Bikes, Buona Pasqua, and from Bed to Bus in 3 Minutes

 Flashback to November 2019, I was so excited because I had just booked my return trip to Rome to visit the Spring Romers during Holy Week and Easter. I had saved up all my vacation time and was going on a two week trip to Europe. The first week was going to be with my mom exploring and skiing in Switzerland and then I would fly down to Rome to spend Holy Week here. It had been one of the most amazing experiences during my semester and I couldn't wait to do it again. Well then coronavirus ran rampant throughout Italy in late February and early March and three weeks before my trip, the Romers were sent home and Switzerland closed their borders. Since then, I started praying that just one day I would be able to get back to Rome for a Holy Week at Santissima Trinita. Little did I know that God had it in His plans that my trip would only be delayed a year. 

Obviously covid did affect some of Holy Week, such as extremely limited tickets to the Papal events (I heard they've been sold out since Christmas), having to get tickets to a Triduum events at Trinita, and a lot of Churches not opening their doors for the Altars of the Repose on Holy Thursday. But I will get to all of that later in the post. Let me start at the beginning of the week, which started off with a beautiful quiet morning spent at Monte Mario to watch the sunrise. 

Sunrises and sunsets speak to my soul. I would try whenever I could to get up and drive to Skyline Drive for the sunrise when I lived in Front Royal.  So when I first visited Monte Mario and realized it would be a place to view the sunrise, I knew I would be back. I waited until after daylight savings so I wouldn't have to get up nearly as early but it was a 30 minute walk from the Residence and you have to get there 30 minutes before the sunrise to witness the full thing, so it was early! I left Balduina at 6am. Margaret and Tim had planned on joining me but then had stayed up too late so decided to sleep instead. I have to admit going by myself that early in the morning before there was any light out wasn't the smartest idea, but I was halfway there already. There were only a few people out walking their dogs so I walked in the streets and most of them had street lights. It wasn't until I got to the park itself that I had to pull out my phone to use as flashlight because I literally couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of me. But wow, the whole early morning walk was worth it! Watching the sun rise over all the major monuments in Rome was really beautiful. I definitely want to go back at some point with a group. 

Tuesday we once again had Mass at the Tomb of St. Peter altar. One of the priest who is a confessor at St. Peter's joined us for Mass and then afterwards gave us a tour of the other altars in the crypt which are usually closed off. One of the most prominent altars down there is the one directly opposite the tomb of St. Peter: the San Clemente Altar, it's stunning. It is where the Latin Mass is being said now since it can't be done upstairs anymore...  

We went back to the Residence to make sure all the tech was set up for the theology class and ate lunch and then Margaret, Tim and I hit the town because Rome was in an orange zone for four days. This meant that stores were open and we didn't have to carry around paperwork or need a reason to be out wandering about. So we wanted to go shopping. We went to the area near the Spanish steps to get a suit coat for Tim and Margaret and I were in search of white adidas shoes. We both found some but Margaret ended up returning hers and is on the hunt for the next size up. We then split up and I went shopping further looking for some religious statues for my mom and then to get some Easter presents for the staff. I didnt find a St. John the Baptist statue that my mom liked but I had been on the hunt for a new St. Therese statue and that I was able to find for a good price! 

Wednesday morning was another sunny day so I had decided I was going to go for a bike ride at the Borghese gardens. Of course the four days that we were in orange zone they were also doing some road construction and tree trimming so the bus route I needed to take was affected. So it took me a lot longer to get to the Gardens than it should have but I did eventually make it. 

I walked up the road and was passing one of those coffee/bar stands. I decided to grab a coffee before my walk but then when I was in line I saw several people in front of me getting this fresh squeeze orange juice that is almost like an orange smoothie. I remembered having it when I was a student and I really wanted one all of a sudden. So listened to the person in front of me order and I thought I repeated what they said but I got it slightly wrong and so was handed a glass of champagne instead...oh well! At least it was noon instead of 10am. So off walking through the park I went with my champagne in hand. I went to the overlook of Piazza del Popolo and sat on the ledge and enjoyed my bubbly. 

I retraced my steps a little bit and went back to rent a lime bike. I could have returned a regular bike for a few euro less but an electric bike sounded much more exciting, and it definitely was! The Borghese Gallery is closed right now since museums can't be open in orange zone, but I was able to bike around the Villa itself, which is beautiful! 

After my bike adventure, I once again struggled with the bus routes and ended up walking most of the way home from the Borghese, but the exercise did me good. We had a brief staff meeting while the students finished up classes and then. I went upstairs to decompress before our virtual event late that afternoon with Dr. Kathleen Sullivan from the main campus. I had reached out to her to ask if she would be interested in leading a short story/poetry discussion and I supplied tea and cookies for the students who joined in. Following that we had a group dinner with delicious burritos ordered from Maybu's and some tiramisu! A few students stayed afterwards and we played a few rounds of Mafia to wrap up the evening.

And thus begins the real fun of Holy Week: Holy Thursday! No morning Mass at St. Peters since we would be going to Mass in the evening. It was a sunny afternoon so I sat outside on my patio for awhile and read my book and then Margaret came over and we made fancy strawberry mint drinks with sparkling water and absorbed some sunshine. Mass started at 6:30 at Trinita, but a bus delay caused us to not get there until just a few minutes before it started so we were resigned to standing in the back of the Church. But that did mean that we got a great view of the Altar of Repose which was set up at the back of the Church at one of the side altars. 

The procession of the Eucharist to the Altar of Repose was beautiful and done with such ceremony. The entirety of Triduum I was impressed by the choir, until to discover one day when I turned around and looked up in the loft that it was only comprised of four people. After staying at the Trinita Altar of Repose for about fifteen or twenty minutes, it was time to set out to try to make it to seven altars of repose as part of the Holy Thursday tradition. Due to the 10pm curfew, we had just over an hour of a half to accomplish this but given how many Churches there are in Rome, this still should have been easy to complete. But despite being told that Churches would be open, several of them must have closed up early or never been open to the public in the first place. But we did get inside a few of the bigger ones and by the end of the night had been to a total of 5 Churches, instead of the 7. If everything had been open, it would have been 11 Churches in total.  

This was the first night, I was even out this late, returning home just after 10pm since we had had to wait a little bit for a bus. Before these curfews were a thing, we easily would have been out this late and it made me realize what a homebody I've become at night since nothing is open in the city and you are always eating dinner at home. I was drained and feel asleep quickly just shortly after coming home. 

Good Friday morning I had an easy morning, showered, wrote my blog most of the morning and drank only coffee and water. Tim had mentioned that him and. his brother don't eat at all on Good Friday (instead of fasting and eating 1 meal and 2 snacks) and I thought I would give this extra sacrifice a try. And it really wasn't too bad until dinnertime. 

In the early afternoon I headed out towards St. John Lateran to climb the Scala Santca, the Holy Steps which are the original stairs that Christ would have climbed on his walk to Pontius Pilate to be tried and later crucified. They were transported to Rome and had to be covered in wood to reinforce their structure after being climbed by millions of pilgrims. There are three spots where there are blood marks and are displayed in reliquaries in the wood. The tradition is to climb the stairs on one's hands and knees, which I did and said an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be on each step. There are twenty eight steps in total. 

Next I walked down the street to Santa Croce, which is the Church that houses relics from the original Good Friday: wood from the real cross and thorns from the crown of thorns. There was a line to get into this small side chapel but totally worth waiting to be able to venerate those relics on such a day! 

From there I made my way back to Trinita and got there plenty early to get a good seat this time and saved spots for Margaret and Tim who were coming directly from Balduina. On Good Friday, there is no "Mass" but rather a communion service, also known as the Mass of the Presantcified. After Mass we went back to Balduina and began food prep for a midnight feast and played banana-grams to pass the three hours until we could finally eat. We had a great meal of broccoli and cheese quiche and chocolate chip cookies, what could be better! 

I very sleepily made my way to my apartment ready for bed but then took awhile to fall asleep. Here comes the embarrassing story! That evening I had sent out a text in our group chat that I would lead students to Tenebrae service early Saturday morning for anyone who was interested in accompanying me. I said to meet at the bus stop at 6:15am and we would take the bus and make it in time for the 7am service. I set my alarm for 5:50 and drifted off to sleep around 1:10am. My phone dinged and I freaked out that I had overslept as I thought I read 6:18am, I jumped out of bed threw on clothes ran down the stairs and down the street to the bus stop. I had made it in 3 minutes, which is truly a feat...if you've ever been a student here you would know that. I was physically out of breathe but relieved that no students were waiting on me and wouldn't know that I had overslept. Now for those of you that were reading carefully, you would notice I said "I thought I read 6:18am" but in reality I just read the minute hand. And so as I catch my breathe at the bus stop I look at my phone again and realize it is actually ONLY 2:22am!! I had run down the street for nothing, in fact the whole city is on a curfew from 10pm-5am so I shouldn't be on the street at all. I walk back up the hill, change back into my pajamas, realize that my alarm is still set and someone had only texted me which I thought was my alarm in a sleepy, delusional state. I laughed so hard at myself and it actually took me a full hour to fall back asleep after my adrenaline rush. But sure enough at 6:15am I found myself back at the bus stop and eventually made it to Tenebrae service. Solo, which was fine because I was exhausted and could just listen to a podcast on the bus instead of talking to anyone. 

Tenebrae would usually be at night but because of the curfew, the parish decided to move it to the morning instead. Didn't have quite the same effect when you are distinguishing candles but it was still worth getting up for. Miss Ott joked that I was a "spiritual powerhouse" for getting up that early to go but I knew I could come back and sleep for a few hours, so I didn't mind. 

That afternoon, Margaret, Tim and I set out to buy flowers and plants to decorate the Sala with for our Easter cocktail party the next day. It was time to switch gears and go to full out planning and execution mode. We arranged flowers, made watercolor Easter cards for each room and decorated the Sala until 1:30am so we could have a nice Easter for the students, many of whom were away from family for the first time for Easter. 

Margaret and I really just loved this day because we got to be creative and had a ton of flower sitting on my balcony arranging flowers and then painting together. We needed an late afternoon cup of coffee to get an extra energy boast though, me especially after my bizarre morning. Before I head to bed, I went around to each room delivering their Easter "basket" consists of traditional Italian Columba Cake, which is a sweet easter bread, chocolate eggs and their card. 

Easter Sunday morning we had gotten tickets for the Solemn High Mass, once again at Trinita. Are you sense a pattern yet? I just love that parish and go every opportunity I get to. Anyways we brought four students along with us as well. And Mass did not disappoint, especially the end because there was a trumpet, swoon! 

After Mass, we came home and prepped some appetizers for our Easter cocktail party. I made a few different types of crostinis: salmon, cucumber and cream cheese; fig, prosciutto and brie; and bruschetta. Margaret made delicious homemade cinnamon rolls, Tim made pepperoni rolls and Miss Ott made deviled eggs! We also supplemented with cheese, bread and a mixed juice, champagne, and rum cocktail. Everything was delicious and the students really enjoyed the cocktail hour. The staff exchanged presents and I had the pleasure of finally opening my Easter present from my parents that had been slipped into my suitcase before I left the States. Almost 24 years old and I still get my Easter basket, no complaining here! 

Most of the students hosted each other over for Easter dinner. I got to FaceTime my whole family for almost two hours because Nathan had come home to Maryland for Easter so that was a real treat! I watched a movie and headed off to bed, excited that we had Easter Monday off and I would be able to sleep in! Easter is still celebrated on Easter Monday in Rome and is a national holiday called Pasquette meaning Little Easter. I say we had the day off, but really the students did and I still scheduled things haha! I had two girls over for coffee and apple cake in the morning and then we lead another optional conditioning class. We had a brief staff meeting and then the afternoon off until we had a Roma Games Competition that evening: Family Feud. It was a little complicated to orchestrate, but I think we pulled it off. And since we will be back to orange zone after Easter, (Easter weekend itself was red to prohibit travel) that should have been our last online group activity. Praise the Lord! 

I will end with more pictures from our Easter celebration and will be back soon to write more about this past week and how we enjoyed being able to go out and about again and it started to feel like a normal Rome Semester! 

Buona Pasqua!

Nicolette