"It's not about the destination, but rather about the journey..."

Last week flew by!

I will try to just hit the highlights!
In my Italian Media class last Thursday we went to two buildings associated with the Vatican. We went to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications where we met with Msgr Paul Tighe. He is a priest originally from Ireland but has been in Rome for many years as the Head of the Pontifical Council. We sat in the actual board room where all the important Bishops and even Cardinals sit to discuss issues in which are then published into books. He was so personal with us. It was so cool to experience. Our teacher told us that he has interviewed him many times and has seen him speak to the public but he has never heard him speak at the same level as his audience. Msgr Paul Tighe even gave examples using his 82 year old mother! After that Sean (our teacher) could tell we were starting to get a bit tired due to the heat and he bought all 17 of us (plus himself) a cappuccino! I believe I am addicted now... After our cappuccinos we were then brought to the Holy See Press Office. We were able to sit in the actual press room (picture) where the Vatican holds conferences that are shown to the rest of the world. We met a few journalists and to be honest I am starting to become very interested in journalism/media/communications! So fascinating!

Later in the day on Thursday my roommate Allison and I went to Villa Borghese (a park) to watch the Italian world cup game (picture). There were thousands of people. It was just insane! Italia did not play well for about 80 minutes of the game but the last few minutes were so exciting. Sadly they lost, but it was awesome to be immersed in the Italian culture. They were waving flags everywhere, chanting, singing, blowing horns and event throwing objects! So fun!
Also last week our landlord made us dinner again. We ate at his bed and breakfast across the hall. He made us pesto and we had peaches for dessert. It was so delicious! We ate on his terrace and apparently we were being loud because this crazy lady started yelling Italian at us. Tedo (our landlord) had a few words in return for her. It was not even 10:30! Plus the street we live on is crazy loud. Tedo said she is old and cranky and always acts this way. We still felt bad though!

On Friday we left for Cinque Terre. We took a 4 hour train ride to La Spezia. Most of our group somehow was sitting next to each other, but my ticket was for a whole separate car and cabin. My point of this travel abroad experience was to get out of my comfort zone and this train ride definitely accomplished that. I was sitting in the middle of five Italians that did not speak any english. I kept falling a sleep, you know doing that awkward head bob...and one time when I woke up I saw the guy sitting across from me pointing at me, speaking rapid Italian and everyone else was laughing. It may just be the American in me assuming that I am being judged or talked about, but I am pretty sure they were laughing at me...! I then thought I missed our stop because I did not understand the Italian conductor saying what stop was coming up. There was definitely a good 10 minutes where I thought I was going to end up in a random Italian city without a phone or any idea where I needed to go. Obviously it worked out though. When we arrived to La Spezia this lady told us we had to catch this local train that was leaving in two minutes to go to Daive Marina and that we had to run. We sprinted through that train station. We got on the train and they closed the doors behind us. We made it, but we did not have a ticket for this train. We prayed that no one would ask us to show it and luckily no one did. It was a long 40 minutes. When we arrived to Daive Marina we got a shuttle that brought us to our campgroud/hostile. It was a very popular place! Our tents were awesome and the beds were even more comfortable than what I am sleeping on in Rome! We decided to go find some dinner and we ended up at this hotel that was very fancy. We spent a lot on dinner that night. The wine was delicious and the food was...interesting. I tried so many new things! Normally I cannot stand seafood, but since we were along the Mediterranean I knew I had to try it. I tried crab, octopus, calamari, and shrimp! Yikes! After dinner we got some gelato and walked along the beach as the sun set. Most beautiful view I have ever seen.

We returned to our campsite and attempted a fire (more like a flame that lasted 3 minutes at most) and we all sat up talking. It is amazing how open and close we all have become in just a few weeks! We went to sleep and woke up early and headed to the same hotel/restaurant that we had dinner at to have breakfast. We had our cappuccinos and the buffet and headed to the train. We had a long day of hiking ahead of us. The plan was to hike through all 5 towns and at the end we would swim in the Mediterranean Sea. We started at Riomaggiore and walked along a nice path for about 40 minutes until we hit the second town called Manarola. From Manarola to the third town, Corniglia took about another 45 minutes or so and was again not so hard. We started to split into two groups. The first group had 4 people and they were moving pretty quickly while our group had 5 of us and we took our sweet time! At every city we would stop and walk around. Along the trails we would stop and explore and take pictures as well. After Corniglia the hike started to get more challenging. From the third town to the fourth, Vernazza, it started to drizzle a bit. We did not mind this at all. It was hot out and we completely enjoyed the refreshing rain. This trail took almost 2 hours to complete but the views and the people we met on the way were amazing.

When we finally hit the fourth town we stopped and bought some bandannas, ice cream, and a few got some beer. We knew the next trail would be the hardest and boy were we right. It took us about an hour and a half and the entire time we could see our destination. The beach. We passed this older man from England who simply said, "It's not about the destination, but rather about the journey" and he continued to walk by. He was so right! We were enjoying everything about that hike and we refocused on what we were experiencing at the time. We finally made it (roughly 6 hours/7.5 miles later) to the fifth town Monterosso al Mare (picture) in which we changed into our swimsuits and ran into the Mediterranean. So refreshing!

After hanging out for a bit we got

some food and gelato before heading to the train station to head back to Rome.

On the train back to Rome we were all able to sit together because it was a night train. It was definitely more comfortable than on the way there!

On Sunday I saw the POPE! (picture) We went to St. Peter's square and waited for him to come to his window. He spoke in at least 6 different languages and he blessed us. Afterward we went to the Sistine Chapel. Gorgeous. I do not know how else to explain it.

Words fail.

During this past week I have been dealing with a sinus infection that just doesn't seem to want to go away. Because of that I have not been doing as much. Also one of our roommates just found out she has mono so we are taking extra precautions about not sharing anything!

Last night we had Mexican at "La Cucuracha". It was delicious. Oddly I felt at home...? I got a fajita!

Tomorrow we are planning on seeing "what few men and women ever see" in the Vatican. It is a whole day event for my Italian Media class and our teacher said we were going behind the Swiss Guards and deep within. We also are meeting the spokesman for the Pope. He is second in command! I am sure I will have a ton to write about after that!

That is all for now.
ciao
<3