On my way to see Papa!

I thought I would start all this writey bit while I'm still in the air, efficient! (And maybe done by the time I get home!~ 2230....now being 1540 :p)

Warning: this will contain the Pope, Mass, Christ, and other things Catholic like.  If this, lots of reading, or blogs make you nauseated, you may want to stop now.

Now we begin!!
(And that's all I got written on the plane! Now for bus writing!)

Thursday
Final packing and to the bus!  There were so many people going to Gothenburg that day, I actually got to ride a bus from a different company!  Went to Gothenburg, and sense I booked all this before I visited, I had about 5 hours to kill before I left; and it was raining.  So made myself at home in an internet cafe, wrote my emails, and wrote a real one as well.  Once the plane bus got to the bus station, I took it and waited more! (Thursday was a patience testing day).  No pat down this time!!  While I was waiting I met a friend of a girl in Furan I met.  (She asked the very mean question "don't you remember me"---if I'm staring at you in the way to make you ask that....probably not).  I spoke with her a while and we both met an Italian women that worked as a chemist in Sweden (she made drugs!), and was going home to see her husband!!!   I guess she got so good a job for two years in Sweden that she took it and only got to see her husband once a month, but he didn't come to Sweden because he didn't even know English!  We had fun talking, never got to geeky science stuff though, that was sad.  We finally got on the plane, half an hour late, and got on our way!  Once we got to Pisa, I found my hostel pretty well, and it wasn't too bad!  I got in the room and there was a guy sleeping already, so put my stuff down and went to email my mother (its necessary, you all know it). And...bed time! (About 0130 ish)

Gothenburg as I left it.

Not quite Swede bus...

Friday
I slept until 0730 ish, and to my surprise, was the only one up, so did my thing and was gone by 8, with only one guy sorta raising his head, so I waved to him.  With this, I started my trek about Pisa.  As I walked about, there were some interesting points, but much of it looked alike I thought.  The river and the one historic area were the best.   Since it was free to go in the cathedral, I only went into that, prayed a bit (it was Good Friday) and took pictures of the others..... They wanted quite a bit to go into them!  So I walked about town some more, and tried a baguette as Brian told me a had to do.  It was quite good! The frosting was made from orange zest!
After a bit of waiting (my train was 30min late, and they couldn't get the doors to open) I finally got to travel by train in Italy!  This was a very good way to see a lot of the land and move speedy!  I confused almost everyone in my cabin with taking pictures out the window so often, to the point that when I turned on my camera they stopped talking and would look out the window because they thought there may be something nice to look at.  Once we had gotten into Roma I tried asking which stop was mine, not understanding, they would say Roma, shake their head yes, and point out the window.  So much like Denmark, they are very helpful, but don't really know what they are doing, but thank you Italian people for trying!  But one did up understanding, and I got to Roma Termini, and. I am glad I did, even if another station was closer to where I was staying... (DA da dun!)
I was trying to make my way from the train station to the house of the LA Salettes, a group of priests I was to stay with, when I accidentally found the Colosseum, which I decided I had time for, and went to go check it out.  There were A LOT of people there, so I went up to a women and religious sister and asked them what was going on.  It ended up it was going to be the stations of the cross.....with the Pope!  I stayed with them and they asked me if I was going to stay....but then I learned it wasn't going to start until 2100!!! I didn't know if I should try and get to the house that late.... But it was really hard to say no to them and the Pope!  I learned that this lady was from Scotland and her name was Faye.  We talked for a while and she was a really cool lady!  Sister could speak some English, but she more stuck to Spanish with another lady.  I stayed for the Stations of the Cross (which I was quite happy about, I felt bad not doing anything for Good Friday).  It finished about 2230, then the fun began, how to get to the house???  Through the map on my tablet (on which I am writing this now) and doing all the proper things a lone traveler does, like parks at night, nonlit streets, and alleys with large amounts of partying youth, I finally made it to the right place.  It was only a slight victory though.....I couldn't find a way in.  There was only one gate, slightly open, but chained.  I walked about the entire block, and there was no other way in, so I went back to the gate.  Challenge: 5 inches ~ 13 cm, and I did it! (But the belt buckle and material at the zipper, it'll try to kill you!)  But there was still a problem that no one was up at midnight when I got there!  I buzzed, no one, I was about to go sleep on the church stairs,  it buzzed again, but got a man!!!!--that spoke only Italian, but he did come out and spoke some English, as long as I spoke slowly.  He got me in and found my room, thank you Big Man!!!!!

Tower of Pisa! -- and didn't know the other things were there, since the Cathedral was the only free thing to go into, that's where I went!

Sorry, I put them all right side up, but blogger doesn't like it I guess :P

Small on the outside, BIG on the inside!!

Old...

New..

How do they fit??!!??!

......if the doors would open that would be great!

Italian train ride! {I'm not so good at smiles in my pictures!}

Oh yeah!

What's all this?

Something had to be going on....

Faye and Sister {and others that I didn't really talk to}

I see you!!

Saturday
I woke up early to try and go to Mass with the LA Salettes, but couldn't find how to get out of the building!  So I prepared to go out into the wild and go get my ticket for the Papal Mass!  I went down to breakfast and met some of the priests that were there (and the Polish sisters that worked there).  One of the priests then told me about the house and taught me how to get out and which keys to use and such like.  Then I was off!
I went to the Vatican first, made sense to me, but, once I got out of a maze of buildings, I got help and told I was in the wrong place!  So I went on my way, so I made my way there in classic Jonathan style (long way with more turns then necessary, but somehow get there anyways) and got my ticket!!!! And had confession with a really cool priest!  So then I went back to the Vatican to get some rosaries and such like, then back to where the office was where I got my ticket to see the Trevi fountain, when it was raining more than before...(it had been raining all day, 40% chance in Roma means 100% chance your day will be wet, just 40% will only get wet :p).  In Rome there are street sellers everywhere, and since it was raining, they all had umbrellas, and tried to sell one even if you had one (I magically remembered my raincoat, so didn't care).  This being the case, the place was full of eye pokers!!!  And Trevi Fountain was full of people, I got out of there fast with my hands up and doing moves like the Matrix!  I then had some nice lunch at a cafe, (think this was before the fountain) and continued on to the historic center of the city.  From there I put the map away, and picked a road and went, and found some people practicing for a reenactment of a gladiatorial parade.  Continued on my random walk, and ran right into the Church of St. Cecilia!! This is the Patron of many of my friends and my family!!  I went on to some random section of town, and went on back to the house to get some food at 1915 (made it right in time!!!).  I then went to Holy Saturday Mass right there with the La Salettes at 2200, it was a wonderful Mass, it was all in Italian though, which made my confused.....also, and older sister passed out and fell during Mass, and we continued with Mass (there were 5 priest though, and one came down and helped all the ladies that were helping her....I stayed away because I wouldn't know what anyone was saying!). It ended up she just had some cuts but the ambulance people came in and collected her, but she was standing by herself, and Father said something and we clapped for her as she left, and we continued.  We got done about 0030 and I went to bed!  I wanted to leave early and woke up at 0525!  Only to leave for the Papal Mass at 0550, but more of that in Sunday.

I had a policy to go in every church I went by....and there was a lot!!

Pantheon

My not Trevi Fountain I found when trying to find the North American Pontifical Institute 

TICKET!!!!!

Slightly more empty than tomorrow......

why did this turn????

Lunch!

AHHHHHH!!!  Eye Pokers everywhere!

Scary fish staring at me, but at least they give wifi, right? ;P
{I was just walking by and saw the fish, it was really freaky!!}

empty colosseum! 

Gladiatorial practice 

Hill I did to get back to the house

my nice, unlit street!

Room!

Sunday
I got to the Vatican at 0640 and there wasn't to many people (as I thought there would be, Mass was at 1000, and the gates opened at 0800).  While waiting, I ended up standing next to a daughter and father from Wisconsin, and talked with them at a while.  Thinking I was going through airport like security, so removed all metal and such....they just looked in your bag ;p.  I ended up being right next to the barricade in the center aisle!!!  I was surrounded by Spanish religious sisters also :).  Mass was fantastic, and I understood a good part of it!  Mostly in Latin, and the 1 & 2 readings were in Spanish and English.  The blessing and some other bits in Italian were very difficult though :p.  While Pope Francis drove about, the sisters kept yelling, "agui, agui!" --(here, here!).  But he didn't come down our lane :(.  It was pretty magnificent :D.
After Mass I went exploring, and found a really cool cafe (under a tramp station) where I had the Italian version of ice cream, panini, and espresso :).  I continued by going into the park a little bit, but went and changed first, then went south of where I stayed and went to quite a bit of that area, then went back through ALL of the park.  It was huge!  And there were kids playing soccer in the ruins of the romans, it was a very odd sight.  I got back in time for food with the LA Salettes, and talked with them for a long period of time, and continued by going and packing.  Then I found the chapel :)--- and went to bed somewhat early!!

see, not too many people yet!

Center!!

My neighbors for the Holy Easter Mass!

Russian Orthodox Church I walked into....

Cafe under the train!

little bit of the park..
like really small bit.....

Watch out!  it's a Panda Panda!

They have cigarette dispensers....

La Salette Church!

We have to go get ours done for our Passport, they have it on streets......everywhere....

It reminded me of the Wawel Dragon!

Vandalism, I'm in the right part of town now!!
{I did random walking about}

These last few pictures for Sunday are all the park, I really liked it!

Monday
I woke up this morning at 0600 to try and go to Mass again...but couldn't find it! About 5 min late I found one priest doing Mass at a side altar in the chapel, so I left him be and got ready for breakfast.  At breakfast at talked to a priest that worked in Georgia, and he proceeded to tell me all I missed in Roma and told me that I would have to come stay again and he would give me the tour the bits I missed, so I guess I have to go back!!  He then took me to the right bus stop and I got to the airport, to Gothenburg, where I waited for a while, and a while longer when our buss didn't show up, but well was well with the world, God is in heaven, so way worry?  Now almost done with my trip back to Jönköping on the bus next to a guy that is trying to sit much to close to me and wrote this for you!---- just going to add the photos for your viewing pleasure ;).  And thanks to my Polish friends, I was able to talk to a Polish priest and the sisters in the house!

Hot milk and cocoa powder.....and they drink from bowls here

Father who said he would take me about next time!

Bus time!

Last bit of Italian sun!

We rode to the plane on a bus...

Bye Rome!!

Back in Gothenburg

...Clever ;)

Not I know I'm back in Sweden.....that little girl forgot the top of her sandwich ;)

Hope this one was good for you! I certainly enjoyed it!  (And maybe I'll remember more of my random stories that happened later on, so there maybe a number 2 Rome trip; Jonathan story time ;). )

Blog ya later!

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