The Scene International begins the semester by joining Arts & Sciences junior Anne Staeheli who is studying abroad with fellow Jesuit college Gonzaga University’s study abroad in Florence, Italy program.
“When in Rome” seemed to be the overly used saying on our trip to Roma!
Last weekend we took a four hour bus ride from Firenze to Rome and arrived at our hotel just in time for a great meal. On our first night we went to the Trevi Fountain at midnight and threw in our three coins. Even though everyone was absolutely exhausted, we still had the stamina to keep on walking and ended up at a bar called “The Bulldog Inn” (which we all thought was fitting being from Gonzaga). The next day Fr. Brian from Seattle asked me to go with him on a run through Rome at 5:30 a.m. to see part of the maratona di roma course (March 22). It was a little rough getting up that early, since we got back from the bars at 3 a.m. … but “when in Rome.”
Running Rome that early was incredible. We ran up the Spanish Steps, over the river, right by the Ignatius church and so many other famous landmarks. I couldn’t have seen Rome a better way than running it! Later on we did the traditional tours of the main museums and Etruscan ruins, finishing out at the Colosseum.
We couldn’t have had better weather and our tour guide was extremely knowledgable, although he did not seem to understand American student humor. The boys on our tour could never have a straight face with the nude statues, which our guide did not particularly appreciate. After the guided tour we broke off into groups, mainly boys and girls so the ladies could all go shopping and have gelato at the Spanish steps. We had dinner as a group then people scattered to different areas of Rome.
On our way to dinner, our director was pick-pocketed on the bus … however, Payter, our director, is like the Chuck Norris of traveling Europe, so it was really cool to watch that whole situation unfold. It was educational nonetheless to see how the Italian government handled situations like that. After dinner, we of course went to explore the night life in Rome. My friends and I were outside a bar this night and were talking to some Americans from St. John’s University … One of the kids turned out to be a friend’s roommate at Maryland. Small world!
The Vatican was incredible on Saturday morning. The overly cramped and extremely humid bus ride to Vatican City was worth it. I took a million pictures trying to capture the magnificence of it all, but it is something you just have to see. The Sistine Chapel was, of course, amazing. I bought a couple rosaries so hopefully that will keep me safe for the rest of my time in Europe!
The Vatican was so overwhelming. However, St. Peter’s was nostalgic. Every single person was in an absolute shock because it is just so incredible and detailed. My friend Alyson and I ventured off into a side mass that was spoken in Italian. There was a guard that was keeping the tourists out of this area because of the mass that was going on, but Alyson and I asked if we could go in. He looked around to make sure no one else was going to come with us, and then he said “Prego.” We then received communion and wine…..in St. Peter’s. We felt like very big deals to the big guy upstairs.
Rome was very big and busy, so it was nice to be back with the Florentine-style of life. We head to Innsbruck, Austria next weekend to hit the slopes!
Ciao Ciao!