Rome Day 7: Good Eats and Good Sights

Our first full week in Rome has come and gone much too quickly. Tuesday was filled with excitement for the new week, but also with some bitterness as we moved further away from our dream weekend getaway to Sorrento (posts to come). In class, we finalized our final proposal to send to Shoot4Change and then we were ready to begin the day.

The first thing on our agenda was a relaxed picnic in a park that was a train ride away. Professor Hillebrand bought cheese, meats, bread, olives and watermelon for us to pick on and it was delicious. There I was, having a picnic in Rome with some of the most incredible people I have ever known. La dolce vida.

After our picnic, we headed over to the Capuchin Crypt. This is a series of small chapels located beneath the church of Santa Maria della Conezione dei Cappuccini. The chapels are intricately decorated with over 3,000 bodies of Capuchin friars and is supposed to represent the swift course of life. I had been there once before, and it really interested me. I was eager to see my classmates’ reactions as they laid their eyes on probably the most macabre expression of art they have ever seen.

We took the train back to St. John’s for a small break before heading to our second Dinner at Randy’s. Professor Hillebrand bought us some mouth-watering food for dinner: rice-stuffed tomatoes and stuffed eggplant. The movie of the night was Cinema Paradiso, which is about a boy who grows up in a small, war-scarred village, and abruptly leaves the town to realize his cinema dreams.

Once we got back from a pleasant night, some of us enjoyed each other’s company in the courtyard of our university before departing to bed.