Fine Settimana di Pasqua

Holy week in Rome was crazy intense! A few weeks leading up to it we started to notice the floods of tourist come in. There were lines at all our usual hang out spots and the buses and streets were super crowded. Even though I guess I am still technically a ‘tourist’ I did not like all these people invading my city, now I blend in with the tourist so my strong attempt to blend in is fading. On Good Friday my friend and I went to the Coliseum for a Stations of the Cross ceremony. There were A LOT of people there and we were all standing in the square right outside the coliseum and between the Arch of Constantine. The pope said a little prayer before and then all the stations were read in Italian. It was basically a bunch of people staring up at a stage where people were reading the story. The coolest part was seeing all the people from all over the place and hearing Papa Bene’s voice I hadn’t heard it since I went to World Youth Day in 2008.
(my view of stations of the cross, Papa Bene is under the red tent)
(Me with my De Michele margharita pizza!)

Saturday a few friends and I took the regional train down to Naples. I had been dying to go there because the artist of my favorite book (Eat, Pray Love) said the best pizzeria in all of Italy was there. We took the slowest, cheapest train which took 3 hours which went through a lot of pretty countryside. We heard some horror stories of how dirty and sketchy Naples was but honestly I didn’t think it was that bad. The city reminds me a lot of Mexico (no offence fam bam.) the streets near the station were dirty and there were a lot of immigrants selling random things but I never felt unsafe except for whenever I was crossing the street. I thought Roma was bad but I don’t believe people in Naples even need a license to drive! We walked around the major city sites, got THE pizza at De Michele’s which was as good as Elizabeth Gilbert said it was! There was a huge line to get in but the cooks were so nice and insisted I take a picture with them. We walked along the water which was gorgeous and then headed back to Roma in time to rest for what comes next.
(Bridget and I on the coast of Napoli)
(my look back of the crowded Piazza)
Easter mass was insane to say the least. Katarina, Catherine, and I got in line outside St. Peter’s square at 6am and there were about 30 people ahead of us, the doors didn’t open till 8:30 and the mass didn’t start till 10:15am. The wait did not feel that long and we meet some cool people but I was the group representative to run through security and try to get us the best seats possible. Once the doors opened it was MADNESS I threw my purse through the security machine and bolted through the crowd, security tried to stop me from running but I just smiled and said Buona Pasqua! I wish I could have film that moment it was great I was literally running with nuns and leaping over chairs and people but my efforts got us in the 3rd row dead center of the altar.
(Papa Bene!)

(Me infront of the St. Peter's- this is where my seat was!)
We ended up being surrounded by a bunch of US students 2 who go to USF, so crazy, but I was literally shaking I was so excited and pumped about our location. Despite it pouring pretty much the entire mass it was great. Communion was super hectic but being in the presence of sooooo many people from all over the world was amazing. I did not realize HOW MANY people were around me until we tried to leave. We just kept walking past tons and tons of people all standing and smashed in gated areas which made me so grateful for my chair way upfront. After mass we had an Easter dinner at Katarina’s apartment and then the next day all schools are closed for Holy Monday so we had a lovely picnic in Roma’s huge park Villa Borghese.
(Papa Bene's final message from his balcony)

Quando una ragazza irlandese va a Dublin

So this past weekend I spent three days in Dublin, despite how far it is (In European retrospect) it was one of the cheapest cities to fly to from Roma. A good friend of mine, Casey McKinnon is studying abroad there so I was able to stay with her. I got there late on Thursday and she was waiting for me at the airport shuttle stop by her school, University of College Dublin. We spent a lovely night together catching up and eating mac and cheese, another American food I weirdly miss.

Friday we started on Grafton St. which is where you go to see and be seen in Dublin, as far as fashion is concerned. They had an amazing H&M, a few guilty purchases were made but the best thing Dublin has is starbucks!! Even though I am surrounded by the ‘best’ coffee in Roma I miss my starbucks. Grafton St. also has a ton of pubs and live performers and I have recently been getting into Irish rocker/folk tunes so that was fun. At the end of Grafton is St. Stephen’s Green which is no doubly green, as is most of Dublin and Ireland in general. St. Stephens is very calm and peaceful, a lot of families strolling around, from there we went to Trinity College. This school looks straight out of a Harry Potter movie, it was nice to walk around and pretend to be an intellectual. I missed Dublin’s film festival by 2 weeks but we found the Irish Film Institute and we bought tickets to a later showing of an indie film. Then we went to the Dublin Castle and Christ Church Cathedral, this church is a lot more gothic than Roman churches but it is so hard to compare any church to those is Roma.

(me in St. Stephen's Green)

We went back to see our movie, ‘Lion’s Den’, which first off was sooo goooood. The synopsis sounds a bit complicated on the surface but basically it is about a young women in Argentina who gets sent to jail while she is pregnant and it shows how she raises her son in jail and eventual escapes and flea’s with her son to another country. Highly recommend it, if you can find it. After the film we had a discussion at O’Neil’s restaurant which is a buffet of delicious Irish dishes, I had turkey and ham cooked in white wine with some mash potatoes and stuffing. After we went to a couple bars and met up with the people from my school who I flew with and another friend from USF.

(The Ha'Penny Bridge over the Liffey River

Saturday we went to a two story starbucks right along the water in Blackrock, a small oceanside town outside of Dublin. Then we went to a rugby game for the local team, Leinster, it was EPIC and intense and sooo funny. I felt like I was getting an authentic Irish experience being there, people mixing religious and swear words all over the place. The home team won and it was ladies night which added to the greatness of the game. We spent the rest of the night pub and club hoping along the Liffey River. My favorite pub was the oldest one in Dublin, Brazenhead, where an undisclosed age minimum must have been 50 haha but we meet some really cool old Irish folks who loved to get there jiggy with it on the dance floor!

Leinster in blue! GO BOYS IN BLUE!
(Me)

Sunday we had a nice late start and just wandered around Dublin so I could finish souvenir shopping and we found some cute little streets to shop and browse through. This day, like ever other included trips to starbucks and another amazing Irish dish and pub. I basically took a two hour nap that night because I had to be at the airport really early and back in Roma for a full day of classes and work. It was pretty rough but it was so nice to spend time with Casey, she was a great tour guide and it is nice to be around someone who has known you for longer than 3 months. Dublin is a very small city especial compared to Roma, but it is beautiful, clean, and they speak English! Even though technically they speak English, they have an entirely different word bank and some crazy word combinations. Another cool thing about Ireland is the name Robinson is Irish/Scottish so I was able to learn some interesting things about the history of my family’s last name. This was my last trip out of Italy, but thankfully not my last trip before I leave. A presto!

(Casey and I infront of Christ Church Cathedral)

(Trinity College)