Palm Sunday, aka Papal Mass III

Palms (olive branches) getting blessed

Palm Sunday with Pope Francis was an amazing experience. It was an absolutely beautiful day, although it was kinda hot, and everyone was so excited to start Holy Week in Rome.

It was a beautiful mass that started at the obelisk in the square, which was decorated with tons of flowers, blossoming trees, and olive trees planted in the square, who knew.

The new pope focused much of his prayer and invocations on Mary, even spending some time at her statue during the Mas.

He had a beautiful homily and talked about this summer's World Youth Day in Rio. Here are some of my favorite parts of the homily:

"Never be sad men and women: a Christian can never be! Never give in to discouragement! Ours is not a joy that arises from possessing many things, rather it comes from having met a Person: Jesus, who is among us; it comes from knowing that with him we are never alone, even in difficult moments, even when the journey of life collides with problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable, and there are many!"

"Dear young people, I saw you in the procession, when you came in; I imagine you celebrating around Jesus, shaking the olive branches; I imagine you as you shout his name and express your joy at being with him! You have an important part in the feast of faith! You bring us the joy of faith and you tell us that we must live the faith with a young heart, always, a young heart even at 70 or 80! Young heart! With Christ the heart never grows old!" -- Pope Francis

He even tried to speak a few words in English during his blessing. Bless him, he's so cute.

Papa Francesco

As he left the square on the "Papa Mobile," or Pope Mobile as we English speakers like to call it, he took time to kiss what seemed like an innumerable amount of children, then he got out of the car and went to the barricades to shake hands and kiss people on the cheeks. What a guy.

Assisi: Pax et Bene

What can I say about Assisi? It was beautiful, fun, historical, and the food was delicious. St. Francis was a pretty cool guy, its understandable why some might think he was a little crazy. Not every merchant's son decides to live in the woods at the bottom of the hill in nothing but a hooded cloak. Rightly so, I think that is still considered crazy today. But, his thoughts of simplicity, peace, and doing good is a great mantra.

Santa Maria degli ngeli

Once we got off the train, we walked over to St. Francis' Chapel, Santa Maria degli Angeli. This church was so cool. It's really big, so you might be wondering why I just called it a chapel. The church literally surrounds the chapel.

Chapel of St. Francis

  It was really great. There are beautiful frescoes inside and outside of it. It was an amazing sight. Then we took a bus into the heart of town, on the top of a large hill. Here, we saw the Basilica of St. Francis where his body is entombed.

Inside of the lower church

The church looked like something straight out of 'Game of Thrones.' King's Landing, anyone?  Inside, there are actually two churches. The lower church is the most beautiful. The stained glass in both churches was absolutely stunning. It literally made my mouth drop.

Pax (Peace); outside of the basilica

We also saw the church of St. Claire and prayed at her tomb. The view from the Piazza there was breathtaking, so naturally we stopped and posed.

We all explored this charming town, got some pasta with truffle oil. The we went to the bakeries to get some Umbrian specialties. Then, Christine and I bought our souvenirs: leather sandals in the style of St. Francis.

Bag from the bakery, with St. Francis

 After getting one last view of the city down below, we got on the bus and made our way back to Roma.

Santa Maria degli Angeli

Smoke Wars Episode IV: A New Pope

The balcony of St. Peter's

Craziness in Rome! Since the moment Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, this city has been a little crazier than usual. Once conclave began, absolute nuttiness ensued. There were/are much to many people, including a swarm of reporters all over the city. Needless to say, the reporter hotspot was the Vatican, just outside the colonnade of St. Peter's Square.

Interview with CNN!

Some of us even got interviews with various news agencies.

 

Black smoke from the Sistine Chapel

 
It seems that this semester was perfectly timed for us! First we have a Pope step down while we are in Rome. Then, the College of Cardinals decide that they will hold conclave the week that we all returned from Spring Break. Finally, the night we were all in St. Peter's Square meeting our program director for dinner with The Provost of The Catholic University of America, there was white smoke.

Our initial reaction upon seeing the smoke: "Look smoke... white smoke? WHITE SMOKE! GO!" As the bells tolled, we pushed our way up as far as we could and awaited the announcement and arrival of the new Pope! Holy Smokes! :)

WHITE SMOKE!

There was a constant flock of seagulls above the chimney on the Sistine Chapel. When I saw this I decided it was a good time to make my prediction about the name of the newly elected Pope. "What saint liked animals, Francis? Yeah, Francis. What if he picked the name Francis?"

Next thing we knew, the windows opened, cardinals made their way onto the balconies of St. Peter's.

Cardinals on the balconies

Then, the Dean of the College of Cardinals came out and announced the new Pope, Francesco. Naturally, the square went insane, Francis of Assisi is one of Italy's two patron saints.

Pope Francis

Any Pope that starts things off with a joke is good enough for me. "You know that the duty of the conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world to get him. But here we are."

Pope Francis' first words to the world

After leaving St. Peter's Square, we went to our scheduled dinner with The Catholic University of America's Provost. We were all so excited -- and exhausted, we got back to the dorms from dinner sometime after midnight.

Celebratory dinner

 The next Tuesday, March 19th, all of our classes were cancelled so we could attend Pope Francis' Inaugural Mass. We arrived at St. Peter's at 5:35am, the Pope entered the square promptly at 9. Our spots weren't as good as the ones we got for Pope Benedict's final audience, but we still got to see him.

Pope Francis (right)

"Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power... Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!" - Pope Francis

Beware the Ides of March

I have read more about Julius Caesar in my 4 years of Latin classes than I ever wanted to. I gotta say, it was pretty cool being in the place where Julius Caesar was cremated on the Ides of March... I can very happily put that into the book with the rest of the things I never thought I'd be able to do. It was pretty darn special. I'm just sayin'. I also went over to the place where he was stabbed. Fun fact: 23 stab wounds and only 1 was fatal, ouch.

Location of Julius Caesar's cremation

Sping Break III : The Birthplace of Harry Potter, Dr. Jekyll, and Mr. Hyde

Welcome to Edinburgh. I must admit, getting there wasn't the most pleasant experience, but we arrived in one piece. It was frigid though. The minute we stepped off the bus, the snow began, the weirdest snow I've ever seen... somewhere between snow and hail.
 

We got there at an ungodly hour and napped in the Hostel before heading out on a free walking tour. We did not prepare, we were not dressed properly, but we had a blast with our guide, Kiel.

Here is the castle that inspired Hogwarts. Its really beautiful and was an amazing sight to see.We saw the place that J.K. Rowling wrote the first drafts of Harry Potter (you can't escape him) and heard the real story behind Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We went to a pub called Frankenstein's and drank the most amazing tea.

 We went to Greyfriars Kirk, one of the most haunted cemeteries in Edinburgh, which is one of the most haunted cities in the U.K.

We battled the most peculiar weather. Snow, sun, snow, sun...

The Parks were really beautiful between the New Town and Old Town. Our hostel was in the Old Town right off of the Royal Mile, a stretch of road between the Castle and the Queen's Palace.

Christine and I decided to take another walk around after our free tour with Kiel. We had some tea and carrot cake...

and took pictures in our new sweatshirts

Then the three of us decided to go to dinner up the street. We had mac and cheese and the best sticky toffee pudding in the world. So Good!!

We woke up the next morning to a blanket of snow. Wee clutched our hot Starbucks drinks, and made our way to the airport and said goodbye to the U.K. Ready for the craziness of conclave ahead of us in Rome.

I loved Edinburgh and would definitely go back either in the summer or when I have the appropriate clothing for the winter weather. It was one of those places that you go to and feel like you've stepped into a movie. I loved every minute of it! It was so beautiful, pictures really don't do it justice. Plus, the accents are fantastic, and they are even more polite than the people in London, if that's even possible.

Spring Break II : London Calling

LONDON! I love this city. I have made the decision that I will spend an extended amount of time at one point in my life. It rained the entire time we were there, but I've never loved anywhere so much.

We took the train from London Southend into the center of the city and immediately had to adapt to the Tube. We also had to adjust to the money system. It's not bad, we just didn't have a lot of it, everything is so expensive. Speaking of money, I like the coins. It was easy enough to figure out, as long as you made sure to separate your euros from your pounds... oi.

The hostel (St. Pauls YHA) was pretty cool. It was right on the central line of the tube, literally a stone's throw from St. Paul's cathedral and the Millennium Bridge (all you Harry Potter fans know what that is) it was lovely. Right in the heart of the city of London, and the absolute best place to hear a cockney accent... everyone sounded like Adele, as opposed to Emma Watson. It was actually the old choir dorms for the St. Paul's choir boys. The only weird thing about it was the bed situation... observe below.

This cupboard under the bed (the Harry Potter puns will only get worse as this post goes on...) was my little space. It was quite snuggle-y, but as you can see in the pictures, it looks weird.

After we got settled we set off on an adventure around our neighborhood. we discovered that we were just a five minute walk from Fleet Street (Sweeney Todd, anyone?) and Shakespeare's Globe Theater and the Tate Modern were just across the Thames via the Millennium Bridge. After our adventure, we set off in search of some fish and chips. We found it in no time. The London Pub experience was different, don't expect anyone to come to you with menus, and make sure to give your order to the bartender. Also, unlike Italy, they eat at a normal time, not at 9 pm and unlike New York they don't stay open all night. So if you want a midnight snack, make sure you buy it early...

The Tower Bridge

The view of St. Paul's from the Millennium Bridge

The next day we woke up bright and early and made our way to the City of Westminster. Time to say hi to the Queen!

Buckingham Palace

She wasn't home though -- boo. We had a nice time without her, and even got to see some fancy men make their way to the castle in a horse and buggy. Then, it was off to The Abbey. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed, so you'll just have to settle for my description of it. Let me preface, it is not my favorite place in London. It's not as majestic as you would imagine it to be. It's quite a bit smaller than it looked on the TV screen during Will and Kate's wedding. Also, there are graves, monuments, and epitaphs EVERYWHERE! It is the most cluttered place, there are statues upon statues, upon statues. Poets Corner was quite possibly my favorite place in the entire Abbey (big surprise) there were so many famous people literally below my feet, it was amazing. It was great to be there and have a free audio tour (narrated by Jeremy Irons) but I didn't love it.

Westminster Abbey

Next, we were exploring more of Westminster, like seeing BIG BEN! Standing on Westminster Bridge and looking at the Houses of Parliament is one of the prettiest views in London.

Big Ben

We went to Piccadilly Circus next, London's equivalent to Time's Square and home to the biggest souvenir shop ever, where Caitlin got to meet the Queen, sort of.

Piccadilly Circus

Caitlin and the Queen

Then we decided to go to the Globe theater. As a lover of all things Shakespeare, this was one of my favorite things. Although it's not the real thing, it's pretty darn close. The guy who gave us the tour was pretty cool too in his knee length black leather trench, trying much to hard to be Kenneth Branagh.

The Globe

Holland Street

We went to the Tate Modern. Chris and Caitlin weren't really feeling the modern art, but it was pretty cool. After that, we headed over to the best part of that day. But first, we made a stop on Holland Street.

View of the Houses of Parliament from the top of the London Eye

The Eye

The Eye was great, the weather wasn't so great. we could only really see as far as the other side of the Thames, but it was still great. I was up there, fear of heights and all. Thank God for that little bench in the middle, otherwise I would have been hysterical. The weird part was getting on the car, the wheel never stops. It keeps going like a gigantic Disney World ride, you just have to hope that you make it in the door before it leaves the platform... ok, it's not that bad, but it feels like that.

We spent some more time in Westminster, then hopped onto the Tube and made our way back to St. Paul's.

The next day was full of good times. First on the agenda, The Tower of London, home of the glittering Crown Jewels. We saw many a stereotypical English Guard, the very spot that Anne Boleyn was beheaded, and the tower she and her daughter, Elizabeth I, were locked away.

 

We then ventured down the street to the Tower Bridge. It's really, really beautiful.

If you wash your TOMs, make sure you rinse well... otherwise you end up with sudsy feet when it rains.

 After spending sometime in the bridge and it's engine rooms, we went on a ferry ride down the Thames and got back to St. Paul's freshen up before dinner. Then we met up with LORA! Laura is one of my suite-mates from last semester and one of the loveliest people ever. She is studying in London this semester, lucky lady. We told each other all about what we've been doing in our programs and from what I hear, this lady is going places. It was so good to see her before she headed to Wales!

Our last day in London was spent doing as many free things as we could squeeze into twelve hours. We went to Kings Cross to be complete Potterheads first. Yes, we did get our pictures taken getting on to Platform 9 3/4, it was amazing.

Then we got back on the Tube and headed to Holland Park, strictly for me to take a picture by the sign. Just a quick word about the Tube, it is so clean, efficient, and fantastic. The escalators were really fast too, the only downside was learning to walk on the other side of the walkways.

Then Baker Street and Abbey Road, because why not. Just a Tip: don't try to cross the famous Beatles Crossing at Abbey Road... you will end up dead. Too many cars.

Beatles Crossing at Abbey Road

We went to Portabello Road in Notting Hill for some shopping, and posed with some red phone boxes.

 

We finished up our day in London at the British Museum hanging out between mummies and the Rosetta Stone, not bad.

 After that, we were completely wiped out! We collected our magazines, books (we had to buy magazines and books in English), and bags, and made our way to Victoria Coach Station to board our Megabus for a nine hour bus ride.