Irish Love

Hi friends! 

I will be breaking these posts up from the last few days, as a lot has happened since I last posted. We have been busy little bees! I will have one for only pics. So stay tuned for new posts soon.

Oh what the day in Dublin that we had! Where to begin!?! I guess the beginning would be good.... So we woke up at 7:00am and headed to get some breakfast and to meet a friend at 8:30.

We thought we had a complimentary breakfast, but nope! It didn't look good anyways! Now, the temperature outside... 45 degrees, and only supposed to get up to 50 for the rest of the day. I just love how 2 days ago it was summer(85) weather and now it's practically winter- super windy and frigid. Where the heck did the season of FALL go?!? Oh my San Diego body isn't ready for this quite yet! Brr!

So where did we go, that we knew wouldn't let us down and would warm us up? Starbucks! Oh man, I haven't had a Starbucks hot chocolate in 2 months, and for those who know me...it's mind-blowing that I made it this long without it! I HAVE to have some form of chocolate milk/ hot chocolate wherever I go! Heaven on Earth while I enjoyed the cup of chocolate deliciousness. 

While walking across the bridge, we took a pic and put our cups down so we could have free hands. This quite handsome young man walked by and said, " the wind will take your coffee away!"; he repeated it 3 times. Finally we understood him with his accent, and realized we should grab our cups before that tragic event happens. I would probably cry if that happened, no joke. Crisis diverted, thank God! 

As we enjoyed our drinks, we walked with our friend all over town, seeing many cool places and shops. We walked through Trinity college of Dublin, which was a beautiful campus! The colors of Fall, the greenery, everything. Just breathtaking! 

We went to see the Book of Kells and the Library full of ancient books and famous writings. This was fun and really interesting to learn about. 

Then we made our way across the city towards the best part of the day: Guinness Storehouse. From the tour to the free pint of Guinness, joy was all around!  

We also enjoyed a nice meal up at the top too- I had a Guinness marinated Rib-eye steak! Haven't had steak in 2 months either. Delicious! The €20 was worth spending! You only love once, right? Why not enjoy it when you get the chance! :)

We got back from this long day adventure at 4 to rest and relax for a while and go to the Vigil Mass, a few blocks away at 6. This didn't happen as planned because there were issues at the Hostel. I will give few details-our night was spent in frustration and annoyance at the Hostel staff that we were staying at. Without any communication, they booked us out of out room, placed us in 2 seperate rooms, moved our stuff out of the room and in the process, lost or stole 3 of our things- and didn't tell us any of this until we tried getting into our room and couldn't. The blame goes completely to the Hostel. They found my IPhone charger, but I still lost other items. My friend lost 2 of her things as well, that meant a lot to her. What a day. We got a few free things out of this, but still not as good as having our stuff back. I got

An email today ( Monday) and they said they still haven't found the items. So we are guessing the housekeeping stole the things. Horrible.  (Good news: we got to Mass at 7:15)

To end the night, we walked around some more and tried finding food but everywhere was full and by the time we got somewhere, it was already 9:45pm. We had to settle with Hard Rock Cafe, as we 3 were about to kill eachother out of hunger and tiredness. We just needed food. It did the job and was pretty good! 

Long, long day, but a great one, despite the difficulties. They told is that first day: "every difficulty is an adventure". It has proven to be correct a few too many times in the last day. But still blessed to be on this trip! :)

6am wake up and we are off now to London- taking the "ferry", then a train. A big suprise this morning- it's not a ferry, it's pretty much a CRUISE SHIP! Reminds me of the first cruise ship I went on. Oh the memories that came flooding back... This is a fun adventure and a pleasant suprise after the nightmare we dealt with yesterday. What a nice ride across the Irish seas to Wales!

Pics of Dublin to follow...

London here we come! 

Peace and Blessings! 

Anne

Dia duit from Dublin

Hello friends! Dia duit means "hello" or "God be with you" in Irish! 

Today has been a great day- we got delayed a little bit on our flight here, so we got here around 2:30 instead of 1:30. Not too bad. A friend from school met us here and so we are spending the day together tomorrow touring the city. 

The most exciting part about tomorrow: going to the Guinness Factory, which happens to be 5 min away from my hostel!!! So we will be doing the full your and getting the beer at the end. Super excited just to say that I did it and had Guinness in Dublin for the first time as opposed to the US. 

We went walking around which was great! It almost feels like we are in Boston! Very homey, and safe feeling. I love it. Then we went to a great pub for dinner and I had Cottage Pie, which is the equiv. of Shepards Pie. Soooo good!!!

Now, something I forgot about that happens here- they drive on the opposite side of the road than we do in the US! This throws me off so much. It's so wired to see. So what do they have for us who aren't used to it? A little cheat sheet so we don't get killed ( a God-send, really!)

So we are safe and sound and heading to bed, as it has been quite the journey here, and we have a full packed day ahead of us! 

Stay tuned!

Anne

A Francis filled weekend!

Ciao Friends!!

It's good to be reconnected again! Sorry for my lack of posts recently- I have been swamped with midterms and studying! I am now finished with them all and now am a free soul! Thank God!! It was brutal.

So I will start with Assisi-where I went last Saturday for the day. We took the train there which took about 2 hours, and it was a great ride. The reason why the ride was so great was because we had the Seminarians with us for the day. We laughed and had a great time. Once there, we toured around a bit, seeing Francis' favorite chapel an place to pray. Then up to the town of Assisi we went. That was about a 15 minute ride up the mountain. There, we enjoyed the Basilica of St. Francis on our own. It was beautiful to say at the least. The view from outside was spectacular!!!

Then lunchtime! The Seminarians had been there before, so they knew a really good pizza spot. So we all tagged along with them. I kid you not, the best pizza I have had in Italy, thus far. It was delicious!
Then we made our way down this huge mountain to a church of St. Clare. All the way down, what was going through  our minds was, "I really don't want to have to walk back up this". It was so steep that we were almost running down it. I almost slipped a few times... but I caught myself somehow. Again, it was a beautiful church. Now, there were two trains heading back to Rome- one at 4 and one at 6. So a group of us decided wanted to stay a little bit longer, so we did and had a great time. It was so hot there, so we got a slushy type drink, which was delicious! It was kind of like a frozen lemonade. So good!
After getting a few souvenirs, we headed to the train. The ride home was less than pleasant. We all couldn't wait to get off and into out cozy bed! The windows in the car were bolted shut expect for one, so there was barely any air ventilation. We tried to sleep, but it didn't go so well... Then right before we got to our stop, two police officers came into our car and asked for passports. WHAT?!? Thankfully, I had a copy of mine while many of my friends just had their state ID. A very random check...that doesn't happen all that often...But we went with it and gave them what they asked for like good Americans do... Weird. This just made u want to get home all the more. A long day to say at the least, but a great one! Here are some pics!

As for Sunday, I attended the Beatification Mass for Pope Paul VI. That was beautiful as well. Long story short (because I don't have the energy at the moment): Pope Francis drove past my friend and I twice! Here are some pics! You know, just going to my local parish (st. Peter's Basilica) for Sunday Mass and seeing my local pastor after Mass (Pope Francis)... no big deal or anything :) 

So... I am going on Fall break on Friday for 10 days!!!! A VERY MUCH NEEDED BREAK FROM SCHOOL WORK. I am going to Dublin first...I am Irish... so I am super excited to get to Ireland in general! Though I do not like beer, I will make an exception- I can't wait to say that I have had a Guinness in Dublin, Ireland.  I will let you know what I think! :)

Hopefully I will be able to update as much as possible.  Please keep my friend and I in your prayers for safe travels! 

Peace and Blessings!

Anne

Oh Midterms...

Ciao Friends!! 

Pheww.. what a crazy, exhausting and brain-testing week! This week was week one of Midterms. And I am still alive! I got 2 more to go next week which are going to be pretty intense (Tuesday and Wednesday). So keep the prayers up! I had one today, and I think I did very well, because I did this thing called studying! A big group of us were up until midnight studying together in a classroom- I was the designated board writing person, which helped me remember the info a lot better. We walked into the exam, and our professor says, " I changed my mind, I made it really easy for you". She wasn't kidding. Thank God I studied because I was able to finish it pretty quickly. 

After that headache was behind me, I planned to meet a friend who is in Rome for 2 days and a Seminarian at St. Peter's Square so that she could get a tour of St. Peter's. With his badge, we walked up and they let us in right away-we didn't have to wait in line! The perks of knowing seminarians at the NAC...they got connections. Now, I was stoked for 3 reasons: 1) I was going into St. Peter's ( we call it our local parish) 2) My friend had never been in or even seen it, so seeing her jaw drop as we walked in was priceless. 3) We were getting a tour by an awesome friend of a seminarian, who knows St. Peter's well-my jaw was dropping with pretty much everything that came out of his mouth- I learned so much! I knew it was a good idea to have him guide us! Such a great time. He had to leave, so I decided that I would surprise her and take her up to the dome of St. Peter's. We walked up the 551 steps... Yay! Yet again, seeing her face as we overlooked the Eternal City was PRICELESS! It doesn't get old... I love it! 

After this, I put my "tour guide" skills to work. She hadn't seem any of the city. So there was a lot to see.... Long story short, WE DIDN'T GET LOST. That's my big accomplishment for the day. I knew exactly where things were, and didn't have to second guess myself once. She was thrilled that I knew where everything was... I was ecstatic that I was able to give a tour of Rome!!! Who knew I would be giving tours while I was here... :) Some of the major places we went to were the Pantheon, Roman Forum, Coliseum. Then we got Gelato, of course! That was a must. And she loved it... as did I, as always. A very blessed day. What a way to end a long academic week. On our walk home, I walked her by my favorite view of St. Peter's... and we saw this :)

Tomorrow is the day I have been waiting to see for a long time. I am going to Assisi for the day. So so so excited for this. It will be a great day, guaranteed. We are leaving at 7am, which means I got to get some rest, especially after this long day of walking! Please keep me in prayer as I make this pilgrimage tomorrow. You are in mine. 

Peace and Blessings! 

Anne

Tuscan Love

Ciao Friends! 

Welcome to Tuscany! This past weekend was absolutely beautiful! Every single moment had me in awe. Get ready for plenty of pictures! :)

It was about a 2 hour bus ride to Arezzo from Rome, and once there, we walked around, had a lunch break, so we went to a really cute family restaurant- We shared an appetizer, in which some of it was some sort of animal ( maybe cow) liver. I am glad that I didn't know what it was until we had left the restaurant ( I probably wouldn't have eaten it if I had known)...although, I do have to admit it wasn't half bad.  My main dish was pasta with wild Boar. This was delicious! My goal for when I go outside of Rome is that when I go to a restaurant, I will ask what their favorite/popular dish is, and I will get that. So that is what I did for the weekend, and I was very pleased to find that I loved each thing I ate. Not surprised, as I am in Italy! :)

Below are some pictures of our Friday afternoon in Arezzo. We came across a park that was nothing less that beautiful, climbed a fallen tree and almost fell off and sat on a wall that was about 100 feet from the ground (I clearly like to live dangerously..see pics)- Fall has officially arrived here! I was so happy to walk through the leaves crunching under my feet with the crisp air and breathtaking views of Tuscany. 

After this escapade, we walked into the Piazza called Piazza Grande, which is way more awesome than it looks because of the fact a very famous scene from the movie "La Vita e Bella" was filmed right here! This movie is one of my favorites..it is sad, but great! So cool to be there!

Day 2: Saturday in Siena (my favorite place so far)

The day pretty much consisted of climbing MANY hills and steps, enjoying some amazing food ( and burning off that food within 30 minutes by climbing more hills), going to St. Catherine of Siena's house (she is a Doctor of the Church, and now one of my favorite saints), and enjoying the gorgeous views.

                                                              St. Catherine's house

Later that night, we went wine tasting at a castle named Castel del Trebbio. Now, this was fun! I learned so much about wines, cheeses olive oil, enjoyed some really good food (I know I say that about everything, but it is true!), and last but not least, enjoyed the views overlooking the vineyards!

 The tour guide was super funny! He was cracking joke after joke and making fun of our American "wrong" ways of drinking and enjoying wine and food. He made the experience so much better.

Sunday: Pienza 

We were staying at a hotel in Cortona, also where some of the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" was filmed and where the book was written. The view from our hotel was spectacular! I woke up and watched the sunrise, which was very peaceful. Then we made our way to Pienza for a few hours and then back home to Roma. I'll let the pics speak for themselves. 

This week will be a busy one, but nonetheless blessed. On Saturday, we are off to ASSISI!!!! I AM SO EXCITED! I have been waiting to go here for about 5 years! If you would like me to pray for any special intentions, you can contact me :)

Peace and Blessings!

Week 6 Adventures

Ciao Friends! 

So.... I was sitting on the Metro this morning coming back from class and it dawned on me that I haven't posted here since Sunday! This week has been pretty busy and time has flown by! Sorry about that!

It has been a good week, only getting better and better as the days pass by. Monday, we ended class a little bit early, so I decided to go enjoy the city for the afternoon. I walked alongside the Tiber River and just wandered about. I didn't have a set destination, so I just enjoyed the scenery as I went. It ended up being a 4 hour walk....but as always, totally worth it, as I came across a gorgeous view of Rome!

The first, is overlooking the Roman Forum, the Colosseum and many other ancient buildings. The second one is overlooking the many domes of churches, including St. Peter's in the distance (in the center of the photo). So peaceful and absolutely gorgeous...exactly the break I needed! The third photo is of stairs, MANY stairs. I climbed these to the top- This was quite the challenge.. and not very smart to do as I was getting over a cold at the time....lesson learned. But totally worth the view at the top, as that is where the first 2 pics came from.

On my walk home, I made a friend with a cat-I named him Tiger... (reminds me of when I was heading up to my grandmothers house when I was about 7yrs old and I stopped to play with the neighbors cats and worried my parents and grandmother half to death because they didn't know where I was.... Jeannie, I thought of you and laughed a little but at the memory... although I know you weren't laughing at the time!)

Tuesday wasn't too special of a day...just the normal routine of classes and hanging out. On the way back from Italian class, I captured this gem of a photo at 6pm. Perfect way to end the day. Heaven knows I love sunsets...

Wednesday was an AWESOME day, for many reasons! Class wasn't the awesome part... it was what happened after that was awesome. The Seminarians from the NAC came over to our school and brought homemade, AMERICAN chocolate chip cookies for us. Since they are the North American College, they have access to American food brought over to them by friends. So they share their treats with us. They will be coming to us every Wednesday for a study break and just hanging out with them. Best ever. After we enjoyed the cookies, a few of them had set up a basketball match between the 4 Seminarians and what was supposed to be 3 girls. Everyone heard about it, so it ended up being that 90% of out group went, and it turned into a full blown basketball game. This was so much fun to watch. The Seminarian won. I will be playing next week.  :) 

On the way home from that, yet another beautiful sunset was in order, there was music playing- my heart was overwhelmed with the beauty. We all kept saying, "guys, we are in Rome..this is our life right now..I love it!!" about 1 hr later, the Seminarians came back over to our school and we had a Bible Study with them. So this 7 hour hang out time with the Seminarians will be happening every Wednesday for the rest of the semester. Love it! They are the best. :)

 Today, we had a class visit to Santa Maria in Trastevere, as well as St. Benedict's. The picture of me is at St. Benedict's -it is said to be the house and chapel that he lived in when he was in Rome. So beautiful. It was an early morning, so if I look a little tired in this to you, that would be why! :)

Best part: Tomorrow morning, we will be heading to Tuscany with CUA/Loyola for the weekend!! So excited for this! While in the area, we will go to Siena, Pienza and Arezzo. We will also be wine tasting! Should be a great weekend! So with that said, I have to get going to Italian class and then pack up for the weekend! You will hear from me again on Sunday, hopefully with many amazing stories and pictures! Stay tuned! :)

Peace and Blessings!


Anne