Goodbye, Rome

Sunday, April 8, 2007 -- Easter

Today we had to be up at an ungodly hour, and Meghan actually got up without complaining too much. But I guess it's because Easter was pretty much the pinacle of her religiousness. Whatever. Either way, I was up at five and got all my packing and such finished. We had to unlock the door from the outside again, but at least we didn't get locked in.

And now is where Meghan's lack of forethought gets to come into play. Because she didn't pay on Saturday when she was leaving, and we got back too late for her to pay the night before, she tried to pay this morning, and when they told her that she couldn't pay until after 7:30, she had a hissy fit. Apparently, the rules don't apply to those that are so religious. Except at CFab, which wouldn't bend to her will. All she could do on the whole ride into Rome was complain about them when, in reality, it was her own fault for not reading the signs. I certainly didn't have a problem with CFab at all. I thought it was an excellent little campground that was very secure and a nice break from the city. But since we would have to come back anyway so Meghan could pay, we decided to leave our things in H-62 so we didn't have to carry them around or pay for a locker in the Termini.

We got to St Peter's around 7:15 and there was already a good-sized line. We got to talking to the family behind us, and they have a niece who graduated from Penn State the year before. So we talked about what we were doing for our study abroad and what we were majoring in at Penn State. It was a very nice conversation.

Then something caught my eye across the street, and it turns out that Laura, a girl from IES Vienna, was in Rome. I ran over and called her name, and I think she was a little surprised to see me there. In fact, I was surprised to see her there -- I didn't know who else was going to be in Rome during break, and it seems like a large number of the people I know in IES were there. I invited her to come stand in line with us, and she said she would, but she had to grab the girl she was staying with. Jordan, her friend, is doing a study abroad in Rome this semester, so Laura had a place to stay right in the city.

We got inside and got aisle seats, which meant we'd get to see the Pope when he walked in. Since we had a couple of hours before the Mass actually started, I amused myself by taking a million pictures of the SG's. I think the one that I took a lot of pictures of knew I was, because after a while, he started smiling for them. How cute.

Then there was a parade before the mass started. There were bands and more SG's -- these had spears!! It was kind of cool, a little bit like the Fourth of July. Then the religious folks started marching in. Near the end was the Pope, who is a surprisingly good walker. I don't know why, but I was under the impression he couldn't walk much since I had only really seen him either in the Pope-mobile or sitting on his Pope-chair.

The mass was pretty. There was a lot of repetition again and lots of languages. There was also a bit of singing, but not as much as we have at home, which I missed a lot. One of my favorite parts of going to church is the hymns, and although there were chants in Rome, there really was no singing. One priest at the Way of the Cross on Friday put it very well. He said the further you get from Rome, the more joyful and beautiful the services are. I think the politics of the Catholic church really interfere with the actual love of God, and it seems like I'm not the only one who thought so.

After the service, there was an extended blessing by the Pope. And by extended, I mean somewhere around twenty minutes. The man is long-winded. I was pretty impressed because I could follow some of it. I'm not sure if I was actually starting to remember my Latin, or what, but it was pretty cool.

From there, I said goodbye to Laura and then Meghan and I headed back to CFab so she could check out. After she had paid up, we went to the Termini and left our bags in storage for a few hours while we went to dinner.

Dinner was over by the Pantheon again, just because it felt like it had become a tradition. We were back at the first restaurant we tried over in that area, and I got the lasagna with white wine and tiramisu for dessert. It was so weird to not be eating ham and scalloped potatoes for Easter dinner, and it really didn't feel like Easter at all. I think that that has been one of the things I miss most about being abroad -- holidays with the family, because when it comes right down to it, I'm very much a homebody. I love being able to go home and see my family and friends and pets. It's nice because I know that no matter what, they'll always be there for me, and that's the best feeling in the world.

Then it was time for one last Roman gelato. We went back to the place that remembered us and I got a medium almond. Up to this point, I had only bought small cones, but since it was my last day, I decided to splurge a bit and go for the big one. It was pretty much amazing.

Then we headed back to the Termini to pick up our bags and Meghan bought a phone card to call home and let her family know that she was still alive and well. It took us both a while to try and figure it out, and then since neither one of us is proficient at phone card usage, she just gave up and called collect. It worked out a lot better. After Meghan talked to her family, we got on the train and prepared for our trip home.

We were in a cabin with two people who were dating, a grumpy old woman, and a very talkative old man. The man and the couple talked for several hours, and then we all went to sleep. Then a few hours later, like four, the old man started up again and talked until about five in the morning. By that time, I was wide awake and I got to watch the sun rise over the Alps. It was absolutely amazing, and I didn't realize how much I had missed the mountains while I was in Rome.

Around 9:30 we got back into Vienna and headed for the apartment. I had a paper to write that was due on Tuesday, and Meghan used the day to recup from the train ride.