You always appreciate things more when you are put in uncomfortable (in this case, wet) situations. This weekend I learned how much I love London by experiencing a city that contrasts it in so many ways, language being one of the biggest differences. My weekend in Rome was undoubtedly a memorable one.

After discovering the tube wasn't going to open when we needed to use it due to Easter holiday repairs, we had to find different routes. We ended up taking the bus to Heathrow for only 90pence. While on it we finally encountered some 'real' British characters. One jolly, talkative old man was our source of entertainment on the hour long bus ride in addition to a cute little old woman. Once at the airport we had plenty of time to walk back and forth a good number of times before finally deciding where and what to eat. We were shocked and pleased at how smoothly the trip was going (the bus, plane, train) and we easily met up with Beth, Keri, & Alyssa at the Termini Station in Rome. However, we were also greeted by rain. Arriving at the hostel, we were initially put off by it but grew to become accustomed. Sara Shea and Jen had arrived moments before us! The rooms worked out well; we had two to choose from where all 9 of us could hang out together. Later that evening we walked to the Coliseum. Literally, it just appears amid the city's buildings. Grabbing pizza and momentarily escaping the rain we quickly ate and headed to try and find Fr. Denning, the Stonehill representative, at the Arch of Constantine. Instead of finding him and other Stonehill students, we found rain, puddles, and more rain. We stayed for the first couple stations (which were different from the ones we normally head during Lent) and to see the Pope before surrendering to the rain and stopping for gelato on our way back to the hostel. On Sunday we learned he arrived late and just stayed for the first station because he was already soaked! I guess we did a good job on sticking it out a bit longer! Additionally, I just received an email that my homestay family from Worcester was also in Rome for the weekend! What a coincidence. It would have been crazy if we had seen each other considering we didn’t know each other was going.

Saturday we decided to give the Coliseum another chance. Our hostel was in a Roman Chinatown but extremely close to the Termini Station and just under 2 miles from the Coliseum! After getting inside and through security, we took the traditional tourist photos and Beth and I had a gladiator style umbrella fight! Since it was raining practically the whole weekend, we needed to make a joke of it sometimes! Before heading to the Metro we walked through part of the vast Roman Forum and the ruins. Seeing the Arch of Titus and Coliseum from other angles, we were literally in the middle of a huge piece of Roman history. Heading to the Vatican we had every intention to seeing the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel—after all, it is an art history lover’s dream. Much to our extreme dismay the line wrapped around half of the outside of the Vatican Wall surrounding the world’s smallest country. After standing in line for an hour and grabbing some pizza for lunch we accepted the fact that the line wouldn’t move up enough to allow us admittance and even if it did we would be rushed due to closing hours. Resigning to the truth that I wouldn’t see the Sistine Chapel on this trip to Italy I wanted to make sure we didn’t waste the rest of the day and got to see some other sights. After some shopping and combining groups with other Jefferson girls, we left St. Peter’s Square for the day. Trudging through the rain, Beth and I the copilot map readers, lead the ever growing group to the Pantheon. I think I was more excited about this than everyone else due to my art history class. Originally, the Pantheon had multiple temples to different gods inside, but as a whole it is a Christian Church. The coffered ceiling and Italian frescos were amazing let alone the fact that it housed Raphael’s tomb. Our next stop, before returning to the hostel for the night was the Trevi Fountain. Greeted by more downpours, I made my way to the front to make my wishes. The first coin is said to be for a speedy return to Rome and the second, to fall in love. Without knowing this before hand, I wished twice before having to pretend to wish again to achieve the perfect photo (since the memory card ran out and it was switched off!) Back at the hostel we said our Easter prayers for a dry day…

Buona Pasqua! Early Easter morning we were greeted with a dry sky! Making our way to meet Fr. Denning to get out tickets into the Vatican we saw the Square without any one in it. The Guards were still walking the bomb sniffing dogs from rubbish bin to rubbish bin. To our amazement, we didn’t have to stand for Mass but got seats in the 15/16th rows! We were so close and had such a great view that we couldn’t even see the dome of the Basilica from out seats! And to top it off, the sun came out! We thought it was going to be a great day with wonderful weather. But, no such luck. Ten minutes before Mass started, the light rain came. As the Swiss Guard parade started, it fell harder and harder. Our once fantastic view became blocked with thousands of umbrellas. Throughout Mass, the rain didn’t let up. Thunder, lightening, and torrential downpours caused the Pope to skip his homily and make this Easter Mass probably one of the shortest Vatican Masses. After wadding through a river to receive Communion we waited for the final blessing and Easter wish in over 60 languages. Fighting the downpours to find the restaurant for Stonehill’s dinner, we fought the crowds to escape inside. Every article of clothing I was wearing was drenched; not a spot of it remained dry. Enjoying our meal with over 40 other Stonehill students but eagerly waiting to get back to the hostel and change, we ate our fill while seeing the sun peak out of the clouds. Of course the rain stops once we are inside and already soaked! Getting of the Metro and walking up the steps I jokingly said I would cry if it starts to rain again. Only one step further and I felt the drips beginning to fall! Roman weather and I were not on very good terms with each other. Back at the hostel we rested, got warm, made some amazing shadow puppets, and decided on the next plan of action: to see the Trevi Fountain at night, get gelato, and find Easter candy! A small pizza shop was our first stop for dinner. My slices of pizza, one with broccoli and the other with zucchini, were absolutely delicious! As authentic Italian pizza with no tomato sauce—it was heaven! Then I got a canola and gelato, where I discovered cream caramel was my favorite flavor among different samplings of Baci and Nutella flavored and chocolate chip. On our way back, we stopped for candy to make our Easter bag, not basket! Of course we had to get chocolate. We picked up Baci, a Perugian chocolate with hazelnut flavoring, thanks to Alyssa’s expertise and previous sharing of the delicious treat! Back in the room we passed the Baci love notes around (mine was possibly the most awkward/worst love note ever) and ate our other candy while enjoying our last night as the big group.

Monday, the majority of the girls headed to their respective destinations, whether it was their home for the semester after a week of traveling or their first stop of beginning of their spring break. Only Chm and I had the morning and early afternoon to explore some more. Thankfully, the sun peaked through the cloud cover! Up until that point, Rome had been a good trip but we weren't too keen on a swift return. Monday, however, changed out perspective. There were a few drops when we arrived at the Spanish Steps but walking to the Trevi Fountain we became even a little bit warm in our coats! We loved that area because of the fountain, shops and of course, the food! Returning to the same pizza place as the night before, this time we tried a piece with tomato, mozzarella, basil and paprika. Delicious. After some shopping and digesting we returned to our favorite gelato place for a couple more scoops. With time to spare before we had to catch the train (which we still had our original ticket for because we didn’t know we had to verify it ourselves) to the Fiumicino Aeroporto we chose a metro stop from the map and decided to explore. We stumbled upon the Piazza della Repubblica and the Santa Maria degli Angeli Basilica. After exploring inside, we learned Michelangelo had a large influence on the original design and conversion of the ancient Roman baths into the Basilica! We didn’t get to see the Sistene Chapel, but because of some spontaneous exploring, we did see some of his work! The basilica was beautiful. There were frescos, vaulted ceilings, coffered ceilings, and a sun dial. I was searching all over for Pisces, silly me didn’t think to just look for the sun since my birthday was only a few weeks ago! During our exploring and shopping we also experienced some of the Italian attitude. Not surprisingly, I felt more of it considering people were more friendly with me over Chm due to my dark hair and her blonde hair. People that were rude to her were friendly with me. Odd how much your hair color causes people to act. It should be interesting traveling to Spain and Greece, predominately dark featured countries, with blondes!

Seeing all of the historical ruins and art pieces was surreal, as was most of Rome and our seeing the Pope. In general it looks like any city looks with gray clouds covering the sky and graffiti marked on every free surface. However, the amount of ancient history that is embedded in a good majority of the buildings and areas is simply incredible. It took me until the weekend was over, and the sun cam out, to realize this (due to my preoccupation with the rain and being constantly wet) but thankfully it ended on a good note. One which made me want to get back to Italy to see the art history of all the major cities and just experience Venice (a city most of my friends have already visited). The Cliffs of Moher and Venice seem to be my holy grail of travel locations—so close, yet just out of reach.

Traveling with such a large group is bittersweet. It is incredible to be surrounded with a multitude of your best friends, but at time it gets to be stressful. We want to all be together but agreeing and feasibly walking together is extremely difficult. One wants to do one thing, another group something else. The balance is a hard thing to achieve. However, I think we did a pretty good job considering the wet and exhausting circumstances.

The journey home was much longer than getting there due to delays and long customs lines. We made our way back to home sweet London where I spent the night at Chm’s flat since the tube was closing. Up early and back to Harrow I went to one class and had the second cancelled! It was the perfect opportunity for a well deserved nap and some necessary laundry! Yesterday I toured the BBC’s television center, heard the word ‘tele’ instead of television far too much, and saw some studios! After trying to catch up on sleep this week, I’m once again off this weekend to Edinburgh, Scotland to visit a Stonehill friend. Next week, I’ll get back to the regular routine of grocery shopping and paper writing while experiencing my last week of actual lectures in the first week of April! Ciao Italia! It’s good to be back in the UK.