Rome

Our train arrived at Roma Termini station at around 11:30 on Saturday morning. I stepped off the train and for the first time abroad I actually felt warm, a welcomed sensation. We had a tour planned for 1pm, so we were on a very tight schedule.

We took the Metro to Sean Hudgins' apartment on the outskirts of the city. Sean and I went to HS together, and now we're both at Villanova. His roommates were all travelling for the weekend, so he had an empty apartment that he was nice enough to share with Me, Erin, Megan, and Matt. This was certainly not the end of Sean's courtesies. We quickly dropped our bags off at his place and then caught a metro and sprinted through Rome to the Vatican for our "Skip The Line Vatican Walking Tour," just making it on time.



The tour was about 30 euro and it allowed you to skip all of the lines at the Varican Museum, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistene Chapel. Because it was Easter weekend and expected to be packed (it was) we thought that this tour would be a good idea (it was). We had a hilarious Italian tour guide who explained everything to us and really knew his stuff. It was awesome to hear about the history of the Vatican and the role that the Pope has played over the years. The highlight of this tour was definitely seeing the Sistene Chapel, which is famous for Michaelangelo's ceiling. Without a guide the painting definitely would not have made so much sense nor would I have appreciated it as much. It was also incredible to stand in the room where no more than a month ago the conclave met to select the new Pope. Unlike the Mona Lisa, this blew me away.

Sistene Chepel, not much from the outside

Can't take pictures of Michaelangelo's ceiling, but this gives you an idea

After the tour was over, we walked around to St. Peter's Square to see the Basilica.This had been the one place that I wanted to see while abroad, and it certainly lived up to my years of expectations. The square is massive, as is the Basilica itself, which is easily the most striking and beautiful building I have ever seen abroad or in my life. Pictures or video cannot even capture how immense it is. Because of the Easter holiday nobody was allowed inside, but seeing it from the outside was good enough.

We grabbed a drink and then waited for Sean to meet us in the Square so that he could take us to dinner. It was awesome to have Sean take us out to an authentic Italian restaurant because left to our own devices we most likely would have fallen for a total tourist trap. The restaurant was called Da Gildo and it was an amazing meal. I got carbonara pasta for my first plate and then veal with lemon for my meat dish. Real Italian. After seeing the Vatican and eating an Italian feast, I was pretty content with calling it a day, a life actually. Sean decided he's give us a little Rome night walking tour, and I was in for one of the coolest nights of my whole life.



The first stop on our tour was what looked like a barren vacant lot, but it was actually ancient ruins. Literally in the middle of a bustling part of Rome they had excavated the remains of an old city. Sean pointed us to a staircase which is believed to be the location that Julius Ceasar was assassinated. So cool.

From here we moved on to see the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain, and then the Roman Forum and the Colossuum. All along this tour Sean told us stories and gave us background on each of the sights. I seriously would have paid hundred of dollars for a tour like this and I never expected to see all of those sights in one night.

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

Colosseum

Roman Forum, at night

After walking about 17 miles across ancient Rome and eating some genuine Italian gelato, we arrived at Sean's apartment. It was a long and exhausting day and I went to sleep knowing that tomorrow, if everything worked out according to plan, I would see Easter Mass at the Vatican. CAN'T WAIT.



So Italy does daylight savings time the night before Easter Sunday. This generally confused all of our alarms and long story short, we woke up an hour later than we had budgeted for. We left Sean's place at around 9:00, mass starts at 10:30. We arrived to St. Peter's square and we managed to grab a spot along a railing just outside of the square. We didn't pick up our tickets the day before because we had to rush onto our tour, so I figured we would be stuck on the outside looking in. At around 10:00 they opened a gate that was right near where we were standing and against all odds we managed to get inside the square for mass. This picture says it all:



To give you an idea of where I was standing. The green circle is the altar. The red x is where we were standing before they opened the gate. And the blue x is approximately where we were standing, right in the thick of all the action!

The mass itself was primarily in Italian but I could still generally follow along with what was happening. At the end of the mass Pope Francis got on a cart and rode around the crowds and because I was tall enough (thanks Hubba) I was able to catch a glimpse.

After Mass, the four of us went to Sean's favorite pizza place called Dar Poeta. We ordered four different pizzas and shared them amongst ourselves. This was some of the best pizza I have ever eaten without a doubt. After lunch we went towards the Colosseum. For 12 euro, we got access to the Palatine, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum. The Palatine was an ancient city and garden, and the Forum was essentially a plaza where all of the ancient government buildings were housed. It also served as a marketplace and the center of Roman public life. The history here was unbelievable and I was so surprised that any of these buildings were still standing after thousands of years. THOUSANDS of years. I thought it was so cool to walk around the same grounds where the likes of Augustus, Mark Antony, and Constantine lived and ruled.

After Megan belched so loudly in a temple that the foundatin was rocked, we headed over to the Colosseum. Here we met up with the rest of the Villanova crew. Erin, Matt, Megan, and I sprung for a guided audio tour of the Colosseum which ended up being a great idea, again to give the site some more context and to understand what I was looking at better. Also, since the floor had been removed, you could see all of the different rooms and corridors below where they would hold the wild beasts or gladiators. Again like most things, a picture doesn't seem to do justice.

We left the Colosseum and met Sean again for another delicious Italian dinner. On the way to meet Sean we got an incredible sunset view of the Vatican and stopped at the Spanish Steps, another iconic Roman monument. 

Spanish Steps

 For dinner I got some magic pasta that was essentially mac and cheese, and me and Sean shared some lamb. Another amazing meal. After dinner we went to the Trevi fountain and drank champagne (sparkling wine again) in one of the most beautiful parts of the city. We kept saying how unreal our lives are, so lucky. While we were there we met up with Erin's friend from high school and saw a guy propose to his girlfriend. A pretty awesome hour. After the Trevi we went to a couple of bars, ending up at an Irish karaoke bar called Scholar's with all of our Villanova friends.

This was without a doubt the best Easter of my life, and the highlight trip of abroad for me. We had great weather, an incredible host, and Rome itself is such an awesome city. I can't thank Sean enough for everything, dude you really made this such an incredible couple of days. I definitely missed my family on Easter and would have loved watching some Patriot league baseball but this was a weekend I will certainly never forget!

One of my favorite songs ever.