Mary's thoughts: Roma Day 1

So day one of the Rome trip was a whirlwind. We got of the plane around 7am which was about 1am New York time so suffice to say we were all sorts of wacky. Most of us were tired but Fr. Geno had the we'll beat the jet lag by staying busy all day plan and that's what we did. We couldn't check into the hotel until the afternoon so the morning was spent on a bus tour of Rome. After the bus tour we stopped at St. Paul's Outside the Walls at that is the Basilica that the Evangelization Center is sort of named for. After Mass, which was ad orientem, meaning the priests faced the same way as the people, we spent time looking around St. Paul's and then went to a local shrine. The Shrine of Divine Love is just one of those local churches that people have left candles, canes, crutches, etc at as signs of the miracles that happened. The old shrine is your stereotypical old school church the new shrine is your stereotypical ugly modern in the round church. After the shine we went to lunch at a wonderful restaurant across the streets from the Catacombs of St. Sebastian, of which we would have gone into but we opted to go to the hotel instead. I've been to the Catacombs so it wasn't that big of a deal for me to miss it. I was impressed that my memory still worked after 10 years from the last trip to Rome. We go to the hotel, relaxed, showered, and went off on a walking tour of Rome. We got a taste of the speed for which the trip/pilgrimage would be moving at. Fr. Geno having studied over there took us over back roads and side roads to the Casa Santa Maria, which is where the American priests stay when they are getting their doctorate or second masters degrees. The Casa which I have seen before held a surprise for us, we were meeting Fr. John who had our Papal Audience tickets for us. Fr. John was the surprise, as he spent so much time showing us around Rome and giving us tours of pretty much every place we were. Not that Fr. Geno didn't but Fr. John was over in Rome for his seminary years and for his doctorate years and an official Vatican tour guide. "Nothing but the best for the Paterson Diocese." Fr. John gave a "tour" of the chapel in the Casa, I remember the SHU group having Mass at the Casa, but I honestly don't remember the chapel. After we left the Casa we walked back to the hotel. I say walk, but at the speed Fr. Geno and Fr. John walk at it was more of a jog back to the hotel. We stopped at the Fountain de Trevi, a must see stop when in Rome. We also stopped for dinner and gelato on the way back. In between Trevi and the hotel we saw the Pantheon and I remembered Fr. Holmes from SHU telling us about how amused he was that the McDonald's across the square from the Pantheon had a sign above that basically said something about not commercializing the place. I think he would be happy to know that said McDonald's looked like it was closed and out of business. We got back to the hotel and Fr. John revealed the suprise that was in the suitcase he was wheeling around, t-shirts for all of us. We were given t-shirts that he or someone in his youth ministry program had designed as a fundraiser. The t-shirts all revolved around John Paul II and his upcomming beatification that we all just happened to be over there for. Thus ends day one. What follows are a few of the pictures I took on day one, if you wish to see more visit my facebook album which has more details and comments. On our walk through Rome we saw many of the classic sites and a few others one. We went to a church that had the tomb of St. Monica in it and we had a nice little prayer service for our moms. Most of the trip is a blur and what stands out now will be what matters the most to me. Fr. Geno on Mother's day spoke about our side trip to the tomb of St. Monica so that's why I remember it more now, but the entire trip was simply amazing and awesome.