Tag Archives: Piazza Navona

A Week of Lasts

December 22, 2013UncategorizedColosseum, Garbatella, Last Week, Piazza Navona, RomeBella Roma

This week has been a week of many ‘lasts’ I wanted to go to all my favorite places for one last time, as well as do a few new things. Sunday started with our last journey back home to Rome, I don’t know if I’ll ever again be able to say “I’m going home” and have that home be in Rome. But Monday was actually a first, Natalie, Caroline and I met Father Joe Farrell who used to work at Villanova and he gave us a tour of the OSA HQ in Rome and took us out to lunch which was awesome. Later I had my last class in Rome, Performance in Rome which was actually such a nice relief, but the work wasn’t over yet. After class some of us went to our last aperativo at Doppiozeroo, one of our favorite places for dinner.

Tuesday I spent all day pretty much working on my last assignment, a 10 page research paper for Performance, finished it and turned it in a day early so I could enjoy my last few lasts in Rome. For dinner, the Benzoni Girls (our whole apartment: Care, Pallavi, Meghan, Caroline, Natalie and I) went for a last roomie dinner at SPQR….it might have also been our first…haha it was so cute having our whole apartment together! Later that night Natalie, Caroline and I celebrated our papers being done by going to one of our favorite bars that is in Garbatella called Why Not. We hung out had a few drinks and talked with the bartenders (no one was there since it was a Tuesday). We got some pictures with the awesome bartenders there and had a fun night for our last time at Why Not.

Wednesday I went to my last Papal Audience with Pope Francis, I have now been to 11 and this was the first one that I wasn’t working at, I could just enjoy the atmosphere in the square. This was my last time seeing Pope Francis (for now at least), after 15 events with the Pope, starting at week one with the Prayer for Peace. I’m going to miss Wednesdays here, they have been crazy, it’s always my busiest day with work, class all afternoon and a usual night to go out with everyone. This Wednesday after the audience Natalie and I went to the office to say goodbye to TJ and Jose Miguel and everyone in the office. We said bye to Monseigneur Tighe and Archbishop Celli. Archbishop Celli was so sweet, he gave us rosaries blessed by Pope Francis, and wished us and our families well in the future. He then asked us if we had boyfriends and said, “you have to start thinking about these things.” Such a funny way to end a wonderful experience there. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone, especially TJ and Jose Miguel, but it was an amazing experience and I’m so happy I got to work with them this semester. After, we went to Piazza Navona and Campo de’ Fiori did some shopping around and taking it all in again. We walked that route so many times this semester, from the Vatican to Piazza Navona and then Campo and it’s always been a blast. Wednesday night some of us girls went to Dar Poeta for dinner for once again another last. Dar Poeta was my favorite pizza place in Rome hands down. We all split a dessert which I elected myself to cut into 8 pieces since it was right next to me…clearly my counting skills were off becasue I somehow managed to only cut 7 pieces…no one should have trusted me with that job haha. After we stayed out in Trastevere and went to the bars there for one last time. We went to Almalu, a bar with another one of our favorite bartenders, Alessio. We took an absurd amount of pictures there, went behind the bar, we really made ourselves at home. Jess started to create her own mixed shots and the other bartender let her make us all a drink! We hung out for a while and said our goodbyes to Alessio.

Thursday I went on my last run to the Colosseum, I really took the time to enjoy it one more time. It was actually one of the best runs I’ve been on here, it wasn’t too cold or too hot. There weren’t many people around and I could just go, it was therapeutic. Then Jess, Barrie, Natalie and I went to walk around a few places. First we went to a new place, the mouth of truth thats in the movie Roman Holiday, you stick your hand in it, in ancient Rome there was a ritual where you put your hand inside the statue and if you were not telling the truth you couldn’t take your hand out and it would be bitten off. We stuck our hands in the mouth (luckily we kept our hands), took some photos and went into the church that its in the courtyard of, Saint Mary in Cosmedin and saw a medieval crypt. Then we went to the Orange Garden that we went to our first night in Rome, we hung out and enjoyed the view. Everything has come full circle, we started out there all as literal strangers, and we went back after a semester and getting to know each other as great friends, it was sort of poetic. Our next stop was this keyhole garden, you look into the keyhole and you are supposed to be able to see Rome, the Vatican and Malta a small country off the coast of the Mediterranean. It was really beautiful but I didn’t see Malta. The other girls went back and Barrie and walked around Trastevere for a while going into shops, into the Santa Maria church there and just walked around and chatted about the semester and how weird going back home and to school was going to be. That night was our farewell dinner and the Museum class’s exhibition. They also had on display the photos from the CLC as well as showed the Video CLC projects. Our Performance class was supposed to do our performances but sadly only half could fit in and I didn’t get to go…I did not mind one bit. It was nice to get everyone together one last time because not everyone was going to be around on Friday.

Friday was my last day in Rome, I wanted to walk around and take everything in one last time. I walked around Testaccio and Garbatella for a few hours in the morning before taking some time to pack. Later I went to Basilica San Paulo, or Saint Paul Outside the Walls, it is a Papal Basilica in Rome only one metro stop from Garbatella. The basilica was so incredible, I felt so small inside. Lining the top of the inside , there are mosaic medallions of each Pope, Pope Francis was just put in a few weeks ago. The front facade was so beautiful with painted scenes and statues in the portico. Later for our last dinner about half of my program went to SPQR, then we went to the Colosseum to hang out and take it in one last time. There were some tears, but no ‘goodbyes’ only ‘until next time’. I can’t imagine not seeing the people I spent the past four months exploring Rome with, we have a shared experience that not many other people will understand. I made some incredible friends these past four months and had an amazing time. After two hours of sleep I went to FCO airport for one last time for my long journey home.

Visitors (part 3)

December 2, 2013UncategorizedPiazza Navona, Rome, sister, Trevi Fountain, Vatican, visitorsBella Roma

The last of my visitors was TYLER! My parents left Wednesday and I had a short break until Tyler came Saturday. She got to my apartment around noon and was exhausted, later I showed her around Garbtella and we went to apertivo with Natalie and her friends that night before going out to Trastevere. Sunday we went to the end of the Year of Faith mass in Saint Peter’s Square, it was cold but the highlight was Pope Francis holding the box with Saint Peter’s remains in them. Then we walked around Trastevere, went to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. It was a fun day walking around showing Tyler the lay of the land and just hanging with my sister!

Monday Ty went to Florence for the day (and again Wednesday after the audience) to see everything there…I think she saw more than I have there!

Tuesday Ty did a Vatican tour while I was at work and after we covered a ton of ground together. I took her to campo de fiori and showed her the market, then we walked to the Trevi Fountain which was quite eventful, we saw some young girls getting caught by the police for stealing! After our photo shoot we went walked down Via del Corso to the Spanish Steps.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! My apartment decided to host Thanksgiving which became a huge potluck for 27 people. Around noon Natalie Tyler and I went to the butcher to get turkey breast because we were told we wouldn’t find a whole turkey. WRONG, we go to the butcher and ask for turkey for 25 people and he goes into the back and grabs an entire bird. We explained to him (through a nice man who spoke Italian) that our oven wasn’t large enough to cook the wholes thing, well he fixed that problem by chopping it into four pieces. Well we had our turkey and walked back to the apartment and on the way the turkey leg kicked a hole in the bag…this was going to be interesting to say to the least. My roommate Care and I took charge with the turkey she cleaned out the inside while I plucked the remaining feathers off, this was a farm fresh turkey. We managed to cook it and set up the living room for our dinner. Everyone brought other Thanksgiving fixins and it was an authentic Thanksgiving in Rome! We invited some Italians as well, it was some of their first Thanksgiving dinners ever. It was a great night with friends and food, I can’t believe we managed to pull it off, dinner for 27!

Friday was out last day together 😦 we walked around Trastevere, Campo, and Piazza Navona to do some shopping first. Then we went to the Jewish Ghetto for Hanukah they lit the Menorah at 415 in the center I enjoyed seeing the tradition here. Then (ironically) we went to see some churches, the Francesi Luigi with Carvaggio paintings, Santa Maria sopra Minerva to see the Michelangelo statue, and finally the Augustine Church in Rome. I had never been to this one, my parents found it walking around when they were here. It had gorgeous blue ceilings and they had a chapel on the side for Saint Thomas of Villanova! Others included Saint Rita, Monica, and others that are names of buildings at Villanova, it was so cool to see. Friday night we had a nice sister dinner together in Testaccio, Ty had an early flight Saturday and I had my field study for class overnight. It was a quick trip but so much fun to show Ty around when I could. I was so happy she could come (miss you already Ty!) see you in 3 weeks!

Visitors (part 2)

November 20, 2013UncategorizedAntoni Gaudí, Barcelona, Dad, Family, Mom, Piazza Navona, Rome, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican MuseumBella Roma

It has been one crazy week and a half for me, crazier than usual even. Sunday morning my parents arrived in Rome, after a little bit of travel troubles they made it to their hotel around the corner from my apartment, I couldn’t wait to get over there and see them. I was so happy when my dad opened the door to their hotel room, I could not wait to give him a hug. I missed my parents but I haven’t had much time to think about since getting to Rome because I’m always so busy doing a hundred different things. I was excited to see mom too of course, she was pretty out of it from the flight and getting bit by some weird bug or something, I knew she was tired. We went out to Trastevere for dinner one of the best pizza places I’ve been to here called Dar Poeta. We didn’t do much else because they were tired.

Monday they met me for coffee at the Bar I go to every morning before work (and they have every morning since) Dad loved the place and said it has everything you would ever need! They explored some, went to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Forum; I got a selfie from Trevi and met up with them after work and class for dinner. I took them to Monti, we found a cute restaurant where we all squeezed into the table and after we went to the AMAZING cannoli place.

Tuesday was gross and rainy so it was lucky we had our Vatican tour booked for then. We started in the Vatican Museum, went to the Sisiten Chapel and made our way into Saint Peter’s Basilica which I hadn’t actually been inside until Tuesday. We had a great tour guide, Niccolo, who was a historian and had an incredible amount to tell us over the 3 hours. He told us a lot about the history, obviously, but there were also some more interesting stories that he told us that other tour guides may not have known. One of the first was that Pope Pio (Pious) (IX or X, I forget ) went around to the statues collected by all the previous Popes and cut off their genitals (and kept them all in jars) because it wasn’t the place to have nakedness. He said this is where the saying “don’t be so pious” comes from. He showed us all the illusions of the museum and the Rafael rooms. One of the coolest things he showed us was the Van Gogh painting that was sitting in the room of Borges before the Sistine Chapel. He said no one really knows it’s there, it’s just sitting on the wall with no attention drawn to it, it was amazing to see! I loved the Sistine, it was so massive and Niccolo gave a great introduction for what to look for in the massive masterpiece of this room. Then we went into the Vatican which was just striking it was immense, I really felt so small inside there, Niccolo told us that the Statue of Liberty could fit under the Dome inside there. I couldn’t even absorb all that was there, I don’t know if I’ve seen anything that could even come close to the majesty of the Basilica.

St. Peter's Basilica — St. Peter’s Basilica

Wednesday we went to the Papal Audience which I think they enjoyed! We also went to Piazza Navona, the Pantheon and the church where Michelangelo’s statue that you can touch is. It was fun to be their little tour guide and show them some cool things I have seen in Rome. I left them to do some shopping while I had class, and we later met up for apertivo at Doppiozeroo. Early night because we had a long weekend ahead: Barcelona!

Barcelona:

We left Thursday morning for the airport at 5am (joy) and arrived in Barcelona with the whole day to explore! Before we could get into the hotel room we walked around a nearby square with the Cathedral of Barcelona which we went into it was very beautiful. After we walked around the side streets and did some shopping! We went into one store called le coq sportif which was mom’s favorite tennis brand that they don’t carry in the states anymore. By the end of the trip we had gone there multiple times and the people working there knew who we were (embarrassing haha). We walked to La Rambla one of the main streets in Barcelona and they had Dunkin’ there! It was exciting but we didn’t get any :(. After checking into the hotel we walked about a half hour to the beach Barceloneta. It was a little chilly but the sun was out, it was gorgeous. I stuck my feet in the water, it was too chilly to actually go swimming, but I have now been in the Mediterranean Sea from both east and west coasts! After relaxing by the beach we later went to the Picasso museum which was very interesting. It traces his artwork from when he started very young to his work as an older artist. We then went to dinner; a woman mom works with is from Barcelona and told us to go to a tapas place near the museum. It was called El Xampanyet and it was SO GOOD. It was intimidating at first because it seemed like no one spoke English, and there wasn’t a menu you just told the waiter what you wanted. We were a little hesitant to go in, but I went in and found someone who spoke English so we could order. We ate at a standup table and the guy brought us a bunch of little plates that we pointed to that looked good. The place was so busy and crazed, it was a lively atmosphere and a really delicious and unique experience! After we went back to the hotel and had a drink at the bar, mom and I wanted to try churros, so dad and I went on a hunt for them but everywhere was sold out! Dad noticed an ice cream place that had a special “gelato canna bis” we didn’t go in but we wondered if it was real or not!

Friday we went to Segrada Famailia, which is a Church designed by Antoni Gaudí. Construction started in 1882 and they are hoping to finish by 2026! The line to get in was long but it was worth the wait. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The stain glass windows had the entire place illuminated in color it was brilliant! We did the audio guides tour which was interesting there is so much symbolism within the structure and statues, it was absolutely breathtaking. After we spent some time there, we went to Park Guell which was also designed by Gaudí. The guy who sold us the ticket told us the actress from the show Castle, Stana Katic just went in (unfortunately we didn’t see her). Later that night we went to dinner and got churros finally! Before leaving for the airport Saturday afternoon it was rainy so we went to the Palau de la Música, a famous concert hall. We went on a short tour, I didn’t find it all the interesting it was a beautiful building though.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I only was able to meet up with mom and dad for dinners because of work, class, and doing schoolwork but there was a lot of togetherness in Barcelona haha. We had some really nice meals in one at their hotel, in Testaccio, and Campo…we were able to just enjoy spending time together!

Tuesday after work was our last day together. I got caught in a torrential down pour walking from work to their hotel so that was fun (as soon as I got to the hotel it got sunny). We walked all over town in Trastevere, Jewish Ghetto, Piazza Navona, Campo doing our fair share of shopping on the way :). We got caught in the rain on the way to dinner by the Pantheon that night. We had some wine and some laughs, it was a great way to end our loooong 10 days together haha.

I loved having Mom and Dad here it was so much fun showing them around (it was also exhausting). We have some amazing memories that I’ll never forget. It was so special having them here, showing them the city that I’ve called home for the past 3 months. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad and for giving me the opportunity to be here in Rome, LOVE YOU!

Dad, me and Mom by the Roman Forum one night

Never a Dull Moment!

September 15, 2013UncategorizedAppian Way, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, Vatican CityBella Roma

Ciao! It has been another crazy week. We started Intensive Italian class that goes for two weeks, I’m in Italian 101 and we have it for two hours every morning. Even though it’s two hours it doesn’t seem to be that long of a class! The things we are learning are very elementary but have to start at the basics! I’m understanding things somewhat easily from having taken Spanish for so long. But it gets confusing when speaking and writing because I often think in Spanish, and it isn’t the exact same. I’ve learned enough so I can order coffee and some other things when I’m out which makes me feel less like an American.

We also started our Core Course called At Home in Rome which meets once a week. For this class we learn about Rome on site there will be little classroom time and we will be walking around different areas with our professor learning about Italian history and culture. Our professor is awesome! He told us that if we go to any ‘tourist’ places to eat or shop that he wont talk to us anymore and we get an ‘F’ which was funny but somewhat serious. He doesn’t want us to just be tourists but to live like Romans which, is what I would like to do here. During class we met in Campo di Fiori which had a market set up in the square, we walked to Piazza Navona which was a stadium where ancient Romans would go for entertainment. Now in the Piazza there are 3 fountains. The one in the middle is called Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi which means the fountain of four rivers which has incredible details and represents the Nile, the Ganges, the Danube and the Rio de la Plata. One interesting fact was that the sculptor of this fountain’s believed that the church to be built right beside by a rival wouldn’t up hold and would crumble on his fountain. For this reason the figure facing the church has his hand out to shield himself from the possible falling church. We also went to a few churches to see amazing art. In the Church of Santa Maria we saw a Michelangelo statue, Statua del Redentore which is the only Michelangelo statue that can be touched and our professor told us it is the best butt in sculpture. It was incredibly detailed and unreal to be able to touch a work by Michelangelo. We also saw the Tomb of Saint Catherine the patron saint of Siena, our professor then talked to someone who allowed us to see the room where she used to pray which was pretty unbelievable.

This week the other interns and I went to look for our office in Vatican City and I will be working literally right down the street from the Basilica which made things all too real. Throughout the week we did some walking around and our fair share of getting lost. But getting lost in Rome isn’t like getting lost in any city there’s always something to see, a beautiful view, an incredible church, statues, fountains, Piazze (plural of Piazza). One day we went to go look for some shops, got lost and never found them but came across this amazing view of the sun setting over the Vatican and we didn’t even mind that we were lost and weren’t able to find the stores. Also this week I went to the Fontana di Trevi and made a wish! The Trevi is huge and there were so many people there it was a beautiful night to just hang out (and take lots of pics) at the Trevi! I also made another trip to the beach after class on Friday with a few others and it was a beautiful afternoon, beach season is ending so we have to get there while we can!

On Saturday I had quite an exhausting day, Arcadia (our host program) organized events for us throughout the semester, Saturday was a bike tour of the Ancient Appian Way. I haven’t been on an actual bike in I don’t know how long but I wanted to see the Appian Way and this seemed like a cool way to do it! Well riding a bike for the first time in years on an ancient road of dirt and cobblestone proved to be a little difficult for a lot of us, myself included. I got the hang of it after a while but going up dirt hills and over bumpy cobble stone was actually pretty hard! A lot of people had some bike malfunctions and bumps and bruises, of course I was one of them. I was riding by a rock and banged by knee right into it — but I managed not to fall once, even when the chain fell off my bike…The obstacles that came along with the bike tour was worth it though. The Appian Way had some neat history and was a beautiful ride. I only wish I was skilled enough to ride a bike and take pictures because the end of the ride down this big hill overlooked the city and was all too picturesque.