GL 350; week Sei

                                                            The Beauty of Saint Peter's
           Catholicism, something that is not really what I thought would be in my life plan but in a strange but life changing coincidence, it is. For me, becoming catholic was because of something I felt deep inside myself, a feeling when I first stepped inside of the chapel at Walsh and attended my first mass that I seem to get every time I enter a church and go to mass. I decided to pursue this feeling and become a part of the Catholic Church this past Easter of 2012. So being able to go to Rome and see the history of my religion and some of the greatest churches that are a part of my religion is very special for me. The atmosphere in the churches we have been in over here are just indescribable for me and am enjoying learning more about all the different saints and development about my religion. Now, out of all the churches we have been to so far, Saint Peters basilica is a sight to see.

            What to say about Saint Peter’s basilica? Well, it is an enormous church, with its arm like pillars stretched out welcoming all the visitors or the vast amount of history within its walls; it is a church to definitely see when you go to Rome. Now, I would consider this church to look modern for its age because it is filled with light colored marble and brightly light unlike the other beautiful churches I have seen. I was able to go to Saint Peters two times and see everything all over again because a church that big, you need to go a second time. Also the fact that the Pope lives nearby is pretty cool. We were able to go underground excavations and to be honest, it was not the most exciting experience I have had except that the guide I had looked like Harry Potter which amused me a lot! At the end of the underground tour it id however become really interesting because there was the remains and burial place of Saint Peter, along with some of the past Popes. We were about to also go on top of the Dome of the basilica, wow, was that a sight to see and even with the over 500 steps, it was amazing. The views of Rome from above and the view of the inside of the church at the bottom were simply amazing. I was very impressed with Saint Peters.

            “Rome was also God’s seat on earth, the rock on which Christ has established His Church…” this was said in “The Italians” on page 295, this was it for me, Rome was were the Catholic church pretty much started, Saint Peters basilica is essentially the center of the church, it is where the pope is located. Rome really is the spot where the center of the Catholic Church first started, quite amazing to think about. Also in “The Italians” on the page before these lines struck me as interesting “The barbarians crowded the museums, filled the concert halls and the Comedie Francaise, honored the dead French cultural heroes while they tortured the living French patriots. Rome, on the other hand, was spared nothing”. The poor city of Rome, always having to rise from the ashes and its people hardly ever catching a break, always being destroyed or pillaged. After six weeks of reading “The Italians” and “The Smiles of Rome”, we are finally done reading them, I was quite happy because that meant we had less reading to do but then I realized “Oh wait, we still have the talented Mr. Ripley.”

            Before I left on my glorious trip to Rome, I watch part of a movie called “The talented Mr. Ripley” on TV. Well, I thought the movie was boring and I did not understand what was going one, partly because I caught it half way. As for the book, as I started to read it, I was immediately bored and thought it was going to be a heard read, after a couple of chapter, it became interesting. At the beginning, I did not understand why Mr. Greenleaf came to Tom in a bar or how Tom knew Dickie, still this confuses me and  was thinking like what kind of person asks an acquaintance to go bring back his son from Italy? But, as I was reading and realized that Dickie was living near Naples and the author was writing about the area around Naples, it hit me that I was going to be around the area he was talking about, even in Naples but for a brief time. As the chapters pasted by I immediately recognized that Tom was a psychopath or at least acted like one, pretending to kill friends girlfriend because she is trying to break up their relationship or the fact that he, Tom, pretends to be Dickie, dressing in his clothes and acting like him, a bit weird and creepy. I was on the train this morning and was reading “The talented Mr. Ripley” when Tom finally did the expected and well, I was not shocked but surprised he did not do something else, I do not want to say because I do not want to spoil it for someone not as far. I had to close the book after reading this because the train has arrived in Termani and I shall expect that the rest of the book will get better and hope that it does!

            Saint Peters square, the basilica, the underground and even the museum, all of it was amazing. The museum, I forgot to talk about it earlier, it was good, felt like, looked like and smelled like a museum but when we got to the Sistine Chapel, it was such a sight to see. Michelangelo’s painting of the last judgment and the ceiling, just amazing to think about how he could have done that. While we were inside the museum, just before the Sistine Chapel, I went to the little café shop to get a bottle of aqua and an espresso because I was very tired and thirsty but what I did not realize is that it was busy and after I paid for my espresso, the line to order was long. Needless to say, I did not get my espresso that I paid for because the line was taking too long and I was afraid for my group to leave me again and, or, miss the Sistine chapel. Luckily, I only paid uno euro for the espresso, so I was not too frazzled about it. For this week coming up, I not only get the chance to go back to Saint Peters basilica but also to see the Pope! I am beyond stoked to attend the Papal audience; I will be bringing all three of my camera’s for that day, Wednesday to be exact. An experience that I think will strengthen my faith a little more and leave a lasting impression.