When in Rome......

Drink abrosial hot chocolate for breakfast. Climb 500 steps up to the cupola on St. Peter's just after sunrise and see the city. Michelangelo's Pieta. Mass in St. Peter's. See the Pope. Run into your brother-in-law's sister. Gelati. Wandering in ancient ruins. Bernini's great sculptures. very big very old churches. Outdoor Bocelli concert. Pizza by the Kilo.

All in a day's work in the Eternal City.

I stuck out my bottom lip when I saw this on a phone booth. Wishing I could.........

Frescoes in San Clemente

Bernini's Moses is pretty cool.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Streets of Rome at night

Also in San Clemente, which happens to also be one of the 25 house-churches of Rome, where it all started. Catacombs of saints beneath the house, a church built on top of the house, and this church built on top of that church! Churches have onion layers in Rome.

The ceiling of St. Mary Major, gilded with the first shipment of gold from the New World.

Bernadette told me about this free concert in piazza popola. I had to skip a free dinner at the hotel but really, now: free Andrea Bocelli conert or free dinner?

It was so cool. Thousands and thousands of Italians, crammed into an this ancient piazza, everyone belting out national Italian songs (it was celebrating Fallen Day, November 4th, a national holiday celebrating the 1918 armistice that ended WWI) with their own blind Bocelli, of whom they are not a little proud. It was not only a great concert, but a great cultural experience. A real "when in Rome do as the Romans..." moment, you know?

We pushed forward in the massive massive crowd as far up as you could go; just behind the seats reserved for military officials.

That is Andrea Bocelli, folks!

Eva, Cate, Lexi and me eating pizza on the Spanish steps after the concert; Horatio i think is taking the picture...we lost Emily and Jeff somewhere in the massive crowd.

At the end of the concert, they threw red, green and white confetti on us.

Liz

My roomie Laura and I chillin' in St. Peter's square

Laura....the diligent student....but really, what better place to study theology of Christ?

Gelati and two very happy girls

Two happy girls trying to eat each other's gelati

His toes were so warn away by so many kisses that they were gilded in bronze

Bernini's The Ecstasy of St. Theresa of Avila (one of those many "hey, we talked about that in art class" moments). The picture is not at all doing it justice...I don't know why I am even putting it up on here.

I love light. I like it even better when it appears on camera the way it looks to the eye. Look at the way the single slender beam seems to come from the rose window right to Christ's head.

I like marble too.

Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome. It was really pretty. St. Catherine of Siena's tomb was there.

Ancient Rome

You can see on the facade of this temple-turned-church were the dirt level used to be (see how high the door is?) back when this used to be a caw pasture, before they excavated it out to reveal the tomb of ceasar and temples and courtyards and such.

I am not quite tall enough to pull off being a goddess. I have no neck.

Mark and the Colloseum. While I am singing the praises of our RD's, our Res Life Director deserves as much. Mark is just amazing. He gives the best tours, too, although you have to keep up with his long stride. I cannot say enough good about him really, so I shall just leave it at that. I am just so thankful for him and his energy and genuine concern and interest in all of the students.

Arch of Triumph. It is so sad to see it and realize all that is means. Jews to this day will not pass beneath it. It commemorates the Romans conquering Jerusalem and making off with the holy objects.

The Jewish built the Pyramids, they built the Colloseum.

The one thingy, that we learned about in art class that I really like but can't think of it's name. I think emporer Trajan built it, maybe, but it has a whole history bas relief etched round and round it.

Mother-house church of the Franciscan TORs in Rome: Sts. Cosmas and Damian, right on the Roman forum in an old temple. It was before this mosaic of Christ and his sheep that Thomas Merton experienced his conversion.

The Tarpeian rock. Lots of bad people, and some not so bad people, got thrown off of this tower.

Olives. I have a new love for olive trees after these ten days in Italy. Like my Austrian love of Sunflowers.

Ruins of Ceasar's private little circus

Vestal Virgins (private joke, I think)

Caitlin's fresh-olive face.

My room-mate Amanda and I sneaked away Tuesday mornign from the bustling city of Rome to a smaller port town on the outskirts, where St. Maria Goretti lived. We didn't get to her actual house, because it was a bit out in the country, but we saw her tomb and a little museum and enjoyed the beach and searched for crabs.

Basilica where St. Maria Goretti's tomb is.

Me, wishing I had brought a change of clothes so that I could go swimming in that deep blue sea. It was warm water, comparatively

Liz and self overlooking the Roman Forum

A shot of Amanda Keena and Jackie Roesler and our awesome RD Katie Hess. They were trying to do a serious picture, and Katie just couldn't do it. I know that feeling.

Just a quick tribute: Katie and Vince have been the most incredible RD's possible and have made this semester so much better than it already was. They have gone way above and beyond and I have so much respect for them. If only all RD's were just like them!

The sacred stairs Jesus walked during his passion that St. Helen had moved from Jerusalem.

St. John Lateran, home parish of the Pope.

The picture is really bad, some guy took it for us and didn't steady the camera enough. It is a pity, because those three girls are some of the prettiest girls I know. My childhood best friend, Kristine, Bernadette (my borther-in-law's sister) , and Caitlin's childhood best friend Shelagh. Bernie and I found each other at Sunday Mass in St. Peters, then Caitlin and I went over to Christendom's campus to chat for a bit on Tuesday night, and we all went out for coffee/champagne on Wednesday night. Some of the best couple hours of my trip, really. It felt almost like talking to family (well, Bernadette could almost be considered family anyway). After going all semester without being able to talk to any family or old friends, it was just what i needed.

St. Paul's outside the walls.

Dinner in an authentic Italian restaraunt, it was fantastic. Clockwise from left are Phil, Alley, Brendan, Liz, Caitlin, Paul, John Paul, and Rob making the funny face. Late night Gelati followed, and some aimless wandering in the streets of Rome.

I see my Papa Benedict

We ambitious Franciscans got up at 5 am to make sure we were the first in line to see the Holy Father for the Wednesday audience. Completely unnessasarily. But Franciscans can have fun even when standing in a line for 6 hours at 7 degrees Celsius. Caitlin and I cuddling to stay warm.

It was still dark when we arrived.

A few hard core couples seeking to have their marriage blessed got there almost as early as we did.

Willie leading the crowd in some good old Steubie praise songs in St. Peter's as we await the Pope. The nuns up front we immensly enjoying it and were cheering us on.

Not zoomed in. This was my view of the pope as he approached in his pope-mobile.

JP being obnoxious, as I am trying to listen to the Holy Father. Actually most of the boys were getting obnoxious, so that I was on the verge of spontaneous combustion into laughter at any time. Fr. Brad was setting the example, 'translating" his own own version of the Pope's message for us, which had more to do with sausages than anything.

This picture was not zoomed in either. This was actually how close I was to the man. A second before this, he blessed us and looked right at us but I wasn't thinking of my camera right then. I can't say that I really made direct eye contact or anything, but I did see him, the direct successor of saint Peter, up close enough to see the wrinkles in his face.

Some of the FUS grad students who live in Rome joined us