Pilgrimage Week and Farewell to Rome for Now

I’ve been home over a month now and can’t believe how fast time is going on this side of the world as well. I still have two weeks to write about from our last few weeks of the spring semester, but I was soaking up my time back with my family and friends recently.  

But this week came with the urge to get back and experience it all again, so I am here I am blogging once again. Last I wrote, the students had just returned from their five days of freedom as I called it where they were finally able to travel around Italy without as many restrictions in place. In their last few days in Rome, we were trying to pack in as much as we could for them while also allowing lots of free time for them to be able to spend the last two days out exploring on their own and saying goodbyes. 

That morning a few of us went for one last optional group Mass at the Crypt of the Vatican but this time it was a Latin Mass in the San Clemente Chapel, something I had been hoping to experience throughout the whole semester- absolutely beautiful! And when we came back up from the Crypt, we got to witness the very end of the Mass being said to swear in the brand new Swiss Guards and watch them process out. What an extraordinary start to a Thursday morning! 

 

We had made arrangements for our Scavi tour, which is exploring the underground of St. Peters and the original foundations of the Church. It had been scheduled for March when we first arrived, but they had to cancel due to restrictions. And unfortunately, two days before our tour, they cancelled on us AGAIN! It was extremely frustrating for the staff as we had planned around that, but oh well. One thing we learned throughout the semester was to be ready to adapt with the circumstances as they change. 

 

But we still had our tickets for the Vatican Museums scheduled for the afternoon. We gave the students the option to a self-guided tour or go on a guided tour with our art and architecture professor. It ended up being about half and half. Tim, Margaret and I went to our favorite parts of the museum and then went to grab some gelato at Old Bridge on the way home before heading back to do some last-minute prep work for pilgrimage week before our meeting and group dinner that evening. 

 

Pilgrimage Week typically is towards the beginning of the semester, when we still do not know the students so well, so it was nice to have already bonded as a group before that trip plus we had beautiful, beautiful spring weather. The fall semester wasn’t able to go on pilgrimage week, but we were luckily able to do at least a modified version of it, we didn’t have time for Siena, but we were able to spend the normal 4 days and 3 nights in the quaint town of Assisi. 

Being part of pilgrimage week from a staff perspective is way different. A little less quiet and reflective but nothing can steal one’s attention away from how amazing that little town is.  We left Rome mid-morning on a Friday and drove about two and a half hours to Assisi. When we got in, we got all the students checked in at the hotel and then had a group lunch before embarking on a two-hour tour of the city with a local. 

 

After the tour, I led most the students down to San Damiano, which is the monastery of St. Clare and the Poor Clares. This is my third trip to Assisi, as it was part of my family’s pilgrimage when we went to Italy when I was 10 years old. It was fun to talk with my parents on Facetime one of the nights (because it was Mother’s Day while we were there!) and how much we all remember from that trip even though it was 13 years ago! 

During pilgrimage week, all the meals are as a group in the Main Hotel and are quite a feast, I mean, just so much food. After the first day, I learned to only eat about half of it at each meal because I just wasn’t doing enough to warrant eating that much. Three course meals should only be only a day, not twice. Italians have a pasta course, followed by a meat course and small salad followed by dessert or fruit. Before dinner each night, Fr. Baggot, who accompanied us on pilgrimage, would give a short 30-minute talk. The students really enjoyed them, and they were very applicable. He also said daily Mass for us each day, which is always such a blessing! 

 

Saturday morning, we started off the day with Mass at the Tomb of St. Francis in the crypt of the Basilica. We had gotten to see the incorrupt body of St. Clare on our tour the day before.  Afterwards, we got a tour of both the Lower and Upper Basilica from a monk. There was about an hour of free time afterwards to pop into a few shops on our way back up to our hill for lunch.

After lunch, we had an optional hike up to the hermitage where St. Francis and the brothers would go for quiet retreat from the town. It’s about 3 miles on a switch back road, not too bad. But I definitely enjoyed it more on the walk down chatting away freely with Katy without breathing heavily haha. When my semester came to Assisi, we had inclement weather with lots of rain and even some snow, so I remember it was a very small turnout for the hike, as I and most of my friends spent the day hanging out in the community room playing cards. So, it was so great to experience the hermitage and views for the first time. 

 

With our time in Italy winding down, it was great to enjoy a few last Aperitivo’s before dinner, especially with my fellow staff members. We’ve worked so well together as a team and I already miss them in the month since we’ve been home. One of the days, we found this great bar that it raised above the town a bit and has a great view of Santa Chiara Church and the valley. 

 

On Sunday, we had Mass down in the Valley/New Town at the location of the Church that St. Francis built. We walked down as a group (about 40 minutes) and did a rosary on the way there and then rode the bus back up whenever you wanted, as long as you were back in time for lunch. 

 

Sunday afternoon was free time for everyone. I had a goal of going to this café that I had visited as a student that I remembered as having the best cannoli’s and just a great vibe, I reminds me of a tea shop, with the beautiful antique tables and chairs and frescoes on the ceiling and chandeliers. And it lived up to all I remembered. I got a coffee tiramisu flavored cannoli and enjoyed every bite. Margaret, Tim and I also enjoyed exploring all the beautiful little shops of Assisi purchasing some watercolors, hand painted pottery, and statues. The best part of just talking with the shop owners, especially if their English was better thana our Italian. We heard how they’ve fared during covid and how happy they were to see tourists slowly begin to return. 

 

That night after dinner, we went up to the fortress with all the students as we had done most nights which was a lot of fun. They sang songs and just savored every last minute before the city-wide curfew went into effect. I won’t miss that! 

Monday morning, we had breakfast, followed by Mass and then about 30 minutes left to explore before we had to depart to head back to Rome. Margaret and I grabbed one last cappuccino from the Clock Bar and a delicious blueberry muffin, something you don’t find often in Italy. It was really yummy; everyone knows I loved blueberry flavored anything! 

 

Back in Rome, I begun the process of packing up my apartment which was so sad. That night with grabbed some drinks with AJ now that Abbey’s Theater was once again open! The next few days flew by too quickly. Tuesday the students had made covid testing appointments since they were then within 48 hours of their flight home. We treated the winners to both the scavenger hunt and the Roma games to brunch at HomeBaked. And then had two separate farewell parties on the last two nights. One was with Fr. Baggot, and it was also supposed to be with Fr. Glasgow and the NAC seminarians but last minute they weren’t able to come. It was hors d’oeuvre style, which was fun. I made bruschetta as I had a lot of bread crostinis to use up. 

 

The second goodbye party on their final night, is the traditional one where we toast champagne and show the slideshow video from the semester. It is always sad to say goodbye to a group you’ve spent a significant amount of time with. That night and the next morning we filled with goodbyes. A majority of them were leaving at 6:30am, so I got up ta 6am to go downstairs and said goodbye and make sure that everyone made it in their taxi okay. By noon, all of the students had departed, most of them to head home and a few were spending a few extra days traveling. 

 

Now, the staff had to get to work to complete the last steps of checkout and cleaning the sala and moving all our personal belongings out of our apartments before the next morning. I had done most of my packing ahead of time so I was able to go out in the city that night and enjoy some extra time in Rome. It was the Feast Day of the Ascension of Christ, so I went to 6:30 Mass at Trinita and then got some of the best gelato in Rome from Frigidarium. It was so pleasant outside that night and the sunset tempted me into walking towards St. Peters instead of catching the bus. It was so nice to sit in the peaceful square and soak up my last few hours in Rome! I ended up deciding to walk all the way back to Balduina, while catching up with a friend on the phone. It was a long walk all the way back from Trinita, but it was also such a great way to reflect back on the incredible experience the semester had provided me. 
 

The next morning, we would leave early in the morning for our week-long adventure tour of Northern Italy, which I will write about in my final blog post of the spring semester. But our time in Italy had come to an end, with the exception of coming back for one night to retrieve our large luggage and fly out of Rome. It was great to be able to travel with only backpacks or duffle bags when you are hopping on and off of trains a lot. 

To all my spring romers, thank you so much for a great semester and being my first class of Romers! We definitely made plenty of memories together. Ciao! 

 

                                                            The Brunette