Wien-ing

Just got back from my first German-speaking country, Austria! It was a lovely parade of chocolate, schnitzel, strudel, and palaces.

We had a little trouble getting there. Our plane was delayed, so we missed the bus into the city from the airport. So we had to spend some money on a cab... bummer. But, we got there and it was great. The first night we literally fell right into our beds. On Saturday morning, we lazily got out of bed and headed to my favorite place in Vienna, Schloss Schönbrunn.

Schönbrunn is the Imperial Palace of Vienna. It was home to Maria Theresa and her oodles of children, including Marie Antoinette. It was so beautiful, the rooms were gorgeous. It reminded me a lot of the rooms inside of Reggia di Caserta. The most impressive part of the palace was the gardens. We went too early in the spring to see many flowers and all of the fountains were empty, but it was still extremely beautiful.

Christine and I decided to climb to the roof of gloriette (the little building) on top of the hill to see an incredible view of the city.

Then, we relaxed on the hill staring at the beautiful view before exploring more of the gardens.

After spending time in the gardens, we went to see how the palace bakery makes apfel strudel... and tried some samples, delish.

We left the palace behind and moved into the city center for the first time. The heart of the city is Stefansplatz, it's dominated by a huge gothic cathedral with the most beautiful roof.

The inside of St. Stefan's was really beautifully illuminated with the most lovely spectrum of colors from the stained windows. When we were inside, there was a mass going on, so we didn't stay very long.

We crossed the street, got some money (seeing a 100 euro bill for the first time!) and walked to the candy store. Mozart Chocolates were EVERYWHERE. They are not too delicious, but we did find one we liked and ate two bags of them in three days, yum.

For the rest of the first day we walked around exploring. It was so nice. We visited a few churches that had PEWS! We don't have pews in Roman Churches, the ones in Austria are beautifully crafted  and look like artwork themselves.

We shopped, laughed, and we found the most famous schnitzel restaurant in Vienna. Despite it being booked until Tuesday, we got a table and feasted on the Austrian specialty.

The next day, Sunday, was really relaxing. As in most European Cities, most businesses were closed on Sunday, so we spent most of the day walking around and even got to watch some of the Vienna Marathon. We ducked into an American Bar for some nachos (with real nacho cheese!).

 Of course, the minute we found a Starbucks we had to go in. It's a repercussion of living in Rome where there are absolutely none. I had a Chai Tea Frappuccino, I didn't even know that existed!

We found a cute little park with a golden statue of Strauss and a clock made of flowers. Near Karlsplatz we found some graffiti that gave us our Viennese version of Rome's Carpe Diem.

Our last day in Vienna was great. We went to Schloss Belvedere, another palace. This palace is an art museum. We spent some time in those gardens, but they weren't as impressive. Then we went inside and saw 'The Kiss' by Gustav Klimt. It was amazing!

Then we headed back to Stefansplatz to go to a Resturant that Chris' friend recommended to us. Inigo was located right across from the Jesuit Church in Vienna. It was a real Viennese Restaurant. There was  absolutely no English on the menu, and the servers spoke absolutely no English... weird.

 I got some chicken wings and potatoes with mushroom soup... delish. Chris got some weird noodle - potato thing. The waitress realized she didn't love it when we were done, so Christine got her meal for free. We love Austria!

Then we headed to the airport to find out that our flight was delayed again... boo. We got some Starbucks and cracked open some more chocolate and waited it out. I loved Vienna, it was so sweet, pretty, and different from the other parts of Europe that I've seen so far! :)

Oh, hey, guys!

This is just a fun little post... ok, ok, it's a procrastination post.

I thought I would share some of the music that I have been listening to non-stop lately!

The semester is coming to an end and I am enjoying being in Rome, taking walks, hanging out... and doing papers, so I've had ample time to make spotify playlists until my ears get tired, I put one of them on 8tracks so I could share with ya'll.

So here is the fruit of my labor... hope you love it!

Spring 2013 -- Rome from caitwinnss on 8tracks Radio.

Southern Italy III: Naples

Naples is an interesting place... when they say it's gritty, they ain't kiddin'. In the words of Dr. Dawson "It's like Italy's New York." In the words of me: "Its more like Italy's Detroit..."

Yes, it is the birthplace of pizza. Yes, it was really popular in ancient times. Yes, there are a lot of Italian Americans with families from Naples. To the last point, I say this, if Naples were that great, you would be Italian, not American. Think about it.

There were a few times that I was completely sketched out... thank goodness for some of the guys in the program being really great and helping us poor females out.

The pizza was great. The company was great. The setting, not so much.

I probably wouldn't go back to Naples... ever. But it was an experience.

I didn't bring my camera off of the bus for fear of it being stolen... but here's a picture of me and Christine being cute to make you feel better.

Southern Italy II: Capri Sun

Morning view of the bay.

On Saturday, we had a free day to do whatever we wanted. So, we decided to make our way to the most beautiful island, Capri. It was a day full of sun, sand, and the bluest water I've ever seen.

We took a ferry to the port and immediately boarded a boat for a tour of the island as well as a trip into the famous Grotta Azzurra, The Blue Grotto.

 To get into the Blue Grotto, you transfer to little row boats and make your way into the smallest hole ever, seriously. The guy in charge of the boat tells you all to lay down and pulls the boat in from a chain on the wall of the cave. There was a swell on our way inside which lead to the man pressing himself onto the person on top... me. It's ok, he was cute. It was all worth it when we got inside and saw the most amazing sight. The grotto literally glowed blue. It was so beautiful! The men rowing the countless tiny boats on the inside started singing to us and we made our way out the same way we came in. what an adventure.

We got back on the bigger boat and started to make our way around the island. The hills, caves, lighthouses, and huge villas were all so pretty. It was paradise.

After our boat ride, we got some lunch, changed into our bathing suits and made our way to the free beach for some sun and sand! We climbed the jetty and found some flat spots to sunbathe and listen to Zac Brown Band, of course! The water was so absolutely freezing, but at least I can say I swam in the Bay of Naples, right?

After the beach, we got changed and headed back to Sorrento on the ferry. After the ferry we got a little lost on the way back to the hotel and walked up the side of a mountain... literally. Why is Italy so hilly/ volcanic? oi. We freshened up and put on our cute summer dresses (complete with authentic sunburn) for dinner and a show.

After that, we headed out for some gelato and went back to the hotel to relax and watch a movie.

Bliss.

Southern Italy I: Pompeii

This weekend was SO great! The entire program headed to the Bay of Naples together for one of the best trips of the semester. First stop: Pompeii.

Pompeii was so cool. We had an onsite lecture by one of the history professors and say so many things. It sounds silly... but I didn't realize how big Pompeii was. It's an ancient city, with streets, alleyways, and houses. The forums, temples, markets, and theaters are all such amazing sights.

I had been to the exhibit in NYC last summer, so I had seen the casts of bodies, so they weren't as shocking, but I didn't realize that there were still bones in those casts! It made it that much more real.

Because Pompeii is still an active excavation, they have shelves of things they've found... including bodies. That was pretty shocking, seeing terracotta pots next to the cast of a person.

It was really cool to see normal everyday things, like fast food counters and crosswalks.

food counter

Its amazing to think that only 1/3 of the city has been excavated and we spent the better part of 4 hours walking around the different buildings and streets. Another funny thing about Pompeii is that it was thought to be really wealthy, but the building materials are really cheap, like tufa and brick, not as much marble as we see in Rome, even on the temple of Jupiter in the middle of the city.

I had a great time in Pompeii, it was really eye opening to see such a hugely popular place, a place of such destruction, but also a place that has taught us so much about daily life in a Roman city.

After Pompeii, we hopped onto the bus and made it around the twisty roads to Sorrento to get to our hotel. Mary, Christine, and I were so happy to see the view from our BALCONY!

'Staches and Early Morning Crashes

All-nighters are the worst. They are the worst of the worst when you are already in a seriously bad mood... jeeze. There is truly nothing like staying up into the not-so wee hours of the morning with a few cappuccinos and a good friend. If it weren't for Christine Fontaine, something awful would have happened to me whilst writing this paper.

In order to combat the absolute agony of an 8-10 page paper on a topic that could have been completed in 2 pages, we rewarded ourselves with little study breaks. During these breaks, we would take some time to document our progress and share it with the world. We spend some time on Photobooth and immediately shared these pictures on Facebook. Here are the results:

It was all fun and games until we realized it was already 1 am and we hadn't even gotten a line onto the second page yet... oh no. It was going to be a long night.

 When we realized, our faces turned a little more... well, frustrated. When the clock struck 2:30, we were kicked out of our plush role-y chairs and forced to finish up our work in the cold, dark hallway.

An hour later, we were making progress, working on our papers in a good way. Then Chris came down to print out his paper. We were a little discouraged at that point, as you can probably tell by our faces. But, the work had to be done, we couldn't fail Msgr. Irwin!

We ended up finishing our papers about the same time the sun came up. we hurried upstairs to freshen up and get some breakfast before our class started at 9am. Moral of the story: procrastination is a very bad thing.

La Settimana Sancta: oi.

Holy Week, oi. It was a long-long-long week. Rome is quite busy (as you would expect) during Holy Week, or La Settimana Sancta.

We started the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday) with Mass at Santa Susana, the American Parish in Rome. It is really refreshing to be able to participate in Mass in English as they are few and far between here in Rome. Although, my Latin 'Our Father' and 'Hail Mary' are getting pretty good.
We went to eleven churches that night to take part in a Roman tradition of visiting the Blessed Sacrament Chapels. Chris, Christine, Paul, Caitlin, Nick, Mary, and I all said prayers at each chapel to prepare for Easter.Then, we got back to the dorm and Mary, Christine, and I watched 'The Passion of the Christ' by Mel Gibson... we had a good cry.

Friday, we headed over to The Venerable English College for Good Friday service. This is always my favorite service of the Triduum. There is always so much emotion when the Celebrants lay prostrate before the altar. The English seminarians did a really good job of making it somber.

On Saturday, we began the day at the Holy Stairs. The Legend of the Holy Stairs is that they are the stairs that Jesus climbed to see Pilate on the night of His passion. It is believed that St. Helen, Constantine the Great's mother brought them from Jerusalem along with many other holy relics. The tradition is to go during the Triduum and to climb the stairs on your knees, not allowing your feet to touch. It was a really beautiful experience. It was painful too, but when ever your knees started shaking and you felt like you couldn't go up another step, you could look up and see the image of Christ on the cross. It sounds corny, but that really helped me to finish it up.

After that, we headed back to The Venerable English College for Easter Vigil Mass and saw our theology professor Msgr. Kevin Irwin. The Mass was longer than most with seven readings (the Pope only did four that night). Then, the seminarians treated everyone to champagne and chocolate, the first chocolate I'd had since Lent started. It was so good.

We got back to the dorms at about 1 am... but with the time change for daylight savings in Europe that was really 2 am. We got up the next morning at 6-ish and left to see the Pope at St. Peter's just before 8.

We got to St. Peters, got SEATS! and waited for Mass. The outside of St. Peter's was beautifully decorated with tons of flowers!

It was my last mass with Pope Francis and it was a really beautiful experience. I was so tired, but I was happy to be with Mary and Christine... and to be eating Peanut M&M's, I missed them.

 We had the most prime spots next to the nicest Italian Nuns and snapped our amazing pics of Papa Fran. Then, we waited for the Angelus. The last time (possibly) I saw Pope Francis speak in person was the same place I had seen him for the first time in person, the window in the front of St. Peters.

"And so we ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace. Yes, Christ is our peace, and through him we implore peace for all the world...Peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain, wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family, selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of slavery in this twenty-first century; human trafficking is the most extensive form of slavery in this twenty-first century! Peace to the whole world, torn apart by violence linked to drug trafficking and by the iniquitous exploitation of natural resources! Peace to this our Earth! Made the risen Jesus bring comfort to the victims of natural disasters and make us responsible guardians of creation... To all of you I affectionately say again: may the risen Christ guide all of you and the whole of humanity on the paths of justice, love and peace." - Pope Francis

After we got back (and NAPPED!) we made dinner in the dorm  kitchen together.

After dinner, I talked to my entire family through Skype. It was really great to see everyone and hear their voices. It made me a little homesick (this is one of the first Easters I've had outside of East Stroudsburg,  Pennsylvania) but I'll see them very soon!

Dad and I skyping.

"Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, Happy Easter! Happy Easter!" - Pope Francis