T.G.I.Friday

Today brought about a rare early morning for my classless Friday. My bodies and burials class was scheduled for a field trip to the catacombs. I woke up and walked to a bus stop in Testaccio, the meeting point for our class. There wasn't much of a crowd this morning probably a third of the class showed up. Any weekend field trip has poor attendance I imagine, throw in the beautiful weather, and impending end of the semester and it's a miracle anyone came. I was looking forward to visiting the catacombs, they're a notorious attraction, but difficult to get to. Only two buses in the city run down the old dirt road that they're located on. I was happy to have a class trip rather than being left to my own navigational devices. The half hour bus ride was a sleepy one, but once we arrived the yawns were replaced with excitement. The tour was seven euros and we shared with a few tourist couples. No cameras were allowed, the only disappointing part of the tour. The tour guide was almost impossible to hear in the winding tunnels below the earth, but we had studied the catacombs enough in class that I didn't feel like I was missing anything spectacular. I spent most of the time marveling at the honeycomb like structure, thinking that it would indeed be incredibly easy to get lost. We passed hundreds of tunnels and passage ways on our thirty minute tour, certainly not one you would want to fall behind on. We were in the catacombs of St. Sebastian, a soldier for the empire who was secretly christian. When Sebastian's faith was discovered he was tied to a stake and shot full of arrows. Amazingly enough Sebastian survives and is rescued by a good Samaritan. I had previously heard Sebastian's story in my renaissance art history class (he was a favorite subject of the time) In addition to Sebastian's body in the catacombs it is said that in times of peril St. Peter's body would be moved to these catacombs far out of the city and far out of danger. Many believe that the likely hood of his body being identified among the thousands of others and brought back to Vatican is slim. The tour was short and I wished that I could be given a map and a flashlight, and possibly a large male friend so I could explore on my own. Above the catacombs was a chapel filled with beautiful sculptures of St. Sebastian and other religious figures. There was even a Bernini work, a very famous sculptor during the renaissance period. We walked along Via Appia (the old dirt road) for awhile admiring an ancient fortress before waiting and taking the bus back into town. When I arrived back at the apartment Becca was awake and suggested a trip to the beach, I love the ocean and had yet to see the Italian shore, so I was all for it. The beach is only a forty minute train ride away, perfect for an afternoon. Beach plans were shot down by Berkley who dragged her feet long enough that we decided to stay in town instead. Becca and Berkley have been inseparable from their first week in class together, she is a resident student along with Joey whom Becca and I both befriended early in the semester. Becca and Berkley both have class with Stephen, and had also become fast friends. Together, the five of us, Becca, Berkley, Joey, Stephen, and I decided to meet and spend the day in Villa Borghese. We road the mini bus up the crowded streets and planned to visit the Borghese museums which is supposed to have the most prestigious collection for its small size.This was the first time I had walked more that a hundred yards into the park and it was incredible. Acres of well kept lawns, with blooming bushes and trees all surrounding hundreds of fountains. It was incredible, and seen with great company. I hadn't hung out in a group of this size the whole semester, and it was wonderful. Once we arrived at the museum I was first of all, thoroughly lost in the massive park; we also discovered the the museum was sold out of tickets for the day. Instead Stephen lead the way back to a small pond surrounded by benches and open spaces. We sat by the pond and chatted for awhile, and Joey in the meantime became restless. Joey is a New yorker and always on the move. He spotted an Italian family picnicking in the park with a five year old playing soccer. He played soccer with the young boy while the rest of us looked on in amusement. After a while we decided to move one and get gelato. We took a mini bus out of the park again only to realize it wasn't the route we needed. We were now on an extremely crowded tiny bus trying desperately to hold on while the vehicle jerked along the road. We were all laughing so hard from falling over that we attracted the attention of a well traveled American family. We talked to them until the bus took us somewhere familiar, and said our goodbyes when we recognized a quick way to our gelato destination. This time we were headed to Gelato di Roma, the place that was slightly expensive but has the best selection. We made plans to go home for a quick break, Berkley had a skype date with her father, before meeting back up to go to a burger place that Joey knew. After waiting a few hours for Berkley to finish she decided she wasn't in the mood to go out after all, Becca and I were none to pleased, neither of us had had a real genuine hamburger for months, and we were now starving. We re-made plans for the following day and ate out of our meager cupboards instead. All in all it was a wonderful day spent with great friends.