Rome Archives - Page 2 of 4 - A.J. Cattapan

Studiare Day 6

July 9, 2016/0 Comments/in Travel/by AJ Cattapan

Friday morning we all looked like zombies. We were tired and hot, and news of the shootings back home didn’t help.

Our class session in the morning was only a few hours. Then we were basically let free for the weekend. Many people left town right away, but I’m sticking around, basically.

I spent a good amount of the afternoon working on one of our final projects. It’s a linguistic landscape presentation. Basically, we need to take lots of pictures of the signs around town, and then code them in such a way that we can present our findings. For example, my partner and I have been taking photos all week, so we started looking at how many signs around town are just in Italian, how many are in English and Italian, and how many are in three or more languages.

We’re also looking at what might influence which language is written on top, which is written in bigger font, and which signs need images with them.

In the evening, my partner and I took the long bus ride into town for dinner at a cute place near my Italian language school. We had a good meal for a cheap price. Then I took a walk across Ponte Sant’Angelo to get to the bus stop I needed. You can see video of my walk across the bridge on Facebook.

Tomorrow is a special day trip. I’m navigating on my own, so wish me travel mercies!

Studiare Day 5

July 8, 2016/0 Comments/in Travel/by AJ Cattapan

I’ve taken enough trips to Italy now that I’ve got a system down for getting over jetlag. What I haven’t quite figured out is how to get my body to adjust faster to the Italian custom of drinking coffee every morning. You see, I’m not a coffee drinker back home, but I’ve grown to really enjoy Italian coffee, particularly a cappuccino in the morning.

Alas, coffee has an effect on your digestive system. Add to that the heat (90 degree temps every day) and the long bumpy bus rides (at least an hour to get anywhere in town from our campus location), and my stomach ended up fairly queasy Thursday morning.

Nonetheless, I headed out with my class to Centro Astalli in the morning. Centro Astalli is the Jesuit refugee services center. Our guide Chiara explained the many ways they help the refugees in Rome: language lessons, soup kitchen, showers, a post office (so that they can have an address so that they can apply for asylum), and outreach services to schools to help teach about the refugee crisis.

Pope Francis had visited during his first year, and we got to sit in the same little chapel where he did. They do amazing work at Centro Astalli, and it was great to talk with them.

The chapel at Centro Astalli

After the visit, we had a short time to visit the Vittorio Emanuele Monument and then took two buses back to campus. It was an hour and a half long trip back, and my stomach was not enjoying it very much, so I had a light salad lunch back at school. Then we had class in the afternoon.

In the evening, my stomach was feeling a little better, but I didn’t want another long bus ride, so a classmate (who’s been having swollen ankle issues) and I went to a local pharmacy to get her some help. Then we walked to a nearby restaurant, where we had a nice fish and potatoes dinner. The university is in a very residential neighborhood, so this was an authentic Italian restaurant with just Italian spoken. I also got to try suppli, a fried rice ball with cheese, which my Italian teacher told me I absolutely had to eat while in Rome, so if anyone sees Mario, tell him I had the suppli and it was delicious!

Suppli!

Studiare Day 4

July 7, 2016/0 Comments/in Travel/by AJ Cattapan

Wednesday brought several great experiences. In the morning, we had class and more great discussions, but our plans for the afternoon had to change last minute. We had planned to visit a particular place called Refugee ScART, where refugees are working, but as it was the last day of Ramadan and many of the refugees are Muslim, we were notified that there would be little for us to see there.

Thus, we spent our afternoon scoping out various locations for our group presentations, which will occur next week. My group had been assigned to read the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, which is about several women in Afghanistan in the decades leading up to 9/11 and the time right after that. We have decided to focus our presentation on women and education, so we visited the very first Montessori school started by Maria Montessori as well as the University of Rome Medical School where Maria Montessori had been the first woman to study medicine in Italy.

University of Rome School of Medicine & Psychology

In the evening, we had a very special private after-hours tour of the Vatican Museums. I’d been there twice before, but this was really a unique experience. Two guards had to accompany us and our tour guide around, but otherwise, it was just us.

Practically alone in the Sistine Chapel

If you’ve ever been to the Vatican Museums, you know it ends with the Sistene Chapel, which is incredibly crowded and you are ushered through fairly quickly. We had the chapel all to ourselves and got to stay for over a half hour. Not only that we were actually allowed to take photos inside as long as we didn’t use a flash. Usually, you get kicked out if you try to take any photos.

Yummy profiteroles for a birthday dessert

We finished up around 9:00 p.m., and a few of us went out to eat and celebrate one of my classmate’s birthday.

Studiare Day 3

July 6, 2016/0 Comments/in Travel/by AJ Cattapan

Tuesday morning we had a regular class. Our discussions about reaching students who are culturally and linguistically diverse are so rich that I fear we talk so much our professor can’t get through half her lesson plan.

In the afternoon, we had time to work on our big group assignment, which meant I spent part of the afternoon doing research for my section of our group project in the library.

Rome campus library

In the evening, we headed to the beautiful Trastevere neighborhood to meet with someone from the Community of Sant’Egidio, a group dedicated to prayer and caring for the sick and the poor. We meant with one of their members who discussed the wonderful things they do , including helping refugees safely leave the countries where their very lives are at risk. We had a fantastic visit there, and our guide Paolo was truly filled with the joy of the Gospel that Pope Francis keeps encouraging us to demonstrate. The Community of Sant’Egidio is really living out that Christian mission of caring for the sick and the poor.

A 1,000-year-old olive tree in the courtyard at the Communità di Sant’Egidio.

We got to see the beautiful former convent where their community meets and then we got to join them for their evening prayer at the incredible Santa Maria in Trastevere Basilica.

Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere

Afterward, we went out to dinner at a local restaurant. It was 9:00 when we left the church, so we were eating at the typical Roman dinner time. 🙂

How to get a bus from Rome to Siena

July 14, 2015/19 Comments/in Travel/by AJ Cattapan

During the Mi Piace, Mi Gusta tour of Italy and Spain, there were several times when I was trying to find information online and couldn’t get it, and I thought, “Someday I’m going to write a blog post about this to save some other poor traveler from my frustration!” Well, today’s the day!

When I researched getting from Rome to Siena, all the info I could find online said it was best to take a bus. This is unusual because often a train is the best way to get between European cities that are too close to warrant a flight. However, there’s no good train that goes to the small hillside town of Siena.

So what bus do you take? And where do you get that bus?

Well, today’s your lucky day! Here’s how you get the bus from Rome to Siena!

The bus line you want is the Sena bus line. Here is their website. However, I found their website a little confusing, so I asked my Italian landlady if she knew much about it. She only spoke Italian, so between the website and my limited ability to understand spoken Italian, I was able to piece it together. She also suggested I take a trip out to the bus station to purchase the tickets ahead of time and figure out my way around. I’m glad I did because the bus station in Rome is large! Here’s the scoop to make it easier for you.

The Sena bus line can be found at the Tiburtina station. This is on the northeast end of Rome. This is not the big Termini station in the city center, but it is a very big station nonetheless. In fact, at the Tibutina station, you’ll find Metro lines (the subway system in Rome), regular city buses, “big” trains (like the high-speed ones between cities in Italy), and a whole bunch of coach buses like the Sena one you’ll want for Siena.

Step 1–Get to the Tiburtina station. If you don’t know how to get there, I suggest using the MoovIt app on your smart phone to help you out. In fact, I used MoovIt many times in Rome, Florence, and Madrid to help me navigate public transportation systems in Europe.

Step 2–Find the Sena buses at the Tiburtina Station. I’m not going to lie. This is a little easier said than done. I had taken a regular city bus to Tiburtina. It let me off in front of the station (along with a half dozen or so other city bus lines that ended at Tiburtina). I walked inside the huge station and found Metro lines downstairs and a whole slew of inter-city trains upstairs. The station went on and on. It has shops, restaurants, and washrooms insides. But I couldn’t figure out where the Sena bus line was. Finally, I went back to the entrance and asked a guy at a news stand where the buses to Siena where. He told me to go “across the street.”

Okay, so here’s the deal. If you’re facing the Tiburtina station and your back is to the spot where all the city buses drop you off, you’re going to want to go to your left. You’ll see a street that runs under some highway roads.

In this photo, the Tiburtina station is to your right, and the city buses would be to your left. You want to walk straight ahead.

Walk under those highway roads you see up ahead. Cross the street that runs under them, then turn to you right.

Go across this street. You won’t see any buses at first. You’ll see bushes and trees on the other side of the street. Turn to your right and walk a little ways. You’ll soon see a whole bunch of coach buses. Believe it or not, you don’t want those buses either!

On your left, you’ll see this sidewalk with a blue canopy cover. Walk all the way through that canopy-covered sidewalk.

You don’t want the buses on the right side of this photo. Instead, walk under the canopied sidewalk on the left of this photo. You’re almost there!

On the other side, you’ll see a bunch more buses! The Sena bus to Siena was at “Stallo 5.”

Your Sena bus at Stallo 5!

Across from each “stallo,” you’ll see a bunch of little ticket offices with sliding doors. Go to the one directly across from Stallo 5. It should say Sena on it somewhere. Sena is connected with some other bus lines, so you’ll probably see a sign that looks like this:

Go inside and buy your tickets. You can purchase them ahead of time or right before (assuming there are still seats available). The bus will be at Stallo 5 right across from where you just bought your ticket.

Here’s a map to help you find the Sena bus stop (marked by the yellow star) when you get dropped off by a city bus (marked by the blue arrow) in front of the Tiburtina station.

When you get to Siena, you’ll probably want to get off at Piazza Gramsci. This popular bus stop is just north of the city center (Plaza del Campo) by about a 10-minute walk. You won’t find another bus stop that gets you closer to the city center.

And remember that Siena is a hill town, so wear your good walking shoes! Have fun!

Mi Piace, Mi Gusta – Day 13: Roma è la mia “montagna.” (Rome is my mountain.)

June 26, 2015/0 Comments/in Travel/by AJ Cattapan

When people think of Rome, they often think of its seven hills, but after today I will always think of it as a mountain–my personal mountain. This may make you think of my post from Monday when I was talking about the uphill climb I’m having learning Italian, but I have a totally different meaning in mind this time. As Fraulein Maria would say, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”

This morning I told my landlady that I could not believe it was my last day at school in Rome. As I walked the familiar streets to school, I thought about what I would do on my last afternoon in Rome. Perhaps I would go to visit the churches I couldn’t see with Katie a couple nights ago. She had gone with some friends yesterday morning while I was in class. Maybe I could take some time this afternoon to make my own visit. It’s always nice to go back and visit old friends.

But when I got to class this morning, I quickly discovered that my plans would have to change. Only one other student was there. By the time the teacher arrived, only three of us students were in the room. The teacher then explained that there was a strike going on today for bus drivers and Metro operators, so probably a lot of students would be late or not show up at all.

Uh oh. So much for visiting those churches on the other side of town.

During our morning break, I got my last Roman cappuccino at the best bar (a.k.a. coffeeshop) near school. After downing it quickly (it’s a very busy place during the school’s break time), I walked to the piazza in front of school to eat a snack. I was kind of sad. My plans for the day were ruined.

Suddenly, a voice deep inside me said, “You don’t have to run all over. You can find me close by.”

Oh.

Right.

Visiting old churches is like visiting old friends, but I don’t have to go to them to find God. He is everywhere–in the churches far from me and in the churches close to me; in the people I see in class and in the people I pass on the street; in the museums and in the coffee bar.

Then I began to wonder if this meant I shouldn’t have traveled to Italy at all. I can meet God at home, too. But then I remembered that even Jesus had to take time away from his friends and family to go off alone on a mountain to pray. He needed to be away from the ordinary, away from the crowds that always wanted his attention in the cities or along the shore, away even from the people He loved so much. He went to the mountain to talk with His father, to have that close relationship that comes from time dedicated solely to nourishing that bond.

Rome has become my mountain. It is the place I go to when I need to reconnect with God in a way that is different from my ordinary prayers. I can’t spend forever here, just like Jesus couldn’t remain on top of the mountain, but it is good for me to come here occasionally (and I’m extremely blessed to be able to do so), so that I can have that experience away from the ordinary.

In the months leading up to this trip, all my free time outside of work was spent on marketing for my book. I’d been warned that the real work for authors comes *after* writing the book. It was exhausting to be sure and consumed much of my time. This trip forced me to take a break from all that marketing, a break I think I really needed. It’s easy to get caught up in Goodreads reviews and Amazon rankings.

Today’s bus strike forced me to take a break from playing tourist, too. I spent a long time in Chiesa Nuova this afternoon (a church near school). Partly I just sat, partly I prayed. I wrote a good amount in my prayer journal, and for a while I just listened to some music on the “meditation” playlist on my phone.

Chiesa Nuova

When I hit “shuffle,” the first song that came up was “Oceans” by Hillsong United. It was a song my spiritual director had recommended to me last year when I was learning to trust in God’s plan, and it was the perfect meditation song in the church. And God was there–in the church near school. I’m sure if I had traveled to those other churches, I would’ve found Him there, too. But it’s nice to know it’s okay if I don’t make it to the Scala Santa or Santa Maria Maggiore on this trip.

Tomorrow I head to Siena, and God will meet me there, too. 🙂

Mi Piace, Mi Gusta – Day 12: Il Tempo Vola (Time flies)

June 25, 2015/0 Comments/in Travel/by AJ Cattapan

How could it possibly be that I have only one more full day left in Rome? Where did the time go? I’m sure to my mother it must seem like I’ve been away forever, and while I miss my family, I still feel like the time has flown by really quickly. These two weeks seem a lot shorter than the two weeks I spent here last summer for the Speak, Pray, Cook tour.

This morning’s class was on family relationships and the “ne” partitive. It’s difficult to explain because we don’t have any exact synonym in English. It’s like a pronoun and can be something like “any” or “of those.” For example, if someone asked you how many apples you wanted, you could say, “Ne prendo 6.” (Of those I’ll take six.)

After class, I headed to the Musei Capitolini, which is a pair of museums on the Capitoline Hill. I only ended up visiting one of the two museums since I like to appreciate my art in smaller doses. Here are a couple things I saw. (Hopefully, the pics turn out right-side up.)

Romulus and Remus and the she-wolf:

Medusa:

Caravaggio’s Gypsy Fortune-Teller (Notice how she’s pretending to read his palm. Apparently, she’s actually stealing his ring.)

The views from the museum are pretty nice, too.

Then I stopped by the Trevi Fountain to discover that it is still under renovation.

Then I bused it out to the train station Katie and I will be taking on Saturday to get to Siena. I’m really glad I went there ahead of time to get the tickets, because it’s a major station with inter-city trains, Metro trains, city buses, and inter-city buses. I’ll be much more relaxed Saturday morning knowing that our tickets are purchased, and I know right where to go.

After class today, I met up with Katie and some of her classmates. Someone in their class had brought up Giolitti’s, which is a famous gelato place I’ve been to many times in the last year. I had told Katie we should go, and when her classmate brought it up again today, she asked if today could be the day we visit it. Why not! We don’t have much time left in Rome!

So six of us headed out to Giolitti’s with me leading the way since I’m the only one in the group who had been there before. When we turned the corner, I said, “Uh oh, this doesn’t look good.”

There was a film crew blocking the street right in front of Giolitti’s. Those of you around for Speak, Pray, Cook last year, might remember the day I walked across Ponte Sant’Angelo while they were filming a TV show. I wondered if this was another TV show or a movie.

We couldn’t see much of what was going on, and we debated where we should go next since Giolitti’s seemed out of the question. But then one of the crew guys told us they were leaving, and we’d be able to get in soon.

Sure enough, they lifted the yellow tape five minutes later, and there was a rush into Giolitti’s. (It really is popular and always crowded.)

So there I am, fighting the crowd to get my limoncello and raspberry gelato, as the film crew wraps up their cables and picks up their dolly tracks. As soon as I get my cone, I turn around and see two of the other girls from our group.

“You just missed Ben Stiller,” one of them says.

“What?!?”

“He was seated right over there.” She points to a table just a few feet from us. “And then he walked right past us.” She holds up her phone and shows me a picture she snatched with about 60% of Ben Stiller showing.

Yep. I was so distracted by gelato that I missed the fact I was standing within feet of Ben Stiller.

After our gelato escapade, we headed to Campo de’ Fiori to check out the action, and then had dinner at my favorite wine bar, Mimi e Coco. Last, but not least, we found a liquor store handing out free samples of limoncello. Only in Italy.

Tonight I’m back at the apartment where I spent a few minutes out on my balcony overlooking the northern Roman hills. I can’t believe my time here is almost over. It seems like I waited for so long to return here, and sometimes I need to nearly pinch myself to realize I’m really here. I’m actually typing my blog post at this ancient little desk while the Roman teenagers hang out in front of the school across the street.

While I’m sad that my time in Rome is nearly at an end, I can comfort myself that I still have adventures in Siena, Florence, and Madrid to look forward to.

Buona notte, tutti!

Mi Piace, Mi Gusta – Day 10: Niente speciale (nothing special)

June 23, 2015/0 Comments/in Travel/by AJ Cattapan

Tonight’s blog post will be short because nothing too unusual happened today. In the morning, I stumbled my way through Italian class. (We’re learning passive voice verbs. Ugh!)

After class, I stopped in Chiesa Nuova for some quiet prayer time. I expected to be closed for the “riposo” (siesta), but it wasn’t. While I was there, I lit a candle and said some prayers for my aunt who passed away a couple days ago. I’m sorry I can’t be home for the funeral, but my mom and I agreed that praying for her in Rome is a pretty good substitute for actually being there.

Candle lit for my aunt in front of a painting of the Assumption of Mary at Chiesa Nuova. I think she’d like this painting. 🙂

Then I ate a quick lunch outside the church.

Afterward, I found the gelato spot that Katie and I had failed to find the night before. Turns out we had been only a few doors down from it when we gave up and turned around.

Then I went back to the apartment where I tried to ask Marcella about how to catch the bus to Siena on Saturday. Unfortunately, I was really having trouble understanding what she was saying. I got only a few words and then had to put those words together with the info I could find online.

After working on homework, I returned to school to meet Katie after her class. We went out to a bar with three of her classmates for some pre-dinner drinks. It was a very American sort of bar.

Then we went to the Tuesday night dinner organized by the school. We had a full meal with bruschetta, a main course (I had pizza with tuna), and then dessert. I was so full afterward I thought my stomach would burst. Thankfully, the restaurant was close to our apartments, so Katie and her roommate headed back to their apartment, and I returned to mine.

Pizza con tonno (pizza with tuna)! Who would’ve guessed this exists? Not me! But I like it!

That’s it. Simple day, right? But that’s okay because it’s still a day in Rome!

Mi Piace, Mi Gusta – Day 7: Cucinare (To Cook)

June 20, 2015/4 Comments/in Travel/by AJ Cattapan

Today I got to do something I’ve been waiting a year to do. Those of you who have been following me for a while may remember that during last year’s trip to Rome, I took a cooking class. However, it was not the cooking class I had originally wanted to take. I had been hoping to get into Chef Andrea’s Cooking Classes in Rome, but it was already booked for that one free Saturday that I had during my trip.

So this year when Katie and I started planning our trip back in February, I immediately said, “Let’s try to get into that cooking class in Rome that I couldn’t get into last year.” Well, it’s a good thing we booked it right away because Chef Andea’s classes book up at least three months in advance.

Chef Andrea’s school is located in the fashionable and family-friendly neighborhood of Trastevere, which (as its name implies in Italian) is just across the Tiber River from the center of Rome. Katie and I arrived a bit too early, so we stopped in a nearby bar for some coffee (cappuccino for me, caffe latte for her). Like proper Italians, we drank ours standing up at the bar. (Only 1 Euro! I love it!)

A different type of glass for each type of wine, plus a glass of water for good measure

When we walked into Chef Andrea’s school, four other students were already there, and the table was already set. Katie and I had opted for the additional wine pairings with each course, so there were four different wine glasses set up at our places. Chef Andrea came out of the kitchen to greet us and offered us coffee, some little pieces of toast with three different jams, and some really yummy pastries for breakfast.

Once everyone had arrived (a few people were a teensy bit late because they got lost even though their hotel was around the corner–just take that as a warning that it’s easy to pass by the small entrance to the school), Chef Andrea explained the menu for the day and then led us back to the kitchen.

The appetizers we made were Fiori di Zucca. These are zucchini flowers that we had to take the stamen out of. Then we stuffed them with things like prosciutto and mozzarella. They were later fried in a beer batter.

We even made a really yummy red pesto sauce for dipping the zucchini flowers. Super yummy! Seriously, I don’t have the words to describe how good this was. Even though the zucchini flowers were fried, they weren’t greasy or heavy, and the sauce was just heavenly.

Our first course was cavatelli pasta in a fresh tomato sauce. Katie and I helped to peel a lot of tomatoes for this sauce, but it was worth the messy hands covered in tomato guts. 🙂 We also had a lot of fun using our thumbs and these cool wooden paddles to roll the pasta into the cavatelli shape.

For our second course, we had Roman style chicken with peppers and roasted potatoes. Simple but very yummy. (Here’s the thing I’ve learned from the Italian cooking classes I’ve taken. They don’t load their food with tons of different ingredients and spices. Simple recipes with good, fresh ingredients make all the difference.)

Roman style chicken with peppers and roasted potato

Then for dessert we made tiramisu. Some of you know I’ve made this before using a recipe from a cookbook I bought in Rome last year. Good to do Chef Andrea’s recipe was the same. Hint: if you’re making your tiramisu with liquor, you’re making it wrong. Or at least, you must be planning on not finishing it soon, so you’re using the liquor as a preservative.

We each got a personalized dessert plate.

There were a total of twelve students in the class, and everyone was really nice. Chef Andrea is a lot of fun, and he takes his time to explain why the Italians cook the way they do. You’ll learn a lot and have a great time in his class.

The class started at 10:00 and went until at least 3:00, after which Katie and visited a few of the beautiful churches in the Trastevere neighborhood (Santa Maria in Trastevere, Santa Cecilia, and San Francesco a Ripa). Unfortunately, a wedding was just about to start at Santa Cecilia, so Katie and I will have to head back there some day.

Chef Andrea and me

If you find yourself in Rome and you enjoy cooking, try Chef Andrea’s Cooking Classes in Rome. You’ll have fun, learn something new, meet nice people, and eat some truly amazing food. Seriously. I wish I were better at describing food with words or that I could send some of it to all of you. Sorry. You’ll just have to come here yourselves.

Mi Piace, Mi Gusta – Day 5: Non funziona (It doesn’t work)

June 18, 2015/0 Comments/in Travel/by AJ Cattapan

Last night I couldn’t finish my blog post because the wifi in my apartment seemed to cut out. After a frustrating hour or so, I went to bed around midnight. Four hours later I wa awakened by a weird nightmare involving Harry Potter and zombies (I blame it on that Harry Potter Lego statue I saw the other night and posted on Facebook and Instagram).

To make it even worse, the wind blew the French doors off my balcony open, and I awoke from my nightmare convinced someone had entered my room. However, that would have been impossible. The doorway to my balcony has these heavy wooden-slat type of blinds that come down at night. They only be lifted from the inside, and there is only enough room between the slats to let a little air in. Also, I’m up on the seventh floor. No way is someone getting onto my balcony, much less through the wooden slats.

Nonetheless, by the time I’d come to this rational thought, I was completely awake and couldn’t fall back asleep until it was nearly time to wake up again.

When my alarm went off, I begrudgingly awakened. I got even crankier when I realized the wifi still wasn’t working. I decided to leave for school a little early to see if I could get my blog to post via the wifi there. However, the wifi wasn’t working in my classroom either.

During break, I took my iPad to the hallway. Up and down I walked trying to get a wifi signal. Finally, I found a weak signal in the stairwell. However, it was going too slowly and didn’t finish before the break ended.

After class, I tried again, but I was still having difficulty. The signal seemed to have disappeared from the stairwell. Finally, I got reconnected and posted the blog, but by this time, I was incredibly tired (given the five or so hours I’d had of sleep) and really hungry.

After grabbing a quick lunch, I returned home to drop off my school stuff and ran off to meet Katie. We had tickets for the Scavi tour at St. Peter’s. Only a small number of people can take this tour each day, and you have to request your tickets in advance. The tour takes you two levels below St. Peter’s to the necropolis (city of the dead, or cemetery) that was on the original Vatican hill. This is where St. Peter was buried. Constantine wanted to build a monument for St. Peter, so he had the old cemetery hill covered with dirt so that the land would be leveled off for the monument. Then a church was built around the monument. Twelve hundred years later, a pope decided it was time for a new church, and it was built on top of the old one. This is the current St. Peter’s that we know today. The old church underneath it is where many of the old popes are now buried.

The tour took us through the excavated part of the old necropolis (think family mausoleum after family mausoleum) right up to where they believe St. Peter was buried. Then we went up a level to where the monument to him was built. On the wall there are prayers people wrote. There is also writing that says something like “Peter is here.”

Finally, we were free to walk around the “old church” level where the popes are now buried and then up to the current-day basilica. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures during the Scavi tour, but I got this nice shot of St. Peter’s before we left.

Homework and dinner in the our neighborhood tonight. Here’s hoping the wifi works tomorrow, or you may not see a blog post from me again for a bit. I’m typing this one in Katie’s apartment. 🙂

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