My Tax Return: Part I of III

Consider this a play in three acts; one of my tales of throwing spendthrifty-ness and pennypinch-ability out the window.  You may have noticed, astute as you are, that my blog hasn't been updated in a month.  *Gasp!*  How can it be, you ask?  Well, I must attribute it to a little thing we all dread in mid-April: tax day.  I successfully submitted online several weeks before the deadline and promptly received a pretty little nest egg that arguably should've been used for some highfalutin responsible purpose.  But that's just boring.

my remedy for Romesickness.

And isn't the saying "seize the day"?  Never was it "seize the boredom."  That would've been a snoozefest.  So I rather chose to seize several days, as many as I could seize, actually.  The first of which was a cheap flight to Rome for Easter weekend.  Talk about good, clean Catholic fun.

2 weekends ago on Friday morning Georgina and I headed to the Turin airport to hop on down to Roma in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the pope.  We had some issues with our flight (turns out we somehow bought a time slot that didn't exist and we had to wait for the airline to offer us the next available flight) but we managed to arrive in Rome and the memories all came rushing back.  As most of you know, I spent several magical weeks in the Eternal City as an undergraduate in the summer of 2006 - likely what cemented my infatuation with the Italian culture.  Being back in Rome was like putting on an old pair of shoes that fit just right - suddenly I remembered streets and buildings, my old stomping grounds (aka gelato shops).  Though it was strange being without my fellow UT students (Madi, Sara, Yu, Nichole) and I kept wishing they were just around the corner.

me at the seaside town of San Nicola

Cheesy sentiments aside, Rome was incredible as ever.  And the great thing about a place like Rome is that in 5 years nothing has really changed.  Heck, in thousands of years some things haven't changed at all.  Now, I made the trip down to Rome considering my parental units were coming in a matter of weeks to discover it with me, so I arranged to meet up with some friends and do non-touristy Rome things.  So as Georgina went to see the Sistine Chapel and Villa Borghese, a friend and I went to the sea near Rome.  We walked along the black sandy beach, checked out a local winery and headed back to meet Georgina for the Via Crucis (when people gather at the Colosseum and the pope reads the 14 stations of the cross).  It was very surreal because it was nighttime and there was a huge crowd, everyone holding candles and they were silent.  I mean super duper quiet.  Imagine one of the biggest crowds you've ever seen but no one's saying a word.  Bizarre.

So I saw the pope, but I was still so far away he was just a tiny dot in a red robe atop the Palatine hill, but whatever.  Toward the end of the ceremony we headed to the barricaded area where the motorcade would pass by later and positioned ourselves to get a better view.  Soon they shut off access to the road completely and the crowd gathered there but couldn't get to the side of the street where we were, practically by ourselves.  A few moments later 10 cars came zooming down the cobblestone street, one in the middle was flanked on all sides by cars with their doors open (for protection) and inside the central car there were lights on and I could see the pope inside!  As I said we were by ourselves on that side of the street, and as the car passed us (a mere 10 meters away) we put up a hand to wave and the pope waved back!!!  At us!  I mean, how blessed am I, right?  The pope freakin' waved at me.  Beat that.

me about 1/2 way up Vesuvius looking out over Napoli.

Hard to beat a drive-by blessing, but the next day was quite fun.  Georgina went to Pompeii and my friend and I went to climb Vesuvius, the semi-active volcano near Naples.  Several hours of driving later and a pit stop for pizza alla napolitana, we were at the base of the mountain.  They handed out walking sticks for the 20 minute uphill hike through lava rocks and before I knew it I was staring into the mouth of a volcano in central Italy and looking out over the Bay of Naples.  Beautiful.  Completely beautiful.

me at the birthplace of pizza: Napoli

We descended the mountain and headed into Naples for another pizza (because 1 in a day isn't enough) and checked out the city and seaside by night.  The drive back to Rome was long, but worth it in the end.  On Easter Sunday Georgina and I elbowed our way through the crowds at St. Peter's Basilica to get a look at the mass service and see old Benedetto in action.  We walked all around the city: Castel Sant'Angelo, Piazza Navona, Fontana di Trevi, Piazza di Spagna, i Fori Imperiali, il Pantheon - all the good spots.  I am still (and will always be) astounded by Rome's beauty.  We had a quiet dinner at a small trattoria near the Trevi Fountain and grabbed an amazing gelato at a place recommended to us by a friend.  (Sidenote: carmelized fig [see below] is my new fave gelato flavor.)

The Vatican on Easter Sunday

 

caramelized fig, pistachio and torrone from Giolitti Gelateria

Monday we were beckoned back to Torino as priorities trumped travel and lessons began again on Tuesday.  It was a lovely Easter weekend and the perfect way to spend 1/3 of my tax return.  I saw the pope, climbed Vesuvius and ate Neapolitan pizza - how much better could life get?

You'll just have to see in the second installment!