Menu
Students' last day in Italy brings art, history
Editor's Note: Students, faculty and staff from Cottey College are spending part of spring break on an educational tour of Italy. Steve Reed, Cottey's director of public information, shares a series of stories about the trip in the form of a letter to his mother. Today is Part 5.
Buon giorno, mamma!
It is a beautiful Saturday in Roma, but sadly, our last day in Italy. I cannot believe how quickly the week goes, and there is still so much to see and do. (Oh, and so much gelato left to eat!)
This morning we will have a tour of the Vatican Museum and also go inside the famous St. Peter's Basilica. Many of us are hoping there will be a Pope appearance, although there is none scheduled. However, with all the festivities and thousands of visitors, one never knows!
We easily spent two hours in the museum, and still only saw a small portion of the Vatican's vast art holdings. In addition to ancient Roman, Greek, and Egyptian sculptures, there are famous paintings and tapestries. I'm always a bit in awe of these massive tapestries featuring Biblical scenes that are older than our country.
Imagine if you can, a giant hand-woven rug, almost large enough to cover the back of my two-story home, which pre-dates the United States by a few hundred years. One thing I will say about this museum, and Rome in general, is that I get a real sense of the length of human history walking around in places like this.
We exited the museum and got in a very long line to enter the basilica. Three of our students were tired and wanted to leave the tour group and go back to the hotel.
I went into sales pitch mode. "If you skip this," I said, "You'll miss seeing Michelangelo's famous Pieta. You'll miss the baldocchino and Holy Spirit glass designed by Bernini. You'll miss the opportunity to walk almost over the spot where St. Peter is buried. If you skip this, when will you get the chance to do it again?"
They agreed that this was a unique opportunity that might not come around again and rejoined the group. Whew!
Although this is my third time in the basilica, I am still inspired by the grandeur of this magnificent church. The art, the history, all of it moves me deeply. I do hope the students are seeing and feeling some of the same things I am.
After we'd purchased a few souvenirs for family and friends, I wanted to go to the Piazza del Popolo, a really fun, lively area with good shopping, street performers, and a church with art I hadn't yet seen.
My goal was to eat more gelato, and then visit the church of Santa Maria del Popolo to see a couple of Bernini statues and Caravaggio paintings. Well, and get a photo of one of the murder sites from the movie "Angels and Demons." I'd been to three of the four sites on a previous visit, but didn't have time to get to the church.
Tracy Cordova and a couple of students joined me. We all really like the Piazza. Popolo means people in Italian, and believe me, there are lots of popolo to watch there.
In addition to tourists and locals, there are all kinds of street performers and hucksters. (It's also a place for pickpockets, so we were vigilant about our belongings.) We saw all kinds of performers, including an Italian Michael Jackson. He looked very much like MJ from his "Bad" days, and even had a few of the moves. Most of his time was spent posing or passing the hat though.
We went to a gelateria and, as I have done every day, ordered a different flavor. I had panna cotta gelato and it was most excellent. I know I will miss my daily gelato once I have left Italy.
Shopping was on the agenda for the group, it was our last day to pick up gifts for others (and maybe ourselves, too). Tracy found a store she really liked and told us to go on ahead and she would find us later. We really should have agreed on a meeting place and time, though.
As we walked up and down the street, there were so many popolo, we couldn't spot her if she were in those crowds. To make it even more difficult, Tracy was wearing a black jacket, like 90 percent of the folks walking around.
The three of us decided to go back to the obelisk in the center of the piazza and wait. Callie suggested that maybe Tracy had gone into the church as everyone knew that was the main reason I came to the piazza. We went inside and sure enough, there was Tracy. Thank goodness we were able to get our little group back together.
The Bernini statues were very nice, but the Caravaggio paintings were spectacular. One was the Crucifixion of St. Peter and the other was Conversion on the way to Damascus. Truly impressive and I am so glad I got to see them.
After that, we headed back to the hotel to change for the farewell dinner. On the final night of these trips, the College takes everyone -- students, faculty, and staff -- to a nice dinner to say farewell to our host country.
This year, we dined at a restaurant called VLPAI, and it was literally right outside the Roman Forum and Trajan's Column. We could look out from the porch of the restaurant and see ancient Roman columns on the ground. Talk about atmosphere!
What a nice meal with great people. We had eggplant Parmesan, pasta, thinly sliced veal, and tiramisu for dessert. Glasses were raised, toasts were given thanking Cottey for the awesome opportunity, and soon enough we were on the buses.
Well, most of us were on the buses. Two of the three buses were waiting for us, but the third was lost and about 10 minutes away. We shoved as many people as possible on the two buses, but that still left seven of us to wait outside. I chose to wait with the students and Giuseppe, who gave an excellent history lesson on the Roman theatre we were looking at across the street.
In about 10 minutes, the bus arrived and we climbed aboard. I think our bus driver must have been new to the job, as we got close to the hotel and he took a wrong turn. He and Giuseppe had a lively conversation back and forth before we circled the block and parked a short distance away.
As we walked back to the hotel, Giuseppe explained that the driver was inexperienced and he was trying to help him out as jobs were hard to find in Rome.
"Tutto é bene quel che finiche bene," I said, repeating the phrase "All's well that ends well," that Giuseppe taught me on the first day.
"Exactly!" he exclaimed, his face lighting up. "You understand our culture!" He held up a hand and we exchanged high fives.
I have loved this week in Italy, Mamma. Our students were wonderful ambassadors for the College. We have had so much fun exploring the history and art (and food) of this beautiful country. It truly is an amazing week for all of us.
It's a little bittersweet too, as this is Mary Haggan's last international trip with us. For the last 14 years, she has organized every one of the Cottey trips. However, she's retiring this spring, and someone new will take over the duties for next year.
Every student, faculty and staff member who has ever attended one of these trips owes her a big thank you for the effort she has put into making these experiences happen.
It's the end of the week and I've stuffed my carry-on bag with pasta and will be home soon enough. I can't wait to show you all the photos.
Your loving son,
Steve