Roma

To celebrate the end of exams, a few of us headed to Rome for 6 days. The nice thing about living on this side of the Atlantic is that everything in Europe is really close and easy to get to. Rome, for example, is just a 2 hour, cheap flight away. Of course it takes more than 2 hours to get there when you have to wait for hours in the Luton airport (there is only one bus from Oxford to Luton, which leaves at 1:30am, so we had to hang around in the airport from around 3am to 7am when our flight left). Between the five of us we took loads of pictures, but here are a few highlights. We were staying in the Hostel Downtown Alessandro, which was actually quite nice. Almost as soon as we arrived in the eternal city we headed to the Forum. I took a great picture of the Arch of Titus with blue sky in the background, and Glenn got a close-up of me squinting at the Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina, which I also got a nice picture of.
And here is a nice one of most of the group (from left to right: Sam, me, Rob, and Evert) taking in the Forum with the temple of Saturn behind us. Glenn was taking the picture. We had to sit down for a bit due to the heat, and chose a nice rock in front of the Curia. This is Rob and I with Glenn and Evert in the background:

The next day we took a trip to St. Paul's Outside the Walls. Here we are on our way to the Metro stop with the Imperial Fora in the background (Sam is concentrating hard on his book, while Evert, Rob, and I smile at the camera). And here is St. Paul's Outside the Walls.

The highlight of the next day was definitely dinner at the Trattoria da Luigi to celebrate Evert and my birthdays. I got a haircut during the afternoon and got to put on a dress even though it meant rushing back to the hostel from the Galleria Borghese, where we spent most of the afternoon. Here I am at the restaurant with Glenn and Rob.

The next day we headed to the Vatican. Evert took a nice picture of Glenn and I with the Castel Sant'Angelo in the background. After the Vatican we headed to some more churches. Here I am inside St. John the Lateran. I'm reading a book I bought in Italian on the four major basilicas of Rome (St. Peter's, St. Paul's Outside the Walls, St. Maria Maggiore, and St. John the Lateran).
From St. John the Lateran we headed to the tiny and ancient Basilica of San Clemente, which is a true treasure. Check out the gorgeous mosaic decorating the apse: And here we are in the courtyard outside the church.

We went back to the Vatican the next day. Here is the group (minus Rob who had to head back to Oxford early) atop the Castel Sant'Angelo (the pope's fortress - there are secret tunnels leading here from the Vatican). There's a nice view of St. Peter's square in the background.
And here are Chris (who was in Rome staying at the Jesuit compound for a few days) and I in Bernini's piazza with an obelisk and St. Peter's in the background:

Everyone was waiting to see the new Pope Benedict give the Angelus at noon. I caught a photo of the pope giving the blessing from his bedroom window overlooking St. Peter's square. He sounds much friendlier than he looks in all the pictures!


Our last day in Rome started at the catacombs of Saint Sebastian. Here are the boys (with poppies in their hair, picked on the walk along the Appian Way) in front of the church of St. Sebastian. Inside the church is a gorgeous Bernini statue of the saint pierced by arrows.
The day also included a trip to my favorite church in Rome, the basilica of Santa Sabina. Here is a view of the church from the orange grove out back:
Hot and exhausted from all the walking, I took a short nap on one of the benches in the orange grove:
And Evert took a close up of me while I was sleeping!

And finally me in front of the church of Santa Maria Maddalena (St. Mary Magdalen, who is the patron saint of my church in Oxford), one of the last churches we visited.