You know what’s great?

Rome.  Rome’s pretty great.

Even in the rain!

This week we were visited by two of our fellow Crusaders, Alexandra and Lily!  They are both studying abroad in France and did a grand tour of Italy this week.  I was so excited to see them (a semester and a half apart is far too long!) and for the chance to show off Roma!

...so of course we stopped at the J-Force’s favorite gelateria first thing.

and we FINALLY went inside the Pantheon!

Unfortunately I had a big midterm to do, so I did not get to spend as much time as I would have liked with Lily before she had to leave!  But, once I was free for the weekend, Alexandra and I got to explore together.  We walked as much as we could around the city and lots of touristy things.  Alexandra and I went to the Capitoline museum first.  When Alexandra bought her ticket for the museum, she showed her student ID from her French university… and after some language barrier confusion, we both (quite amusingly) ended up with student tickets and French maps.  Um… merci?

I've been looking for this giant head for a while now... found it!

Italian hot chocolate from the Capitoline Museum café, or, hot pudding with more melted chocolate inside and covered in whipped cream.

On Saturday, my friend Marlee joined us for a picnic in Villa Borghese… which got spoiled by a downpour of rain!  So, we took cover in a nearby café and then made our way over to Castel Sant’ Angelo for a peek inside.

And a little bit outside.

Most of the time, though, we walked and talked and tried to stay dry.  I absolutely love walking around Rome, because there is something interesting around every single corner and the city is always beautiful – Alexandra and I would just stop every once in a while to exclaim about the color or the light.  La città è  bella!

THE LIGHT. THE COLOR.

Also, Alexandra apparently has the same fascination as I do with being able to touch the ruins.

Touching old stuff.

Also touching old stuff.

It was so great to see my friends and hear about their study abroad experiences, which are so different from mine.  I hope the girls had a great time this week – I know I did!

I miss her already.

I love Italy.  I really, really do.  And I loved Greece too… but there is something undeniably magical about the British Isles.  Maybe it’s the brick buildings.  Maybe it’s the winding streets entrenched with a history of kings and princesses.  Maybe it’s the tea and the scones.

I would put my money on the last one.

Last semester I spent a few days in London and wanted to stay forever, then a weekend in Edinburgh and thought it was the happiest place on earth (that’s right, surpassing Disney World) – so how could I leave Europe without giving Ireland a try as well?  My friends and I packed up all our stuff and hauled out to the Emerald Isle for Valentine’s Day weekend… and, what a surprise, it was perfect!

We spent most of our time in Dublin eating very, very well – can you say fish and chips as big as your face?

Wrapped up in a brown paper bag to the heat stays in but the grease seeps everywhere... delicious.

We also spent some time at Trinity College, where we found the Book of Kells…

Christine represents the Holy Cross Manuscripts, Inscriptions, and Documents Club at the Book of Kells exhibit. (Yes, we have a club for this stuff. Reason number 502 why I love Holy Cross.)

…and even more time exploring the great big cathedrals in the city, like Christ Church and St. Patrick’s.

The stone from the well of St. Patrick

Christ Church Cathedral

Shamrocks, everywhere!

Cafe... in the crypt of Christ Church Cathedral. Only a little bit creepy. It had free wifi and was reasonably priced... but I just don't think I could eat there!

St. Michan's, the creepiest of the creepy little churches. This is the church that inspired Bram Stoker. It has mummies in the basement... unfortunately we got there just after it closed and didn't get to see them!

On Saturday, we took a train up to the small town of Malahide to see the castle there…

It's a perfect little castle. Malahide was inhabited all the way through the 1970s, and then sold in an auction.

…and then out to Howth, a fishing village on the coast.  There, we got a glimpse of the sea and enjoyed a big Irish dinner – and dessert!

I was particularly fascinated by the rock formation on that island.

We met a seal! There was a man fishing who said they come right up to the shore all the time. This one was pretty little, and he just kept popping his head in and out of the water.

Ireland is beautiful.

The best part about Dublin was just being in Dublin, walking around, talking to people.  We were blessed with some beautiful weather (it was warm and sunny all weekend long!) and we had some even more beautiful breakfasts (Italians don’t believe in breakfast.  It’s so sad.).  My only disappointment was that I didn’t have the time to go west and see more of Ireland, like Galway and the Cliffs of Moher… but that’s just more reason to go back!

I loved all these Dublin doorways!

Also the clocks. I loved the clocks.

Quite possibly the best picture I have ever taken. Imagine our reaction when we walked out the door on a Saturday morning in Dublin to see a rainbow right across the river... a good omen if I ever saw one!

Now, I’m back in Rome and I couldn’t be more thrilled about it.  Of course, the whole city has been turned upside down with the news of the Pope’s upcoming resignation.  Everyone I have talked to is just in shock, very sad, and very nervous – and excited! – about what is to come.  What is going to happen when Pope Benedict officially resigns?  When will the conclave begin?  Will we have a new Pope in time for Easter?

I feel the same as the rest of the city – shocked, sad, nervous, but very excited.  I can’t believe I get to be in Rome to witness this – history in the making – and to take part.  You can bet I will be standing in St. Peter’s Square with the crowd once the conclave begins, watching for the smoke!

But first… midterms.  Oh, reality.  Back to work!

Ash Wednesday is coming up, so that means the Mardi Gras celebrations are in full swing!  In Italy, the season is called “Carnevale”, and it is celebrated with lots of confetti, lots of silly string, and lots of masks.  In fact, Carnevale is essentially the Italian Halloween – everyone (especially the little kids) dresses up.  Carnevale starts in mid-January, but it culminates this week on Fat Tuesday.

Carnevale Masks

Last week I had a free afternoon, so my friend Kelsea and I decided to take a walk in the city center.  We started at the Vatican and made it all the way up to Villa Burghese, where we had our first encounter with the Carnevale celebrations!  Without even realizing it we stumbled upon a horse show and a bunch of people in costume, all in the middle of the afternoon.

Horses, in the middle of the city!

This is a giant ant puppet. I have no idea what it was for, but it was very exciting.

Roman cowboys!

There are Carnevale celebrations all over Italy, but the BIGGEST is in Venice.  We took a day trip to Venice on Saturday to see it.  It was fourteen hours of travel for eight measly hours in the city, but it was absolutely worth it to experience the craziness that is Carnevale.  The city was so mobbed that we could barely walk through Venice’s narrow streets – at one point, my whole group just got stuck and had to surrender to the flow of the crowd moving into St. Mark’s Square.

St. Mark's Basilica

Carnevale costumes are incredibly elaborate.

Christine picks out an HC purple mask. On purpose?

Thankful for our waterbus passes, for our long treks we headed to the Grand Canal and were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful views that accompany Venice’s public transportation.  Some of my traveling companions decided they were never leaving… but I have a feeling that changed when we dove back into the madness on Rialto Bridge.

Classic Venice.

Rialto Bridge

We spent the whole day just walking around the city, taking in the picturesque sights and the millions of masks and costumes.  When night fell, there were live DJs in some of the main squares, and the whole city became a party!  We put on our newly-acquired masks and joined right in.

More classic Venice. It looks like a postcard!

Man in a lion costume. There were a lot of lions.

The confetti was everywhere! Even the streets of Rome are caked with confetti these days.

Venice is a pretty small city and it was overwhelmed with tourists, but I am so glad we made it for a glimpse of Carnevale.  The travel was rough, but the day was a blast.  At the end of the night, it got so cold that it started to snow.  That’s right, SNOW.  I never thought I’d see snow while I was here in the Mediterranean!  Christine and I were feeling some solidarity with our fellow Crusaders who faced Nemo this weekend… though the little bit of snow in Venice was nothing compared to what the Northeast got.  Hope you all are staying safe and warm!

The gondolas. Did we ride one? No. A waterbus is ALMOST as cool and a heck of a lot more affordable for poor college students like myself!

UPDATE:  Breaking news!  Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he will resign at the end of February, due to his health.  My prayers are with the Pope and with the Church fathers as they prepare for this transition… but DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!?

I’M GOING TO BE IN ROME DURING THE CONCLAVE.

More on this next week!

This week, the traveling started up again.  Before I even realized, all my weekends for the whole semester were booked up with trips or with visitors coming to me in Rome!  The semester is going to go by in a flash – I know, because I am already having that oh-my-goodness-my-grand-adventure-is-coming-to-an-end! feeling.  And it’s only February.

Wow, when did it become February?

Anyway.  We started the traveling off with a whirlwind weekend in Florence.  But first, let’s take a moment to discuss one of the greatest days of my life… that is, the Papal Audience on Wednesday!

A Swiss guard! Fun fact: The uniforms were designed by Michelangelo.

The great thing about being in Catholic school again (okay, one of the many great things!) is that they organized this whole opportunity that I wouldn’t have been able to do on my own.  I got to dinner one Tuesday night to find a pile of tickets for the Papal Audience the next morning – free for all of us!  Nearly the entire student body here at the J-Force got up the next morning, put on their Sunday best, and headed down to the Vatican at 7am to wait in line.  And wait.  And wait.  Until we got the best seats and then the Pope arrived around 10.

Parenthetical thought:  So much of my life in Rome revolves around waiting.  Waiting for the bus.  Waiting in line at a museum.  Waiting for the Pope.  No wonder the lifestyle here is so laid back.

I actually cannot believe that I was in the same room.

We were in an audience hall with over 2000 people from all over the world, from pilgrims to seminarians to even a mariachi band!  The Cardinals from the languages represented did a sort of “roll call” of all the groups, and each group got up and cheered for their country or institution.  Around 9:30 the mariachi band decided to start playing, and the entire hall full of people was clapping and singing along.  It was a giant Catholic pep rally!

All joking aside, this truly was an incredible experience and I am so grateful to the JFRC for making it happen.  When the Pope entered, there was a reading done (in each of the languages represented), and then he gave a reflection in Italian (which I understood only a little) and then shorter reflections in the other languages there, including English.  I have never felt so awed or so humble as I did sitting there in the audience hall, listening to Pope Benedict.  He’s the POPE.  And I was in the same room as him, singing along as he led us in the Our Father.  The POPE.  I was, and I am still, speechless.

In other news:  Florence!  We had a two-day weekend, and Florence is about an hour-and-a-half away by train, so my friends and I thought we’d stop by.  😛 It was a weekend full of lots of sightseeing and even more art (Florence has two big art museums, the Uffizi and the Accademia… and in one day, we did both!).  I have now seen more Botticelli and Michelangelo than I knew existed.  And I loved it!

The Florence skyline, as seen from Piazzale Michelangelo

Il Duomo

The group, after successfully climbing the dome! Il Duomo has FEWER steps than St. Peter's, but for some reason, it was so much harder to climb.

Ponte Vecchio, famous for its many, many jewelry stores

Palazzo Vecchio

Il Battistero

The dome (at night this time. It's different.)

This is the semester of the bad puns.  Enjoy.

Last week classes truly started (that is, we finished syllabus week and had to move onto real work.)  So, I had my first on-site class in Rome!  And, boy, was that an adventure.  We had to get all the way down to Tiber Island (nearly the other side of the city) by 9:30am.  Naturally, being the good students we are, my classmates and I left at 8am.  However, the buses in Rome were not cooperating.  Despite leaving an hour and a half before class, we were STILL 15 minutes late.  It might have been faster to walk.

But, despite all odds, we made it to Tiber Island and proceeded to have a really great class about early Roman archaeology.  I’m now even more excited for the rest of the semester!

Tiber Island: once a sanctuary to the healing god... now a hospital. Some things never change.

The rest of the week proceeded as weeks usually do.  Since it’s still winter here in Rome, it rained almost constantly, but we braved the downpour to go downtown again on Wednesday for the JFRC’s Mass of the Holy Spirit in La Chiesa Sant Ignazio.  After mass, all 200 of us went out to dinner (and certainly overwhelmed the local restaurants!).

The dome is not real, it's painted. Though it looks so real that I had to stare at it for a while to realize that.

We didn’t have any classes on Friday, and miraculously, the sun came out!  All weekend it was beautiful, sunny, and mid-fifties, perfect weather for wandering Rome.  Friday we set out in the morning with one goal in mind:  to find the pyramid.  That’s right, Rome has a pyramid.  Apparently Gaius Cestius took a vacation to Egypt and decided he wanted one.  Anyway, that day there was a transportation strike in the city so we had to walk the whole way, but finally we found it at about 3 in the afternoon (after a few coffee and pizza breaks!).

FOUND IT!

Along the way we also happened upon La Bocca della Verita. I came home with both my hands, thank goodness!

We spent the rest of the afternoon leisurely wandering back in the direction of the J-Force, ate dinner, and promptly fell asleep.

That's right, Rome, I'm here to save the day.

The Vittorio Emmanuale Monument. Fondly referred to by the locals as, "the wedding cake" or "that white monstrosity."

I spent most of the next day recovering, except for the few hours my friend and I took to go to an Italian “Knit Cafe” in our neighborhood.  My friend Jenna and I have both taken up knitting, and we were looking for yarn stores in Rome when we were directed to this group.  It’s basically a bunch of old Italian women who come together to drink tea and knit.  We were by far the youngest people there, and most of our companions didn’t speak English, but it ended up being a blast!  Jenna and I had a great time knitting and struggling to make small talk in Italian.  We will definitely go back (if for nothing else but to improve our language skills)!

Then came Sunday.  Sunday was… epic.  Since it was the last Sunday of the month, the Vatican museum was free.  A few friends and I were determined to take FULL advantage of that opportunity, so we trekked down to the Vatican at 6:30am Sunday morning to join the line that was already forming around the walls.  That’s right, we joined the line.  The doors opened at 9:00.

It's cold. It's early. And we're SO EXCITED!

Even though it was January, the museum was still really crowded.  There was a path through the rooms that we weren’t allowed to deviate from, and we were all basically just funneled through.  The museum is so huge that even moving quickly it took us almost five hours – and we didn’t even finish all the exhibits before we were kicked out at 1:30!

Laocoon, one of my favorite pieces.

Raphael's School of Athens! I must confess, I may have forgotten that this was in the Vatican Museum, but I was very pleasantly surprised to turn the corner and find myself facing the likes of Socrates and Euclid.

(The Vatican Museum includes the Sistine Chapel, which was breathtaking, of course, despite being packed with people.  But, no photos allowed!)

After the museum, we took a walk around St. Peter’s Square, stopped in some of the shops right outside the Vatican, and then decided to climb the dome of the basilica.

That’s 551 steps to the top, ladies and gents!  After spending two years climbing the hill at Holy Cross, though, I felt adequately prepared for the climb. 😀  Once we got to the top of the basilica, it was worth every single step (and euro).  We could see the whole city of Rome stretched out before us, the highlight being Saint Peter’s Square right beneath us.  It was absolutely beautiful.

When the walls started to curve inward, we knew we had to be near the top.

We made it!

Roma. Well, I guess technically the Vatican. And beyond it... Roma.

Sightseeing in Rome is a bit difficult.  Because I have studied this stuff for so long and because the structures I am seeing are so iconic, standing in front of the Colosseum or in the colonnades at the Vatican seems to lose that magic it’s supposed to have.  I’ve seen so many pictures of the Colosseum that now it doesn’t seem real, you know?  I have to pinch myself every time I walk by St. Peter’s because it still looks like a painting or a movie set or something.

But, as soon as I got to the top of the basilica and saw the extent of Rome all around me, it truly hit me (and I may or may not have teared up a little).  This is real.  I am here.  How did I get so lucky?

This is what dreeeeeeeeams are maaaaaade of!

Earlier this week a bunch of my (mostly female) classmates cuddled up one evening to watch The Lizzie McGuire Movie – a much-needed taste of America and a little inspiration for our upcoming semester. Later on, I did throw my coin into the Trevi Fountain… but unlike Lizzie, my eyes did not lock with a gorgeous international pop star upon doing so. Alas!

The Trevi Fountain

NOT my life.

During orientation all 200 students did the obligatory trip inside the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Since we had a GIGANTIC group we got to skip the line – woohoo! – and freely explore the whole area. I was geeking out the whole time, of course, and I’m sure I’ll be back many, many times during the semester.

Il Colosseo

The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, in the Forum

On Wednesday, we headed downtown between classes to do some sightseeing. It was cold and raining, but we got down to St. Peter’s Square and finally saw the inside of the Basilica.

The light is always perfect in this city. Divine providence?

Then, we stopped for coffee… and gelato, despite the cold January weather!

Gelato knows no season.

Unfortunately that’s been my only day in the city on my own so far. The torrential downpour is making it difficult to do the two-kilometer trek into the old city, and this first week all of us at the J-Force have been struck down with colds and homesickness. The sun came out today and my on-site class starts tomorrow, however, so that’s soon to change!

Last weekend was the one big field trip the JFRC takes the whole school on. We went south to Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast (still beautiful in the rain and the fog!).

Our bus driver actually pulled over to the side of the road so we could take this picture.

My favorite part of the trip was probably the tour of Herculaneum, one of the smaller towns destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius along with Pompeii, but the wine and cheese tastings that followed are very close seconds.

Mt. Vesuvius! The one and only!

Monzzarella di bufala... fresh from the buffalo. Yum!

I also really enjoyed our visit to the abbey Montecassino, which was founded by St. Benedict.

The fog gave the whole place a really cool, spooky atmosphere, though.

Unfortunately, we got to the top of the mountain where the abbey was located just as a storm began, so we only had time for a quick tour, and then we piled on the buses and headed home before the fog got too bad. That was a bit disappointing – I would have loved to see more of it! All in all, though, it was a great trip. Coming next week… lots and lots and lots of time in Rome.

We landed in Rome yesterday!

After a regular odyssey of traveling, I finally made it to the Eternal City yesterday afternoon. I got to the Loyola Chicago campus, the John Felice Rome Center, checked in, and orientation started.

It’s like freshman year all over again. We’ve all been thrown into this new environment (some of us for the second time this year!) and everyone is scrambling to meet people and make friends. I know I did this freshman year, and I even did this last semester… and yet it seems so overwhelming! Though, it’s quite likely that’s the jet lag talking.

So far everyone has been really nice. This semester is going to be totally different from my semester in Athens, I think. In Greece, we had our own apartments and had to cook for ourselves – which actually made the whole experience more immersive (even though I didn’t speak much Greek!) – but the Rome program is much more an American college campus, that has just been transplanted into Italy! We even have a dining hall, a luxury I never truly appreciated… While I am a little bummed that I won’t really have the chance to learn some Italian cooking and live on my own, I am super grateful for the free time the college campus atmosphere gives me to explore the city.

Because I’m in Rome! I loved Greece, I loved Athens, I will rave endlessly about CYA… but Rome! I have been waiting to get here for what seems like my entire life. Now that I’m here, it doesn’t seem real (though, of course, Athens never did seem very real either!).

Last night one of the recruiters from the program offered to take a few of us on a tour downtown, and I fought the jet lag and joined the trip to the historical center of the city. I wasn’t expecting to see much, just walk around Rome, but all of a sudden we turned a corner and I was standing in front of the Pantheon.

The Pantheon.

Snapped hastily with my cell phone. I'm kicking myself for leaving my camera on campus!

I audibly gasped. That was it for me. This is truly a dream come true.

Like with Athens, I will be doing this blog on a weekly basis. Stay tuned for better pictures, more adventures, and obscene amounts of gushing about Rome!

I’m a bit late for my last Athens post, but hey, it’s the holidays. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas with your families! Last night I celebrated the new year with some of my oldest friends, and honestly, I was sad to see 2012 go!

It’s been a year unlike any other, to say the least. How can I even begin to sum it up? My sophomore year ended on a high note and I spent my summer on campus doing research… but it all seems so long ago now. I can’t think of anything but Athens!

The study abroad experience has been so much more than I ever could have dreamed. True, between the culture shock and the language barrier and a few travel mishaps, sometimes it also became more than I bargained for… but I wouldn’t trade any moment of it. In those four months I have fallen in love with travel, with Europe, and especially with Athens.

I was terribly sad to leave.

But, now that the Greece chapter of my life has come to an end, I’m turning the page to something even more exciting (at least for me!): the eternal city, Rome! Just a few more days and my grand adventure will start again. 2013 will be just as good as 2012… if not even better. Have a happy and blessed new year, everyone!

That’s right, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!  I think I say that every exam season…

Finals are in full swing, so I’m trying to maintain a balance between studying, spending time with my friends, and squeezing in those last couple museums before I leave Athens (though I must confess, as the week goes on it’s becoming more spending time with my friends and visiting museums than it is studying!).  My flight home is on Saturday.  It will be awesome to be home for Christmas… but goodness, where did the semester go?

Christmas season is in full swing here in Athens, which is only making me more excited to go home!  A few friends and I attended our last mass of the semester last night at the only Catholic church in Athens, and they have a huge, intricate nativity set up inside the cathedral.  Syntagma Square, the central area outside the Parliament building, is all decked out in Christmas lights and there’s even an ice skating rink and a big tree in the center – though it’s nothing compared to that tree in front of Rockefeller Center (everything is bigger in America!).

I will miss Athens, but I can\'t wait to be home.

It’s the last week of classes and I’m overwhelmed with work – as it always goes this time of year! – so this post is going to be very, very brief.  It’s finals season here in Athens!  Last week was spent writing papers and preparing presentations, and this week is looking to be about the same.  I’m going to try to squeeze as many trips up to the Acropolis as I can in between my classes though… only two weeks until I’m stateside again.

(Yes, I have actually been taking classes… my parents don’t believe it but I swear it’s true!  I’m here to learn something!)