Buona Pasqua :D

When I said my Easter week only got better from Thursday I wasn't joking, despite poor weather my experience with Easter at the Vatican was wonderful. I had originally planned to wake up and be at the vatican by six in the morning, after my late night I had decided to wake up at six and hopefully be at the st. Peters by seven. In retrospect I'm super glad I didn't wake up at five, when I arrived at St. Peters the line was only thirty people deep, and they hadn't even opened the gate. I waited in line and almost scored a ticket, a nun came around with extras, but the people behind me got to them first. I wasn't entirely sure if I would even be allowed into the square without a ticket, so I snaked by the guards who were checking them taking opportunity of the rushing crowd. The people with tickets were running to get great seats. I was one of four people who didn't have tickets so far, so I got the best standing seat in the place. After standing in the cold morning air for fifteen minutes or so a few ushers came up and handed us (the lady next to me and I) programs; two seconds later they came back with tickets. That's right, I got tickets to the mass, and because we were so early we got great seats. The woman next to me's name was Kate, she was an airline pilot, super cool. Even cooler she shared her umbrella with me when it began to rain. Like I said earlier, the weather was absolutely miserable. The seats began to fill up, and Kate and I were joined by nuns, who shared their Easter candy with us. I told you, this day was awesome, tickets to the mass, an umbrella and candy? Fantastic! The nuns next to us only had two umbrellas for five or six people, and the German people in front of us had three for three. One of the Germans went to the bathroom for forty minutes or so and left her umbrellas behind. After ten minutes or so in the not quite pouring rain the head nun (for lack of a better term) asked if she could borrow the unused umbrella. The German man said no. I think if there's any sure fire way for damnation its not sharing with a nun. Kate and I could not believe it. Mass at the Vatican was an experience it was neat, but decidedly more touristy than spiritual. It was too wet (German mans umbrella drained onto my lap) and cold and crowded to be really enlightening. I did however receive communion. It was pretty cool, priests came down the middle aisle and passed it out, and everyone took turns at the fence line. Mass once again was two and a half hours plus an address by the pope in Italian, that I stayed for anyway. When Kate and I parted ways I thanked her for her lent umbrella and tried to get home as quickly as possible. I was soaked from the waist down, including my shoes. Now that my umbrella was gone my hair was beginning to get wet as well. I made it home within an hour and desperately wanted to take a warm shower, it almost worked. I eventually warmed up in time to talk to Stu who took the time to see me before his family festivities. Later in the day I got to talk to my entire extended family on my mother's side. It was amazing to get to see everyone, and also a little sad. I talked to them for a few minutes and then they were gone, and I was left in my empty apartment with my Easter meal of peanut butter. On Easter monday I once again had the apartment to myself and took advantage of the opportunity to do laundry and not much else, which is why its not getting it's own blog post :)