Rome

On the roof of the seminary with St Peter's Basilica in the background

On the train to Rome, Raquel and I had the pleasure of sitting next to Clive and Denice, a hilarious couple from New Zealand. It was sort of chaotic getting onto the train and finding our seats and spots for our luggage, as most people had suitcases and there wasn't really anywhere to put them besides one tiny shelf at the end of each car. Clive and Denice are middle-aged, I would say, and not the most athletic couple. They were breathing so loud and sweating so much when they sat down, and Raquel and I couldn't stop giggling at what they were yelling to each other from across the train as they were trying to find spots for their bags. Try to think of a kiwi accent. Clive: "Where did you put my black bag?" Denice: "I had to abandon it!" The funniest part was that they were so serious about finding places for everything and so stressed out about the situation, and their accent made it sound like they were joking but they were actually not. Clive noticed my camera when he sat down and told me that they are both photography teachers in Auckland. He gave me a free, very animated photography lesson for the rest of the train ride! They told us that anytime we want to house swap with them they are open. I told them I would first need a house to offer.

Trevi

Pantheon

We found our hostel in Rome easily; it was only a few blocks from the train station. They only had mixed dorms, so we were in a room with 7 beds filled with smelly boys. Dropped our stuff off, and started to walk around the city. First to the Fontana di Trevi, a huge fountain where we made a wish, throwing a penny over the left shoulder as they tell the tourists to do. Next to the Pantheon. The columns on the outside made it really impressive, and then we read that it's from the yera 860! Hard to believe because the inside didn't look that old, but cool to picture it being used as a Pagan temple. Then it started raining again :(. We found a gelato place to make us feel better--this one is called Della Palma, near the Pantheon, with over 100 flavors! Then we went to the Colosseum. Sooo cool. We didn't go inside because it was closed (and I heard it's the same thing on the inside as on the outside) but it was cool to see even if only from the outside. Can't believe how old it is -- 80ad. How do those walls stay up? Smart architects. It was cool to walk around there and see the ruins that are still there and to picture the Romans just chillin out in the same place so long ago. We went to a cool wine bar that night.

Colloseum


The next day, we started out at the Vatican. We didn't have much time so we went pretty much directly to see the sistine chapel. There were guards saying no photo, no photo, but Raquel and I have become professional secret photographers over the trip. The paintings by Michelangelo are so impressive and detailed; one could study them for years. We stayed in there for awhile looking at and discussing specific parts of the wall in front, the ceiling, and the painting along the side walls-all bible stories that we deciphered. After that visit, we met my family friend James in the plaza outside St Peter's Basilica. James is the son of a friend of my mom's, and he is in his second year at the seminary to be a priest in Rome! He graduated from New Trier only a few years before us, and was so generous to show us around for a few hours. We first stood in the square while he taught us a little bit about the architecture and some history of the place. He pointed out the pope's apartment, right next to the sistine chapel which one can see clearly from the middle of the square, and even pointed out the window from which the pope gives his weekly sermons on Wednesdays. He then showed us the inside of St Peter's Basilica where we learned so much about the biggest cathedral in the world and about Catholicism itself. He even took us on a private tour underground below the altar where we saw St Peter's bones. That's right, St Peter himself is buried in that church. All the popes are buried down there, and we also saw Pope Jean Paul's grave. We really enjoyed the tour and learned soo much. Afterwards, James showed us around the seminary. It looked just like a regular college dorm! My favorite part was when he took us on the roof (oops, forgot to mention it was the most beautiful day we had had yet--sunny, no rain!) where we could see a wonderful view of Rome.

Sistine Chapel


St Peter's Basilica

Later, Raquel and I walked back, stopping at the Spanish steps. We were walking on a main street towards the hostel, la dee da, and we passed a perfume store. An ad with a violinist caught my eye from across the street, so I went over to look at it. Guess who I found? Joshua Bell in a cologne ad for Mont Blanc, holding his Strad! Ha. We eventually found our way back to the hostel to find two new roommates--two guys from Argentina. They were talking between them and I was eavesdropping, obviously (though a little bit harder to understand Argentine Spanish than Castellano Spanish) and they started talking about the birthright trip from which they had just come. I made some comment about how cool it was that the Jewish community in Argentina is so big, and we started talking about my trip to Buenos Aires. I told them I really enjoyed the service I went to at the synagogue I went to there, and what a small world--one of the guys belongs to that synagogue! Raquel and I then went to the train station to pick up Abigail Russo, another friend from camp who will be in Rome for a few more days with Raquel before they both go to South Africa for the semester. We went to a really good dinner for my last night in Italy. Now, I'm at the gate at Barajas Airport in Madrid waiting for my flight to Tel Aviv...I arrive just in time for Shabbat. Woohoo!!