Trip to the Hill Towns

Ciao Ragazzi!

Yesterday we took a trip to the hill towns south of Rome! Three major events: Catacombs, Castel Gandolfo, and town of Arricia. Each packed with their own supply of awesome. Here's what went down..

First stop was the Church of St. Sebastian on the Via Appia - yes THE Via Appia, which if any of you studied Latin with Ecce Romani was the road that had the ditch were the Cornelii family got stuck for about 13 chapters. Can't miss it. Anyway, we arrived at the church and descended into the Catacombs - which is exactly as you might imagine in your head where with each step the temperature drops another 4 degrees. It was semi-dark, with narrow passages, a low ceiling and, most importantly, hundreds of early Christian tombs and graves. I loved it. It was just so cool. Plus all the inscriptions that accompanied some of the grave markers were in Latin/Greek, so the Classics Majors had a field day :)  Unfortunately - pictures were prohibited underground, but I still got a few from inside St. Sebastian's church on the way out.

Relics!!

and here is St. Sebastian!                           

directly below him, in the

catacombs, is his real grave.

Next stop was the town around Castel Gandolfo, which is where the Pope's summer residence is located! The little town overlooks a BEAUTIFUL lake, Lake Albano, and we got to spend some time gazing at it and checking out the surrounding stores and pastry shop before moving on to the town of Arricia.

The Swiss Guards outside                                                                                          
      the Pope's house                                                                                                      Lake Albano

Last stop was Arricia for dinner, where I am pretty sure the group of us enjoyed THE best meal we've had since getting to Rome. It was wave, after wave, after wave of assorted meats, mozzarella cheese, bread (regular and baked/garlic), two plates of different pasta per person, wine that is made specifically in the region of that town, then cookies for dessert. It was ridiculous. Hours later and my stomach was still full, and I wasn't the only one. SOO good. 

All in all, an awesome day. It was the first of the many various trips we have planned throughout the semester - next will be Tuscany in a few weeks (on my birthday in fact!). Can't wait!