Easter in Rome

Last Friday, I got up at the crack of dawn and flew to Rome to meet Emily. I was convinced we would never find each other but as I was walking to our hostel, there was Emily sitting on the steps of a church! I was so happy to see her. We couldn’t check into the hostel until noon so we walked a few blocks to get our first glimpse of the coliseum. Wow. It is impressive. Then we walked to our hostel and got all settled in. The hostel only had three rooms and ours was the only private one. We had to share a bathroom with everyone. It was kind of like staying in someone’s apartment but it was really nice. Emily was really tired but we decided to go out and explore to help keep her awake. We saw the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, and some other monuments and fountains. We stopped for lunch at a nice Italian restaurant where we could eat outside and enjoy the sunny, 70 degree weather. We ate some gelato at a famous gelateria where they had over 100 flavors to choose from! That night we ate at a little restaurant near our hostel and went to bed pretty early.

The next morning we were up bright and early to catch a bus to the Vatican. We knew there would be a line to get into the Vatican museum so we wanted to get there right as it opened. We had a little trouble figuring out how to buy bus tickets but we did a lot of gesturing and pointing and figured it out. When we got to the museum, the line was very short and we got in right away! We saw tons of art but most importantly we saw the Sistine chapel. It was absolutely beautiful. We stood and stared for quite a while. We had a guide book and I read aloud the information provided. After that we went to the Vatican post office to send a postcard that will be postmarked from Vatican City. We went over to St. Peter’s Basilica but the line to get in was waaay to long so we just looked at the outside. That afternoon we went to the old Jewish quarter and lost ourselves in small, windy streets. We stopped to have lunch on a sunny terrace in a plaza somewhere. Then we saw the roman ruins including the roman forum. We visited a few churches to see the art but couldn’t stay long as all the churches were preparing for Easter Sunday. After our legs were sufficiently exhausted, we went to a grocery store and bought dinner and food for the next day. We weren’t sure what would be open on Easter and didn’t want to starve. We ate in our hostel and planned on going back out for ice cream but Emily fell asleep about 5 seconds after dinner. She was still on New York time I think!

Sunday morning we headed back to St. Peters to see the Easter mass. We had no idea if we’d be able to get in or not but when we got there a nun was handing out tickets so we took some and went on in! We found a seat on some stairs and waited for the Pope to arrive. The mass was in Latin and very far away so we didn’t stay the entire time, but it was really cool to see how many people were there and to see the Pope. We were freezing so we went to get some hot chocolate and coffee. Apparently the coffee in Rome is tiny! I have never seen such a small cup of coffee in my life but Emily seemed satisfied. From there we went to the flea market that is held in Rome every Sunday. It is a lot like the flea market in Madrid. Some things are used, some are new. Some are very practical and some are completely useless. We didn’t buy anything but it was fun to walk around and see. Then we had a picnic lunch in the park. After lunch we walked to the church that has the Bocca della Veritá. We had to wait in line to get our picture taken but it moved quickly and was worth it. We examined the ruins more closely and then went back to our hostel to pack and get ready for our flight to Madrid. We had our last dinner out at a little outside restaurant we had been eyeing up all weekend. It was beautiful and delicious. We walked over to see the Trevi fountain lit up at night and got some gelato at a small shop near there.
Monday morning we got up and took a bus to the airport to catch our flight to Madrid! Emily and I did touristy things in Madrid all day Monday while the weather was beautiful. Tuesday and Wednesday it rained so we had to try to find inside things to do. Tuesday Emily came to school with me and we went to the infamous sandwich shop. Wednesday Emily went to the Prado while I was at school and we met later for tapas. Today I had to say goodbye and it was hard but we really had a great vacation together. Now I have one month left in Madrid before I come home for the summer…and boy will it be a busy one. I still have a trip to Seville and a trip to Paris planned as well as three class field trips and tons of tests and papers. I know this next month will fly by so I will try to take advantage of it!