Ελλάδα-Italia 2012: Fitting Every Little Thing In

Hello all, I thought I'd do a quick post for the last week before I get too busy with finals coming up. As of tonight, I have 11 days left in Europe. I'm excited to see people at home, but I definitely am not ready to leave just yet. Since we have limited time, the last few days have been full of last minute sight seeing. Here's a recap:

Monday, Tuesday (November 26/27)
-For our last Art History class, we traveled to the Galleria Borghese. I had already been there with my parents, but it was nice to have Paolo as our guide to explain the significance of the art.
-After class on Tuesday, a few of us traveled to the church of St. Paul outside the Walls. This is where the body of Paul is buried. It was a truly massive church.

Wednesday, Thursday
-For Theology we traveled to multiple holy sites. We started at the Scala Sancta, or holy steps. We climbed a large staircase that was taken from the Praetorium in Jerusalem, where Jesus supposedly climbed on his way to Pilate. We then went to Santa Croce, home to many sacred relics. We saw a few thorns from the crown of thorns, a nail from the crucifixion, and a copy of the shroud of Turin. Finally we finished at the grand church of Saint John in Lateran.

Friday
-A few of us continued our church tour by visiting Saint Maria Maggiore, another one of Rome's monumental churches. Afterwards we headed to St. Peter's to catch a free tour of the basilica.
-The whole group gathered for a potluck to eat and play some games.

Saturday
-We left early in the morning for a day trip to Subiaco. Subiaco lies in the mountains, only about an hour and a half from Rome. In the 5th Century, St. Benedict lived in a cave near the town. Later, the monasteries of St. Scholastica and St. Benedict were set up. Both monasteries were extremely beautiful. The monks even fed us a great meal in between. We returned later Saturday night.

Sunday
-Kayla, Mark, and I headed to the MAXXI, an art museum dedicated to art of the 21st Century. Kayla and Mark are both art majors and minors, so it was good to have them around to explain some of the pieces. It was a bit of fresh air after studying renaissance art for so long.

I'll probably have just one more post for this trip, which is a little sad. Thanks for all who have stuck with it. I'm always amazed at how many view the posts continue to get. Here's a few pics from the last few days:

Ciao, Dan