Heeeeyyy everyone!!!! So sorry for the delays AGAIN, I swear I have excuses that involved lots of boring details you're most likely not interested in. I was going to tone down the blogging a little bit but apparently me rambling on this site reaches out farther than I even know sometimes (shout out to Danielle Palmquist!) so I feel like I can't let you all down : ) .
Going to Rome for Easter was by far one of the coolest, most amazing things I have ever done in my life. It was worth the ridiculous flight costs, the epic hostel search that landed us in an amusingly shady hostel, the crowds, the lines; I would do it all over again in a heartbeat because that weekend was truly an experience I will never forget.
My journey began early on a Friday morning at Tegal International. I was beyond stoked when I found out I was flying KLM again (if you don't understand this reference see the Bordeaux blog haha). Connected through Amsterdam and landed in Roma Fiumcino at around 5 pm. The plane flew right over the Swiss alps which was an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful sight. The jagged snowy peaks were so close I felt like I could reach out and touch them. I had debated trying to figure out public transit vs. just taking a taxi when I got there, but once I realized the airport was practically on a beach I figured I might be a little out of the city. : ) Luckily, my less than stellar grades in Stanford Italian and my kind of sort of Spanish guided me through the Roma streets, past goregeous fountains and gelaterias, right into the annoyingly unmarked hostel where Gigi and I were re-united! I went through such separation anxiety when we had to leave each other in Poland haha. We went through it again at the end of the Rome trip but luckily are currently working on trips to Amsterdam and Scotland so I don't have to have a complete breakdown yet. After me and my mediocre Polsku had navigated all around Polska I was more than happy to hand over the navigation reigns to Gigi who speaks Italian and is studying in Florence.
I remember expecting myself to absolutely love the Catholic, Vatican stuff but thought I might find the rest of Rome overrated and/or touristy. I was told it was dirty and the former by a decent amount of people. But I didn't find that. In fact, I fell really really hard for Roma. I was warned about the sketchy forwardness of the Italian men, but I largely found them harmless an really liked how I found people like security guards and store owners being a lot more respectful to women than men. In Berlin everyone is equal to a security guard. They yell at them in the same way when they do something wrong. But at the Vatican I remember the guards addressing women, especially older ones and nuns, with so much more respect and patience. It was something I really liked and appreciated.
That first afternoon Gigi and I just wandered, grabbed some gelato and sat in front of an epically beautiful church for a while. Sitting on those marble steps made me really want some Italian wine and cheese, which gave us the brilliant idea of having a wine and cheese picnic on the Spanish steps the next day. We headed back to the hostel to grab Bianca and then booked it to the Colosseum for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. I will never forget how I felt when I first realized how many people were there. Hundreds and hundreds of Catholics, from every imaginable country. Candles swaying, rosaries glinting in the soft glow, a soft but commanding voice spilling out of the speakers in Italian, leading the congregation. I have never had that much of a sense of being a part of something greater than myself. I was raised Roman Catholic and I was in ROME, for the most important 3 Catholic days of the year. It all hit me just then and I was super overwhelmed by it all. A lot of people were waving red and white paper flags that said John Paul II on them, something I found kind of strange until I later found out that he had died around Easter.
After it ended, we wandered around the Colosseum, taking pictures and realizing the epic amount of people tht had just been there. After this around 11 pm, we went on a quest for food. Epic fail. After an hour of walking through closed store fronts, we became more tired than hungry and decided to just go to sleep.
Not a lot of sleep and a LOT of lines was a bit of a theme that weekend, starting with the next morning. We got up super early and booked it over to the Vatican to explore the museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. 2-3 hours of waiting in line but for some reason it really didn't bother me. I just felt really blessed to be a part of everything. The Vatican grounds and museum were absolutely amazing. So much history is in that small country, not just Catholic or Roman but from so many other countries and cultural traditions. The Sistine Chapel was amazingly beautiful but nothing like I expected. It was a huge room that was covered in every square inch by Michelangelo paintings. One of these paintings would have been enough to take my breath away. But there were HUNDREDS. I think my jaw dropped upon entering the room and didn't close again until the Vatican was far behind. We then moved to the basilica, which is the most epic church I have ever seen in my life. It is beautiful in a very monumental way. You go in the front and see huge gilded arches, light streaming through goregeous stained glass windows, etc. That alone is enough to take your breath away. But then you turn a corner and realize that you haven't even seen most of the church. We then set out on a mission of securing tickets for Easter Sunday Mass the next day. Bianca and I had an epic photoshoot in St. peter's square while Gigi handled the Italian sweet talking. She returned victories, golden tickets in her hand. Beyond stoked and on a serious high from all of the Vatican beauty, we embarked on a new mission of having a wine and cheese picnic on the Spanish steps and finding the Trevi Fountain.
The Spanish steps were amazing and beautiful and once again, absolutely packed. On the street in front of us, below the steps you could literally not see the street, just people trying to weave through the crowd in either direction. I personally was in a great place of happiness watching these crowd dynamics, happy with my goat cheese and italian wine. Re-energized, we set out for the Trevi Fountain. So much bigger and more epic than I was expecting. It's also surprisingly not all that easy to find, in the middle of many winding cobble-stoned backstreets. But once your close enough you just follow the sounds of the gushing water and noisy crowd. We threw some coins in, made some friends with a large group of Italian boys, and bought some cheap pasta from a grocery-like store. We had to take a short nap (read: NAP, not going to sleep haha) before our epic Easter Mass adventure the next day.
4:15 am. My alarm rings. Rolled out of bed and onto the Roma subway. We ended up being among the first people in line but it grew at an insanely quick pace. We got there a little before 6. At 7, the line was already half a mile down the street. At 8, the gates open and madness broke loose. It was really a crazy game of don't get trampled by the thousands of people behind you, get past security without delays, and then sprint to the front while avoiding the Vatican guards who will yell at you to slow down. This game Bianca happened to be exceptional at playing haha. G and I got held up by security by Bianca navigated her way to 3rd row center seats. Probably the best seats we could have gotten because the two rows in front of us were reserved. So, so amazing. The Mass itself was mostly in Latin, with readings and prayer intentions in all different world languages. People flew their country flags proudly. I remember turning around to see the crowd at one point and was absolutely blown away. HUNDREDS of thousands of people. I literally couldn't see a place in the Piazza or the street leading out of it that was not packed with Catholics. It was absolutely insane. Again, I felt so blessed to be a part of something that felt so much bigger than myself. It was a feeling that even a torrential downpour throughout the Mass couldn't put a damper on.
Looking like drowned rats, we went back to the hostel after the Mass. The front desk dude felt so sorry for us that he let us use the kitchen even though the hostel kicks you out during the day haha. We made some cheap pasta, passed our for 4ish hours, and decided to get a real meal for dinner. We had been eating so cheap (or not eating at all) that we were ready for a good dinner. I left the Trattoria stuffed, sleepy, and happy. We visited the Trevi Fountain one more time, filmed our own version of the Lizzie McGuired move song (see facebook for the video on Bianca's page haha), and were all ultimately really sad to say goodbye. We talked all night, literally all night, until Bianca and I had to get up (get up, not wake up lol) at 5:15 to go to the airport. I barely remember the trip home because of my severely trip-deprived state but I got home in a state of such contentment and amazement at the experience I had just had. I try to avoid travel blog cliches, but it was a truly a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget.
Much Love and my Slovakia/Vienna blog to come soon!!!!
-Courtney
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