Quality Weekends in Rome



Views of Rome: St. Peter's Basilica



Hey Everyone! I hope April has gotten off to a good start with you all. Hopefully North Dakota is beginning to show some signs of spring? Rome is sure warming up and it seemed to almost happen overnight!

Jodi and her friend, Katie, came to visit for a week and we had lots of fun! I was able to show her around all of the famous sites in Rome. The first couple of days we spent time at the Colessuem, the ancient Roman Forum, the Trevi fountain, and the Spanish steps. We also got some quality shopping time in, which ended up being a lot of fun. I had a pretty rigorous schedule for them the first couple of days and I think they were pretty tired! Later on I was also able to show them the Vatican and Vatican Museums (including the beautiful Sistine chapel), St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran’s (Rome’s Cathedral), and the Borghese Art Gallery. We also enjoyed some wonderful restaurants and of course, gelato and Italian coffee! It was exciting to hit all of the big attractions again. I continue to be amazed at how blessed I am to be living so near so many wonderful things!

During their time here, Jodi and Katie were even able to experience a transportation strike, which messed with our plans a bit, but provided us with some unexpected adventure at the same time. They were also able to experience what it’s like to wait an hour for a bus, get lost walking around because of my poor navigational skills, and get lost on a bus because of a new bus driver! On their last night we went out a Cecilia Metella- a wonderful restaurant on the ancient Appian Way. After a wonderful bowl of pasta, they headed back to American the next day with satisfied stomachs and many stories to tell.



Views of Rome: The Castle of Sant'Angelo



This last weekend I stayed in Rome and enjoyed visiting some places that I haven’t had a chance to before. I was able to climb the Scala Santa on Friday. The Scala Santa, or “holy stairs” are stairs brought to Rome from Jerusalem and are supposed to have been the stairs of Pontius Pilate’s Palace- the stairs that Jesus would have walked up to be condemned. Pilgrims climb up these 28 steps on their knees, praying on each one. It was such a gift to be able to do this on a Friday during lent. To think that Jesus himself would have also walked up these stairs one Friday so long ago was incredible. I was also able to see some of the relics of the passion of Christ: a nail, two of the thorns from the crown of thorns, a piece of wood from the true cross, and the sign that hung above Jesus’ head saying that He was ‘King of the Jews.’ So many beautiful and powerful relics- it’s so wonderful that we are able to see these things that were so close to Christ Himself!

We are currently in our final week of regular classes, and so the homework the last couple of days has been a little intensified. We’ve been having class outside because of the wonderful weather and that’s been a treat. We are also having our own version of homecoming week, called “Rome Campus Student Appreciation Week.” We’ve been having fun dressing up and showing our ‘school spirit’ for the Rome campus!

 Dr. Hall made it back from Assisi and seems to be doing just fine. He and his wife, Lenny, actually headed back to the states a week ago after we finished up classes with him. Thanks for your prayers for him!



Views of Rome: Inside the Colossuem



Our time here is Rome seems to be quickly coming to an end- only two weeks left! We are trying to soak in all that we can in these last few days. I’ll keep you posted on how everything continues to go. You are all in my prayers!