Italy Recap part 4
Ok, I'm back.
So the next day in Rome was Vatican day. We spent the morning at the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel. Now, I'd just like to say that the Sistine Chapel was absolutely beautiful. In fact, I was speechless. OK, the reason I was speechless was because I definitely dozed off in the chapel. That's right: I, MEgan G, fell asleep in the sistine chapel! I blame it on the crazy Italian drugs I was taking (aka Italian cold medicine!) I did get to see the ceiling for awhile, however, and it was beautiful. It wasn't really what i expected, however. It was much smaller, and flatter, than I thought it would be. I also pictured more cute little angels, I guess.
After the Sistine Chapel we went to St. Peter's Basilica and saw the Pieta and the various other sculptures and paintings there. I remember one gorgeous piece of artwork that had to be 6 feet tall and five feet wide. I thought it was a beautiful painting, but then our tour guide Ioanna (same one from Imperial Rome) told us it was actually a mosaic! Wow!
After St. Peters (which was overrun with crazy tourists!) we went to lunch at the cafeteria place next door. Oh, guess what? THEY SERVE MEAT AT THE VATICAN ON FRIDAYS DURING LENT! TELL PC OFFICIALS THAT ONE! (For all you non-Friars, PC doesnt serve meat anywhere on campus on fridays during lent). After lunch we went to the Vatican gift shop. Highlight of that trip? Well, Jackie and i were looking at souvenirs upstairs when Stevie-boy (what we call Dr. Lynch's 16yr old son) picks up a plastic Pope snowglobe (yes, its a plastic snowglobe with a little plastic John Paul II lol!) and shows his dad. Dr. Lynch goes "no one would buy that, now look at these books." Jackie and I start laughing as we say "Um, we just bought them!" LOL
That afternoon Katie and I took the metro back to our room to nap (since it was obvious in the Sistine chapel I needed some sleep!). Then we watched "who wants to be a millionaire" in italian while getting ready for our big night out! We went to an opera dinner show, and it was so cool. (PS, they served meat, too!). Between each course, these three Italian opera stars sang for us. It was amazing! The best was when they whipped out the tambourine (like the gypsy on Hunchback of notre dame!) and dragged drew in front dancing with them! Too funny!
The funniest part of the evening, however, was Stuart. Silly Stewey got a wee bit tipsy at the dinner (yes he was in charge of watching the 16 students who went!), and he entertained us on the busride back to the hotel (thank god tonino was driving, not stuart!) Here is Stuart's convo w/ us...
us: why didnt' u sing tonight, stuart?
stuart: It would take several more drinks for me to have gotten up there tonight. My sister got all the bloody musical genes in my family. She is a singer and performer and now works as a ringmaster for a circus in France. She wears the red coat with coattails and a big black top hat and wears fishnets and carries a whip! (we all start dying of laughter, stuart grows indignant!)
Stuart: no really, she's a ringmaster at a circus, I swear. Get your minds out of the gutter!
someone on the bus: more like at FOXY LADY!
Stuart: What is Foxy lady? Is that a Rhode Island lap dance club? (sidenote to all you non-friars, yes, it is) Is that where all the Providence College girls go to pay for their education?
someone else on the bus shouts: how do u think we paid for this trip?
Stuart: well, you said it, not me!
Stuart then proceeds holding a conversation with himself until we get back to the hotel, it was HILARIOUS!!!
March 5, 2005: our last full day in italy
This was our free day, but there was an optional free "behind the scenes" tour of the vatican that a former PC teacher who now works for the pope offered to give us, so most of the 42 people went to that. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, however! Obviously in Vatican City, "tour" really means "we are going to sit you at a table and tell you why you are all going to hell"! That is what they proceeded to do! We sat at the conference room where all the big church policy decisions are made, like the church's stance on stem cell research, birth control, etc. They basically just had two priests giving us a sermon about why we will go to hell if we use birth control, even for married couples! Then they told us that there is not a priest shortage, and within the next 10 yrs most of the priests in America will be imported from Nigeria or India. Finally, they said that the church will never resort to female or married priests. (I thought Dr. Tkacik was gonna protest, but he kept his mouth shut). I think the PC teachers felt bad for taking us to this because they had no idea it was going to be a lecture, they were told it was a tour. Oh well!
After the "tour", we went back to the vatican shop to get more souvenirs (and pray for our lost souls!) and then did a little more souvenir shopping at the little stands outside of the Vatican. PS: did you know that these little souvenir shops sell POPE LOLLIPOPS?! Thats right: pope-on-a-stick! Wow.
We decided to walk around Rome, with no particular destination in mind, and it was the most fun we ever could have had! We saw things I dont think we even knew existed: like castles and public parks and an AMAZING geletaria (gelato place). We sat on the park benches taking it all in, and just trying to comprehend the fact that we were in ITALY! This was hard to do, however, when a group of teenage boys came walking by wearing NORTH FACE jackets. COME ON, north face jackets in ITALY? Dear lord, the PC plague is spreading! Next thing you know they will be wearing UGGs and vera bradley bags! God save us all!!
We decided to take the Metro (subway) home: bad idea! Stuart once said that the metro isnt crowded unless 4 people are touching you intimately and you couldnt lie down even if you tried. Well,both of those things were true on the way home! I've never been more crowded in my life! I rewarded myself when we got to our stop by buying a Cosmo magazine in italian, as well as an Italian kit-kat (so much better than US ones!)
That night was our farewell dinner. As usual, the food (especially the pasta) was AMAZING. (OK, the dessert was flan, eeeewwwwW)After our meal (and the dirty-shaped pasta, lol) Stuart told us how much he'd miss us and that March 8 is festa della donna, the feast of women, where guys by the important women in their lives chocolate and mimosa flowers. Then he handed each of us girls a box of chocolates with flowers on the package! i love stuart!
On our way back from dinner, Stuart told us that he had gotten some recommendations for a pub we could all go to with him if we wanted. Now, you may be thinking: megan at a pub?! Well, I decided that when would I get another opportunity like this: going LEGALLY to a bar with 30 fellow students, one amazing brit, and our professors?! This night was perhaps one of my favorite moments EVER! (Don't worry, I didn't get drunk, I had like 4 sips of my drink, it was carbonated, gross!!)
i'll finish this later
So the next day in Rome was Vatican day. We spent the morning at the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel. Now, I'd just like to say that the Sistine Chapel was absolutely beautiful. In fact, I was speechless. OK, the reason I was speechless was because I definitely dozed off in the chapel. That's right: I, MEgan G, fell asleep in the sistine chapel! I blame it on the crazy Italian drugs I was taking (aka Italian cold medicine!) I did get to see the ceiling for awhile, however, and it was beautiful. It wasn't really what i expected, however. It was much smaller, and flatter, than I thought it would be. I also pictured more cute little angels, I guess.
After the Sistine Chapel we went to St. Peter's Basilica and saw the Pieta and the various other sculptures and paintings there. I remember one gorgeous piece of artwork that had to be 6 feet tall and five feet wide. I thought it was a beautiful painting, but then our tour guide Ioanna (same one from Imperial Rome) told us it was actually a mosaic! Wow!
After St. Peters (which was overrun with crazy tourists!) we went to lunch at the cafeteria place next door. Oh, guess what? THEY SERVE MEAT AT THE VATICAN ON FRIDAYS DURING LENT! TELL PC OFFICIALS THAT ONE! (For all you non-Friars, PC doesnt serve meat anywhere on campus on fridays during lent). After lunch we went to the Vatican gift shop. Highlight of that trip? Well, Jackie and i were looking at souvenirs upstairs when Stevie-boy (what we call Dr. Lynch's 16yr old son) picks up a plastic Pope snowglobe (yes, its a plastic snowglobe with a little plastic John Paul II lol!) and shows his dad. Dr. Lynch goes "no one would buy that, now look at these books." Jackie and I start laughing as we say "Um, we just bought them!" LOL
That afternoon Katie and I took the metro back to our room to nap (since it was obvious in the Sistine chapel I needed some sleep!). Then we watched "who wants to be a millionaire" in italian while getting ready for our big night out! We went to an opera dinner show, and it was so cool. (PS, they served meat, too!). Between each course, these three Italian opera stars sang for us. It was amazing! The best was when they whipped out the tambourine (like the gypsy on Hunchback of notre dame!) and dragged drew in front dancing with them! Too funny!
The funniest part of the evening, however, was Stuart. Silly Stewey got a wee bit tipsy at the dinner (yes he was in charge of watching the 16 students who went!), and he entertained us on the busride back to the hotel (thank god tonino was driving, not stuart!) Here is Stuart's convo w/ us...
us: why didnt' u sing tonight, stuart?
stuart: It would take several more drinks for me to have gotten up there tonight. My sister got all the bloody musical genes in my family. She is a singer and performer and now works as a ringmaster for a circus in France. She wears the red coat with coattails and a big black top hat and wears fishnets and carries a whip! (we all start dying of laughter, stuart grows indignant!)
Stuart: no really, she's a ringmaster at a circus, I swear. Get your minds out of the gutter!
someone on the bus: more like at FOXY LADY!
Stuart: What is Foxy lady? Is that a Rhode Island lap dance club? (sidenote to all you non-friars, yes, it is) Is that where all the Providence College girls go to pay for their education?
someone else on the bus shouts: how do u think we paid for this trip?
Stuart: well, you said it, not me!
Stuart then proceeds holding a conversation with himself until we get back to the hotel, it was HILARIOUS!!!
March 5, 2005: our last full day in italy
This was our free day, but there was an optional free "behind the scenes" tour of the vatican that a former PC teacher who now works for the pope offered to give us, so most of the 42 people went to that. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, however! Obviously in Vatican City, "tour" really means "we are going to sit you at a table and tell you why you are all going to hell"! That is what they proceeded to do! We sat at the conference room where all the big church policy decisions are made, like the church's stance on stem cell research, birth control, etc. They basically just had two priests giving us a sermon about why we will go to hell if we use birth control, even for married couples! Then they told us that there is not a priest shortage, and within the next 10 yrs most of the priests in America will be imported from Nigeria or India. Finally, they said that the church will never resort to female or married priests. (I thought Dr. Tkacik was gonna protest, but he kept his mouth shut). I think the PC teachers felt bad for taking us to this because they had no idea it was going to be a lecture, they were told it was a tour. Oh well!
After the "tour", we went back to the vatican shop to get more souvenirs (and pray for our lost souls!) and then did a little more souvenir shopping at the little stands outside of the Vatican. PS: did you know that these little souvenir shops sell POPE LOLLIPOPS?! Thats right: pope-on-a-stick! Wow.
We decided to walk around Rome, with no particular destination in mind, and it was the most fun we ever could have had! We saw things I dont think we even knew existed: like castles and public parks and an AMAZING geletaria (gelato place). We sat on the park benches taking it all in, and just trying to comprehend the fact that we were in ITALY! This was hard to do, however, when a group of teenage boys came walking by wearing NORTH FACE jackets. COME ON, north face jackets in ITALY? Dear lord, the PC plague is spreading! Next thing you know they will be wearing UGGs and vera bradley bags! God save us all!!
We decided to take the Metro (subway) home: bad idea! Stuart once said that the metro isnt crowded unless 4 people are touching you intimately and you couldnt lie down even if you tried. Well,both of those things were true on the way home! I've never been more crowded in my life! I rewarded myself when we got to our stop by buying a Cosmo magazine in italian, as well as an Italian kit-kat (so much better than US ones!)
That night was our farewell dinner. As usual, the food (especially the pasta) was AMAZING. (OK, the dessert was flan, eeeewwwwW)After our meal (and the dirty-shaped pasta, lol) Stuart told us how much he'd miss us and that March 8 is festa della donna, the feast of women, where guys by the important women in their lives chocolate and mimosa flowers. Then he handed each of us girls a box of chocolates with flowers on the package! i love stuart!
On our way back from dinner, Stuart told us that he had gotten some recommendations for a pub we could all go to with him if we wanted. Now, you may be thinking: megan at a pub?! Well, I decided that when would I get another opportunity like this: going LEGALLY to a bar with 30 fellow students, one amazing brit, and our professors?! This night was perhaps one of my favorite moments EVER! (Don't worry, I didn't get drunk, I had like 4 sips of my drink, it was carbonated, gross!!)
i'll finish this later