Well, the last two days have been beyond amazing. We got to go to Papal General Audience yesterday and got front row seats! Oh man, but how is a story in itself. I feel like I could write for centuries on everything that has happened and my viewpoint, but since I'm quite tired, I'll just hit the highlights and then details if I'm still awake.
Afterwards we went to another Church (don't remember which at this point) and then we went to the actual stairs that Christ walked up to Pontius Pilate on. That was very intense, while my thoughts were hardly recognizable, my heart felt something special about that ascent.
Later that night we went to a specialty spaghetti restraunt and OMG, it was unbelievable...the noodles al dente, the sauce that I got was pesto, tomato and cream and rocked my socks off. Also had some very tasty gelato...I am thoroughly enjoying eating gelato while walking through quiet side streets at night.
But most important/prominent in my mind is the Scavi tour that we had this morning. We actually saw the bones of St. Peter, but it was SO much more than that! It was history, it was walking back in time, it was fantastic! I guess a few days ago the Basilica was just another tourist attraction, but by the end of the tour it was so much more...It IS ST. PETER'S BASILICA! AMAZING! I touched me in a very profound way.
We also went and prayed at the tombs of St. Catherine of Siena, St. Monica, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and others. We even got to pray in the room where St. Catherine died. It was just beautiful.
And amongst that spiritual beauty, I've discovered some essentials that one should know upon visiting Rome: 1-Do NOT look both ways before crossing the streets. 2-Crossing the streets is like a real life game of Frogger, also relatable to jumping horses where hesitating could equate to a painful end. 3-There is no such thing as a 'simple' Church in Rome, they are all super beautiful. 4-Gelato is an essential part of the diet. 5-Am I really going to be staying here ALL summer, unbelievable.
Tomorrow we are going to the Vatican Museum and visiting more churches and I'm sure there will be more great memories.
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I also did the underground Vatican tour in which I saw the bones of St. Peter... absolutely amazing. It was one of my most favorite parts of my Rome trip... I am so glad you got to experience that as well!
ReplyDeleteTracie you're so cute!!!! haha you really make me laugh. I actually squeezed out a few tears just now from laughing at your stories. It sounds like your first few days in italy have all been an overload for your 5 senses. For some reason I can just picture you with gelato in your hands.........all the time. ;-) Ya, the pasta there is awesome! The wine is awesome too!! My diet in Italy was strictly pasta, wine and gelato too! Oh how i miss Italia!! Glad you're loving your spiritual experience in Roma! Treasure it and journal it!!! I can't wait to catch up with you next fall and hear more "tracie stories." I've got some great coal mining stories for you already!! God Bless you and WATCH OUT FOR CARS!!!! ITALIANS ARE NUTS!!!! Italy is the only place in the world I was nearly hit by a car while walking on the sidewalk. It happend 3 times to me!!
ReplyDeleteI remember my strategy for crossing streets in Italy was safety in numbers-- like deer crossing a street in Colorado. Italians probably don't want to hit one tourist, of course, but hitting many would be just way too damaging to the car. :-) I, too, am glad to read your posts! But where was the rest of the story about the Papal Mass?! Don't leave us hanging!
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