Day 3: Nick's 22nd Birthday! (Sunday)

Sorry, I got waaay too tired last night to write about my 3rd day spent in Roma. So here it goes... since it was Sunday, some of the other fellow Catholics (Erin, Cat, Laura) and I decided to scope out a church to attend mass. As I'm sure you know, Rome has no shortage of Catholic churches. We decided on St. Susana, a church within walking distance of the hostel and a sister to a parish in Boston. The mass was conducted in English-- and the priest seemed very nice, except for the time he literally waited for a painful 15 or so seconds for a family coming in late to find their seats. He then says "settle down now!" Ah! I was so embarrassed for the family. Personally, I think it's great that Rome inspires people to attend church, no matter of their regularity of attendance.
As we were walking back to the hostel, we decided to stop into another church we passed along the way. I couldn't remember why the church "St. Maria della Vittorio" sounded SO familiar until we walked inside and realized it housed Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa. For 5 credits, I am doing a group research project on this exhibit. It was breath-taking to see it in person, and really satisfying to know some of the controversy and history behind the sculpture. Apparently the look of surprise/awe on my face as I entered the chapel was pretty entertaining to some British women who were passing us at the door. This serendipitous event truly epitomizes my experience here in Rome so far. It is easy to be unconsciously strolling down the street and just fall upon two-thousand year old ruins or an infamous Bernini sculpture. Rome is essentially a big scavenger hunt. Curiosity is a BIG bonus in Rome.
Since it was Nick's 22nd birthday, I really wanted to do something especially fun. Nick was being a good honors student and working diligently on his upcoming presentation, while I schemed with the Canadian hostel employee (Justin). Justin suggested riding the train to a nearby beach for the afternoon. Excited about the plan, I went outside to convince Nick and the others... just as the grayest looking clouds encroached on the day. On to plan B, climbing the 500+ stairs to the very top of the cupola of St. Peter's Basilica. It is Roman law that no building can be higher than the dome, so the view from the top encompasses Rome in ALL its glory. As we (Erin, Nick, Maggie, Peter and I) stepped into Vatican square lightning flashed and thunder crashed-- which only seemed to add to the sheer power and majesty of this city of God. So, that little voice inside my head told me it wasn't the smartest idea to go to the HIGHEST point in Rome during a lightning storm, but we justified ourselves by thinking that if we did get struck by lightning and die that it would've resembled the Old Testament times of God striking people down with a thunderbolt... and decided we'd be infamous. Catholic newsletters everywhere would publish that story. ha (or maybe not so funny for the moms reading this xo.) Anyway, because of the rain-- the crowds were very small and we zipped through all the lines. The view of the high alter and the inside of St. Peter's from the inside of the cupola and the view of Rome/Vatican city from the top of the cupola was truly amazing. I suggest paying the 5euro and getting the quad-workout and making the trek up the stairs. You won't regret it :)

After we were thoroughly soaked from walking around (and around and around...) the top of the cupola we decided it was time to get dry and some dinner. A group of 8 of us wandered around for nearly an hour looking for the perfect Italian restaurant. We definitely had the "Goldie Locks" syndrome- either the price was a bit too steep, or the menu wasn't quite what we were looking for, or some other objection. Finally after asking some locals for a recommendation we found exactly what we were looking for. The Porca Vacca (the fat cow) was a pizzeria extraordinaire. There were beautiful cases of roasts, streaks, prime ribs, yuuum. We were clearly the only English-speaking people in the entire restaurant and the waiter seemed REALLY irritated that we didn't know Italian when he approached our table. He quickly passed us off to an English-speaking waiter- Ergent (pronounced kinda like 'arrogant') or Eric ('Er-eek') for short. Eric tried SO hard to please us-- helping us navigate the menu, select the best meals available and he even whipped together a handmade pastry/dessert for Nick's birthday. My daily goal was to eat some tiramisu-- and was achieved with a specail Nutella-infused rendition from the restaurant. All of us left much happier (we got a little grump along that loooong trek), very full and excited to return for a bistecca (steak) next time!

So far today, Day 4, we just moved into our new apartments. I am excited to live literally on the Campo de Fiori. Outside my window, you can see all the street vendors, farmers with produce and umbrella/canopy clad restaurants. We had a brief orientation and tonight we have our "Welcome" dinner. I'm getting pretty hungry :)