and his friend and we found a spot on the bridge and waited. And waited. We watched the sun set on the river (my first official sunset in Rome, sad I know) and waited some more. Finally the procession started. All these boats came down the river one with a statue of Mary with a light on it. Also on the boat were different priests singing songs. Apparently everyone in Italy just knows these because all the hundreds of people around the river started singing too. It was so crazy to watch all that and hear so many unified voices. Candles were handed out so I lit one and just tried to take it all in. I had time to realize how wonderful Rome is. How much I love it, and how much I really am going to miss it. After a while we left and I ran home and changed. I met up with my roommates, annie, jerry, rigo, alexis, and cole and we headed to St. Angelo castle to go out. All along the Tiber they have tents set up that you can go to to get drinks, food, or anything in between. It was a really fun time and an interesting night, but that's what makes it fun.

The Procession of Mary

Now to discuss something that wasn't part of the weekend. I know that's kind of cheating, but I'm going to break some rules for the good of the blog. Last night Francesca and I went out at night to go see the colosseum, the Trevi fountain, and the spanish steps all lit up at night. It was our super awesome night time tour and SO worth it. If you're ever in Rome, even if you've already seen those sites, go out again and see them at night. They have a totally different feel to them then. We sat at the Trevi fountain and just people watched and thought about life for a while. I think that may be my favorite place in Rome. I came home and after a quick ichat with the parents (they're learning technology so fast hahaha) I went to bed.

The Trevi Fountain


The Colosseum

The Spanish Steps

This morning Francesca, Justyna, and I left the apartment about 9:30 which is still early and went to the Vatican. This is one of those things that you have to really see when you're in Rome, especially if you're Catholic. I had already been there for the Pope like I've posted about earlier, but this time we went to tour the museums, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican itself. We ran into this woman who was recruiting for tours and we took the opportunity. It's better to know what you're looking at and I think it made the whole experience better. First we toured the museums, which is the largest art collection in the world. If you stopped at every piece of art for 60 seconds and didn't stop to eat, drink, sleep, or anything else it would take you 12 years to see everything. We obviously didn't get to look at too much but we did see some amazing things. We saw the Pieta by Michelangelo, we saw the hall of maps, nero's bath tub. Monumental stuff. The paintings were amazing, a lot of time I thought the ceilings or walls were sculpted but it was just the effects they did with their paintings. All of it was awesome. Then we hit the Sistine Chapel. I know I've used the words amazing, awesome, beautiful, breath taking all before. This was none of these. It was better. It was unfortunate it was so crammed but still to look at these paintings and think about the history there left you in awe. It only took Michealangelo 5 and a half years to paint that ceiling which seems impossible to me. I don't think talking about it does it justice at all, unfortunately this is one of those things you honestly have to see in person to truly understand.

This is painted on not sculpted! I think it's amazing.

Next we went into the actual Vatican itself. I'd been in once just for a second but this time I got to look around. I can't believe how beautiful a single building can really be. Everywhere you looked there was some huge work of art or a relic. It humbles you. Especially as a Catholic. I'm not in any means a spectacular Catholic. I could improve in many ways, but I'm happy with my spirituality. However, here it's amazing how overwhelmed you feel with religion. It's all a personal experience obviously but the thousands of people that see this place in a week all seem to be feeling the same way. Justyna, Francesca, and I all took some time to kneel at one of the many alters and pray for anyone we felt we should. I definitely took my time here because how many times do you get to pray at the Vatican. After that we headed down below the Vatican to see where all the Popes were. We stopped for a while at John Paul II's as did many, MANY other people. It's truly amazing how much that man was loved. Then we stopped again at St. Peter's tomb which is mind blowing to think of how old that is as well. I mean he was a diciple of Jesus. Just take some time to think about that. It's weird how crazy emotions are in the Vatican you leave kind of tired and drained but overall I felt great. It was something I'm SO glad I did. I'm not sure how much sense that makes to everyone reading this, I'm sure a lot of it depends on what you believe. But just in general being surrounded by all the art, tombs, and people does something for everyone. That just happens to be my personal experience.




The Vatican

The girls

Inside the Vatican. The throne for Christ's return.


That I believe is most of my weekend\week. I know it's SUPER long this time. School has been crazy and with time winding down I'm trying to fit in everything I can. This weekend I head to Capri, Sorrento, The Almalfi Coast, and Pompeii! I hope to update soon-er for those. Katie, Travis, and Jordan are here next week!!! AHHHH time is flying!! Only one week of school left.

Ciao!
Anna