Updates and Adventures!

Wow!  I'm so sorry it has been so long since I last posted! Things here have been so crazy!  Blogging is definitely much harder than I expected it to be.  I love sharing all the amazing things I'm doing while abroad, but it can be hard to sit down and take the time to update everyone.  I know that in the end it will be so worth it to have my time here documented, its kind of like a travel journal!  

So, time for the updates!  Two weeks ago I made two quick trips to Pisa and Bologna.  I went to Pisa on Saturday and had about 7 hours there.  I learned pretty fast that this was way to much time!  Literally the only two things that are in Pisa are the Leaning Tower and the Duomo.  So, I walked around, got lunch, and sat and read my book.  A tip for anyone traveling to Pisa--don't got for more than 3 hours or take another trip to Lucca which is a quick train ride away!  On Sunday, I made it all the way to Bologna only for it to be rainy and gross, so I returned to Rome shortly after.  On Monday we went to the North American College (NAC) for adoration.  The NAC is a seminary for American diocesan seminarians!  It is a pretty cool place.  It was an interesting experience getting there since there happened to be a monsoon on our way there. We were soaked, but it was still great!!  It really made me miss campus.  Later that week we had some professors from CUA in Rome and they performed an opera for us!  It was amazing to hear some beautiful music during Liturgy of the Word.  After we went out to dinner at an amazing restaurant a few blocks from school.  It was a fun evening.  

Last weekend was a whirlwind of events!  I was studying for midterms all day Saturday and at night I went with Rylee, Tim, and some of his Notre Dame friends out to dinner at a restaurant in Trastevere called Le Fate.  It was delicious and cheap!  They have a student menu for 10 euro that is homemade on site everyday, so good!  After we headed to Scholars to watch the Notre Dame game, they won which made Time pretty happy!!  On Sunday we woke up really early and were heading to St. Peter's for the CANONIZATION of seven new saints, including two from the United States!  There were so many people there and it seemed like all the Filipinos in the world were there!  It's as close as you get to the Philippines without actually going there!  It was an amazing ceremony with the Pope and being there for the canonization for Saint Kateri Tekakwitha and Saint Marianne Cope from the US!  

This past week has been insanity!!!  We had midterms and these were the hardest midterms I have ever taken in my life!!  I studied for hours slept for little, but I made it through--barely!  The one bright side to the week was our trip to the opera.  We went to see La Gioconda!  It was so incredible and the ballet was beautiful! I had such an amazing time!  Rylee's 21st birthday was on Thursday and I am so glad I was able to celebrate with her!!  I baked brownies, since she has been dying for them and went out to dinner.  My big surprise for her was filling the outside of her door with balloons so they fell on top of her when she opened the door, great success!  Now that this crazy week is over I am so ready for Fall Break!  Rylee and I are headed to Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and London!!  It should be amazing!!  Once I get back get ready for updates on my travels!!  

The Floating City

Last weekend we went on a trip to Venice!  It was amazing!!  We woke up early Saturday morning and took a 4 hour train into Treviso, a small city outside of Venice, where we checked into our hotel and had some lunch.  We went to a Celtic Pub down the street from our hotel and had a delicious lunch which included french fries!!  After lunch we were officially headed into Venice.  

We took a train into Venice and once we stepped off the train we were greeted with boats and boats and more boats!  Venice is such a cool city in that there are no cars or mopeds.  It is much quieter than Rome.  The two ways to get around in Venice are on foot or by boat.  There are boats all throughout the canals.  Also, Venice is sinking.  So if you come later in the year there are platforms to walk across because the tide rises and covers the streets!  Crazy!!  We took a boat to San Marco, the Cathedral of Venice dedicated to Saint Mark the patron of Venice.  We took a tour of San Marco and we had free time for the rest of the afternoon.  Rylee, Danielle, and I started walking throughout the streets of Venice.  Before we left our Italian teacher Letizia told us it was very easy, but beautiful, to get lost in Venice, well she was right.  We totally got lost in the streets, but it was amazing.  There were so many cute shops selling Venetian masks and Murano glass.  After awhile walking we decided to get Spritz, the local drink of Venice.  It's sparkling wine with Aperol, an orange flavored liquor.  It was delicious!  By far my favorite drink I've had here in Italy.  After our drinks we needed to get back to San Marco for dinner,  we realized that we were all the way back by the train station.  So, we hopped on a boat and had to take a 30 minute ride to San Marco.  We ran to meet the group for dinner, luckily we made it just in time.  Dinner was so good!  We finally had some seafood--something I have been waiting for since we got here.  We had pasta with mussels, clams, and shrimp.  After we had some salad and calamari!  So good!!  After dinner we headed back to our hotel for the night.  When we got back to Treviso, Caroline, Rylee, Danielle, and I walked around the city and stopped back at the Celtic Pub for some Spritz!

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early to get to Mass.  After a long walk around town we finally made it to a church for Mass.  After we went to mass it was a long walk back to the hotel, a quick breakfast and off to Venice!  When we arrived in Venice, Caroline, Rylee, Danielle, Rich, and I went to Murano--an island off the coast of Venice that specialized in blowing glass.  Let me tell you that the glass here is beautiful!!  They make anything you can think of!!  We walked around the island and saw a gondola race and a gondola parade, it was great!  After our morning on Murano, we went back to Venice.  We went exploring through Venice again, looking at the masks and we even went on a Gondola ride!  We also had an amazing lunch!!  After all of this free time it was time to head back to Rome.  We got on the train and expected a smooth ride back, but about three hours into the train ride we stopped.  Just stopped with no explanation.  After an extra two hours we finally got into Rome at 12:30.  Even with the train problems it was an amazing weekend!!

This weekend I am off on my own to Pisa, Bologna, Parma, and Genoa!  I am super excited!! I'll let you know how it goes!! 

Everyday Life and an Italian Horror Story

After looking at most of my blog posts I've realized that I have been telling you about all of these amazing adventures I have been going on around Italy, but I haven't told you much about Rome!  It is hard to believe that I'm closing in on my sixth week here in Rome.  I have found that I love this city.  There is so much culture, beauty, history, and excitement all in one place.  Its amazing!  The one thing that I have found weird is how normal it feels to be living in Rome.  Rome is home.  

Farmer's Market!

Now that were in the swing of things school wise I am getting the hang of balancing school work and fun in Rome, which is definitely a good thing!  Last week we had our Italian midterm.  After 5 weeks of intense learning it was time to see how much I have comprehended, the good news is that it went very well, but I definitely have some more to work on!  This past weekend was my first full weekend in Rome with no other commitments or responsibilities, which made for a great time to to explore and relax!  On Saturday a group of us from CUA went to a Farmer's Market at Circo Massimo.  If you didn't know this already, I love farmers markets!  I just love the idea of getting fresh and often organic food right from the people who are growing or producing it!  Way to go local business support!  We were able to sample some delicious cheeses, honey, fruit, jam, bread, and olive oil.  And there was a real farm with live animals!  They were even giving out free bags of lettuce! Deal!  The best purchase of the day was organic apple cider, so so good!! 

Bees making organic honey!

Dome in Santa Maria in Angeli

In typically Italian fashion I have been seeing so many churches here.  There is literally a church around every corner!  This week in my Liturgical Art and Architecture class we went to Santa Maria in Trastevere and Saint Cecelia.  They were both beautiful!  After class I went with Rylee over to Tim's apartment for dinner.  Tim was going to make his famous potato soup.  Let it be known that I traditionally do not like soup at all, so eating this soup was a big deal.  I must say it did not disappoint.  It was delicious and I had fun helping Tim and Rylee prepare it!  Some other exciting developments here in Rome was Tuesday's strike.  On Tuesday all public transportation was shut down for a strike to promote the rights of workers.  This was my first experience where a strike has directly effected me.  Luckily it was a beautiful day and the walk to and from Italiaidea was great, but it really made me appreciate how lucky I am to be able to have access to public transportation.  And I am all for the rights of workers, so I am more than willing to deal with the strikes!

Santa Maria in Trastevere

Here is where we switch from everyday life to an Italian Horror story.  This is not urban legend, but true life accounts.  In order to be living here in Rome we must apply for a permesso di soggiorno, a permit that keeps me legally here in Italy.  Back in August I went through the first step of the application--forms and fees.  Somehow I only paid about half of the actual cost of the permesso, which I have been told was the old price.  I thought/knew this was wrong, but when I asked this was the correct price I was told it was correct.  After paying I talked with Dr. Dawson and Aurora who assured me that my "discount" was really just a mistake by the government and I got lucky.  On Thursday we went to do the second step of the process--fingerprinting.  Unknowingly this process took SEVEN hours!  It was terrible.  We left the dorm at 9:30 for our 11:30 appointment, yes it did take an hour and a half to get there.  We had to take the metro to Termini, switch to the B-Line and take that all the way to the end, it seemed like the end of the world.  But, getting there was not yet finished.  We hopped on a bus that took us to the Italian Immigration Office.  Once there we learned there would be a lot more waiting.  At 11:00 the 10am group had not even been let into the building.  By 1:30 we were finally let in for our 11:30 time.  Disaster.  But hey, it gets worse.  When I got there they did not seem to have all of the forms I submitted during the first part of the process.  Since I had my receipts they let me through, but I did not have a good feeling about this.  45 minutes later I was taken back to get my fingerprinting.  I was then informed in a lot of Italian and then broken English that since I didn't pay the full amount during the first part, I could not get a permesso.  Basically what this means is that I do not have a permit to be in Italy, so if I try to leave and reenter the country I will not be allowed.  That may not seem like a big deal, but with fall break in three different countries approaching this is terrifying.  Currently I am at a stand still to see if I will be able to go on all of trips I have planned, but I'm trying to work it out.  I will keep you updated.  As for now, Italian Bureaucracy-1 Amanda-0.  Update on my horror story...all is right in the world I can travel in and out of Italy no problems and I don't have to pay to get another permesso.  Thank God!  Italian Bureaucracy-1 Amanda-2 VICTORY!! 

Other than that huge misstep I am really enjoying myself here!  We are headed to Venice for the weekend, which should be great!!  I can't wait to tell you all about it!

P.S. Here is a hilarious YouTube video my friend Caroline introduced me to. Watch This! You will not be disappointed!

Under the Tuscan Sun

What do you think of when you think of Italy?  Probably what you have seen in the movies--the Trevi Fountain or the Colosseum.  When I think of Italy, I think of the hill towns.  Beautiful untouched landscapes.  Thats Tuscany!  Last weekend was another major adventure here in Italia!  We took one of our mandatory class trips to Tuscany.  This trip may have been "mandatory," but it was an amazing trip and well worth the long bus rides on winding roads!  

Saturday morning was an early wake up to be on the bus ready to leave promptly at 8:00.  We left around 8:15 and were off to the Toscana region of Italy.  Here's a little confession: before coming to Italy I thought Tuscany was a town in Italy, but in reality it's a region!  Good to know!  Our first stop in Tuscany was Siena.  Siena was such an amazing town.  We got off the bus and headed into the center of the town.  Our first stop was St. Dominic's Church.  The coolest part about St. Dominic's was that it was the home parish to St. Catherine of Siena and the relic of her head is there!  it was an amazing faithful experience!  After St. Dominic's we went to a museum and than had some free time to explore.  Rylee and I headed out to find some lunch and stumbled upon a pizzeria/bakery.  We ate pizza and had some incredible cookies!  After lunch we went shopping!  Tuscany is known for their ceramics and their sunflowers, so during our shopping we went into so many beautiful ceramics stores.  In many of them there were people painting the ceramics.  In honor of the trip to Tuscany I bought a beautiful ceramic wine topper with a sunflower painted on top!  Also, during our free time we were walking around and saw Guy Fieri from the Food Network!  Awesome!!  

After shopping we went over to the Duomo to meet Dr. Dawson.  Duomo may not be exactly what it sounds like.  You probably think it sounds like dome, but a duomo is actually a cathedral.  Most cathedrals have domes, so that is where the name came from.  We went into the duomo of Siena and like all of the churches in Italy it was beautiful.  After the duomo we walked to the home of St. Catherine.  It was so amazing to see her home and the place where many of her miracles happened!  This concluded out trip to Siena, so we got back on the bus and headed to Arezzo!  Arezzo is another small hill town in Tuscany about an hour away from Siena.   There we checked into our hotel and went to dinner.  Dinner was a combo of Rigatoni Bolognese and Pork.  Anytime we can get meat at dinner it makes for a great meal!  The bread in Tuscany is different than any other bread I have had before, they don't put any salt in their bread, so it was really sweet--not my favorite.  After dinner Dr. Dawson took us to the center of town in Arezzo where we had grapa--a strong liquor made from raisins.  It was interesting to say the least!

On Sunday we spent the day in Arezzo.  Ever seen the movie La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful)?  Well it was filmed in Arezzo.  We went to many churches and saw some of the oldest fresco paintings in Italy.  My favorite part of Arezzo was the view.  Rylee, Maggie, Danielle, Caroline, and I went up to a park to see this amazing view.  It was so breathtaking.  If you have been keeping up with my blog I also said this about Cinque Terre, but Tuscany is a different kind of breathtaking beauty.  I don't know how to describe it, but it was amazing!  Later we had some delicious pizza and gelato and went to meet the bus for our next activity!

This was definitely the best part of the whole trip!  We went to Castello del Trebbio, (http://www.vinoturismo.it/) a winery near Florence for a wine tasting!  We took a tour of the castle and saw where they house the wine and the olive oil they make.  After we went for our wine tasting.  We had four different types of wine.  We learned the tricks to the color of wine, how to properly hold a glass, the swirling and "legs" to tell the alcohol content, and smelled it for its flavor.  Then we got to do the tasting!  We had a light white wine, a sweeter red wine, a dry red wine (my favorite), and a dessert wine.  The dessert wine was paired with biscotto and we dipped our cookies into the wine.  It was good until I accidentally spilled it on me.  Whoops!  The castle had an amazing view as well!  It was so beautiful!  After the tasting we had a traditional Tuscan meal with risotto, pork, and of course some of the wine we tasted! Delicious!  After dinner we took the long winding roads back to the hotel for the night.

On Monday, our last day we went to two other towns.  First we went to Pienza.  Pienza was possibly my favorite of all the towns we visited.  It was so simple in its beauty.  The shops were precious, the cheese smelled amazing (they are know for their Pecorino), and the view was incredible!  Unfortunately we only had about 45 minutes there.  I would have loved to had some more time to explore.  Our last stop of the trip was Orvieto in the Umbria region of Italy to take a tour of the duomo and have some free time to explore!  A long bus ride later we were finally in Orvieto!  The town was so neat.  It is literally on top of a hill!  We had to take a tram to get up there!  We first went to the duomo.  This duomo is home to the Corpus Christi, the corporal that the Eucharist bled on.  Amazing!!!  After the duomo we had the next 2 hours to ourselves.  Rylee, Danielle, Caroline, and I explored and found a cute little place for lunch.  I had gnocchi with truffles and porcini mushrooms and local dish!  It was so good! We shared wine and had such a great time together!  After lunch scoped out the town and found the church where St. Thomas Aquinas studied.  Another awesome experience!  After that we went to the bus and were headed back to Rome!  It was great to have a weekend out of the city and it was truly an amazing time!!

     

The Great Unknown

Sorry for the delay in posting.  Things here are so busy and the weeks are going by faster than I would have ever expected!  I have officially been here for a month.  its unreal how fast time flies.  I am so happy with my decision to study abroad!  I love every minute!

Last Friday was the feast of the exultation of the Holy Cross, so Rylee and I decided to go to daily mass at the Basilica Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.  This church is home to the relics of crowns from the crown of thorns, a nail from Jesus' crucifixion, the plaque that hung on the cross, St. Thomas' finger, and a piece of the holy cross!  It was hands down the coolest relics I have ever seen and the experience was well worth waking up early and walking through the rain!

Last weekend I went on my first real travel weekend to Cinque Terre.  Cinque Terre literally means 5 lands--its five different towns connected through hiking trails and trains.  It is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  

Cinque Terre is a three and a half hour train ride north of Rome so early Saturday morning, my friends Rylee, Tim, and I got on a train to start our 24 hour adventure in Cinque Terre.  We got into the main train station La Spezia around 11:50 and headed to the first of the five towns, Riomaggiore to get some lunch and check into our hostel.  When we first got off the train in Riomaggiore I was overcome with how beautiful it was.  There was crystal clear water, colorful buildings, and a lively town.  We headed into the center of town and had pizza for lunch.  The four cheese was delicious!  After lunch we set out to get our hostel.  Through an adventure of multiple sets of bad directions, hiking up a hill twice and three times through a tunnel we finally found our hostel.  We got so lucky that our hostel was really clean and we had a private room!  

After checking into our hostel we headed to the last of the five towns, Monterosse to start our hike.  We walked around the cute little town and headed on a hike that we thought would be about 1.5 hours and for intermediate hikers.  Little did we know that the hike would have a million stairs, would take 2.5 hours, and could have easily been described as going to hell, coming back and then going back to hell.  All of that said the view at the end of the hike was completely worth it!  We finally made it to Vernazza and decided to sit on some rocks, go swimming and watch the sunset.  It was an absolutely amazing experience!  The colors are so beautiful and the sunset was incredible!

After watching the sunset we decided to go to Manarola, the second town, for dinner.  Cinque Terre is known for their pesto, its where pesto sauce was created.  Pesto is my absolute favorite, so dinner was easily one of the best pasta meals I have had since I've been in Italy!  We were all completely wiped out after our long day of traveling and hiking, so we decided to walk back to our hostel in Riomaggiore and get some rest for the next day.  

Cinque Terre is known for its trails between the five towns, especially the famous Via Dell'Amore.  We walked that from Manarola back to Riomaggoire and the stars were beautiful!  Since we couldn't see all of the beauty of the trail, we decided to come back in the morning.  When we woke up we had a quick breakfast and headed down to the marina in Riomaggoire.  This town is so adorable and the marina was no different!  Seeing the beautiful colors were a great way to start the morning.  

After going to the marina we headed off to the Via Dell'Amore  The trail did not disappoint!  The view was amazing.  Seriously one of the most beautiful places in the world!  If you come to Italy you must go!  After our walk we went to the third town, Corniglia, which was the only one we had yet to visit.  We grabbed quick panini's and it was back to the train station to head back to Rome.  This 24 hour trip was incredible!  I love Cinque Terre!!! 

P.S. the title of this post is a reference to the song "Keep Your Eyes Open" by Needtobreath.  It seemed to be my motto through hiking!  Check out the song!! 

Meat.

The title of this post is very important to my time here, but we'll get to that later...

It's hard to believe that almost three weeks have passed here.  Time is seriously flying.

Last Friday with my Christology class we went to the Cathedral of Rome, the Papal Basilica of St. John Lateran.  This marks the fourth Papal Basilica that I have been there in two weeks, which means I have been to all of them! Awesome!  St. John's is definitely by favorite of all the Papal Basilica's.  The design of the church had a huge emphasis on light, which attracted me to the space.  It was seriously beautiful!  And being a papal basilica there are some pretty cool relics, like a piece of the table from the Last Supper.  On Friday night we had our first spiritual event at the Augustinian house.  It was really great to meet with Fr. Bill.  He took us to their chapel and hands down it is the most beautiful chapel I have ever been in.  The picture does not do it justice!  Then, he took us up to the roof of their house.  The have one of the most incredible views of St. Peter's Basilica.  My pictures were taken with no zoom!  Gorgeous!   

Last weekend we took our first optional class trip to Casteli Romani.  It was a lot of really great things packed into a very short period of time.  We headed out on a bus at 14:00, also known as 2:00 for the Catacombs of St. Sebastian.  We went down into the catacombs with Claudia--who was once a tour guide there, one more thing she does great!  She showed us the tombs, graves, and plaques for the tombs, but the best part was seeing the tomb of St. Sebastian.  At the end of our tour of the catacombs we walking up to a wedding.  We watched the bride walk into the church and headed back on the bus. 

Our next stop was Castel Gandolfo--the summer home of the Pope.  We saw the Pope's villa and walked to see Lake Albano.  The lake was created by a volcano had had the most amazing view!  After taking pictures by the lake we walked about the sweet little villa.  We had some of the best gelato since I've been here and when we were leaving to get back on the bus we saw another wedding.  This couple had the coolest wedding car I have ever seen!  Precious!

Here is where we get to the meat.  We travelled to the town of Ariccia, a country town outside of Rome.  This town was traditionally a town for those traveling outside of Rome to stop and get a meal, so we came there to get a meal.  We had to hike up this huge hill to get to the town, but it was totally worth it.  The view of the sunset was amazing and we saw yet another wedding!  September 8th was a popular day to get married in Rome!  Ariccia is known for its meat, so we had a traditional country meal.  They brought out a huge family style pile of meat.  We had proscuttio, salami, capicolla, and porchetta.  The porchetta was delicious.  In a country where most of the food is carbs having meat was so good!  On top of the meat we had two kinds of pasta, bread, cookies, and lots of vino!  It was a great trip.  

This week has been a busy one for school work, but were preparing for a nice weekend in Cinque Terre! I am so excited!  

St. Peter's Excursion!

It is so hard to describe how incredible of an experience it was to go to St. Peter's Basilica today with my Liturgical Art and Architecture class.  I simply cannot find the words and these pictures do not even come close to doing it justice.  If you have been to St. Peter's before, you know what I'm talking about, if you've never been add it to your bucket list--simply incredible!  P.S. Happy 21st Birthday Tim!