The End/Beginning

So first, I need to apologize for not posting at all for the last month. I got some complaints, but to be honest, not too much was going on. I didn't travel for the two weeks before exams, so I have some things I did in Rome to share, and then I have the week of travels post-classes to share as well. It was an incredible few weeks to cap off an incredible semester. I sit now in my living room in St. Louis, and it's a very weird feeling. Surreal is the word that comes to mind. I was in Rome two days ago saying goodbyes and exploring the city, and now I'm in my living room. It's a hard feeling to explain. I'm so glad to be home, but I would go back in a heartbeat. Anyways, details from the last few weeks:

I went to a Roma soccer game against Fiorentina two Wednesdays ago. Italian soccer is crazy. Fiorentina scored in the 91st minute to break a 1-1 tie, and I've never seen so many angry screaming Italians in my life. It was a blast, and I wish I'd have gone to more.

After the second to last calcio (soccer) game at JFRC, to make a long story short, I went to a professors house and five of us told stories over 20 year old scotch and Cuban cigars. It was pretty awesome, and I'm sharing it more for my own remembrance's sake.

Two Thursdays ago, we had our end of the semester banquet. We had awards, danced, reminisced, and had a great time. It was the beginning of the end. I had exams the entire next week, which was a lot of work. My final grades were decent, so I guess I did fine. I tried to get out and see as much of the city as possible while still doing enough studying.

The last night that everyone was in town before exams, we went to dinner at our favorite restaurant (Osteria dell'Anima) for Fiochetti (pear pasta), then went for gelato at Giolitti by the Pantheon. On the way back, there was a man playing cello under the entrance way to the Pantheon. It was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen, and we sat and listened to him for half an hour or so. We went to some of the favorite bars after that, and I said most of my goodbyes. It was very difficult. The Friday of exams, my last exam ended at 10AM, I immediately got into a taxi to the airport, and I caught a 1 o'clock flight to Palermo, Sicily.

Palermo was beautiful. I kind of wish I had gone earlier in the semester. I had trouble getting into it because I was by myself and I missed Rome very much. I did my best though. During the days, I went to the beach and wrote in a notebook about my experiences in Rome, and just enjoyed the sun. I climbed a small mountain on the side of town to get a view of the city which took most of my Sunday up. I enjoyed it very much, and I'll put pictures up on Facebook. Monday, I got on a plane at 7AM to go back to Rome. I got to Rome, went straight to the train station, and I got a train to Venice.

When the train got to Venice, my Italian friend Marco, who lives in Padua (about an hour from Venice), met me and showed me the city. We stayed in Venice from 1PM to about 7PM, just exploring and going to see St. Mark's Square and such, and then Marco's parents picked us up to go back to Padua. We drove on a road along a small canal lined with nice mansions which apparently in the past was used by nobility to drive boats to and from Venice. We got to Padua, and I met Marco's older brother Luca. The Faggin family were some of the nicest people I've ever met, and they treated me like their own. We ate dinner and watched the Manchester United/Manchester City soccer game, then went out for a beer in Padua. We came back early and slept, and the next day, Marco showed me around Padua. We went to St. Anthony's cathedral, got a slushee-like drink called granita, and enjoyed our time together. That night, I caught a train to Bolzano to meet my friends Matt and Mitch.

I got into Bolzano around 9, and the other two weren't supposed to get in until the next morning, so I just hung out in the hostel and got a good night's sleep. They got in the next morning, and in the morning light it was plain to see that Bolzano was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been. It was acquired by Italy after WWII from Austria, and all the signs were in German and the architecture was all Austrian. It didn't seem very Italian, but it was buried in the mountains and it was absolutely gorgeous. We spent the day hiking in the mountains and then just relaxed and played cards at night. The next day we took a cable car ride to Soprabolzano and some other small mountain towns, and just enjoyed the views. Then that night we sat in the park and reminisced about the semester. It was a really great time. That night I took an overnight train from Bolzano to Rome, getting in to Rome around 9AM.

At 10AM, I got back to the Rome Center and caught up with my RAs and the administration. My friend Andrew got in around 2PM, and we put our bags into the hotel and then went for our last gelato. We met everyone else who was in town, our RAs, and the dean of students and his wife for dinner, then we went to a bar for the rest of the night and told stories and such. We said our tough goodbyes, went to sleep, and the next morning got a plane at 1:20PM to Frankfurt, then a 5:40PM plane to Chicago. I landed at 8PM Chicago time, hung out with my roommates and saw old friends all night, and today, drove back to St. Louis. Here I am, and just like that, it was over.

Exactly what I'm feeling right now is really hard to explain. Like I said, I am so happy to be home, but I'd go back in a heartbeat. Last night, right now, everything feels like a dream. Being in America doesn't feel like real life. It's a totally different world. I miss Rome so much, but I missed it here. Being with my family and friends is great. I'm just really torn.

I learned a lot about myself this semester. I don't know what I want to do with my life, or who I am exactly, or anything. It helped me realize how little I knew, how much I took for granted, and just how lucky I am. Many people around the Rome Center have been encouraging me to apply for the RA position in Rome when I graduate, and I think I just might. Who knows. Rome has become a second home, and I know I'll go back.

So for me, it's the end, but it's also the beginning. I learned so much and my thinking has changed so much that I know my life is headed in a new direction. I don't know which, but I know it is. My semester in Rome is over, but it will always be close to my heart. I don't know that I'm ready to talk about everything right away, but I'm willing to start talking, and if I talk too much about Rome, just tell me to shut up!

I want to thank everyone who read this blog throughout the semester. I wasn't expecting the response that I got, but many people said they really enjoyed reading this, and that means a lot to me. I want to see everyone, so please, Facebook or e-mail or call me, and tell me about how your last four months have been! Thanks again, and have a great summer. I leave you with the words of a piece of graffiti I saw at the beginning of the semester near the Colosseum: Ama e sarai felice. "Love, and you will be happy." Arrivederci, my friends.

-Ryan Bedell
May 7, 2012

Barcelona

Hello, all. So this weekend was Barcelona, Spain, and it was a great trip!  Thursday night we went to Osteria Di Anima, affectionately known as "pear pasta place" to us here at the John Felice Rome Center, with my friend Laura's parents and turned in early, which was fun and delicious, then we woke up Friday morning at 5:30 to get our car to the airport and be on our way. We landed in Barcelona around 10 and got to the hostel around 11:30 to find out that we had until 2 until we could put our things in the room. We got some tapas and sangria and then walked to the beach, and then went to Sagrada Familia, which is a church designed by Gaudi which is still under construction, but it was by far the coolest church I've ever seen. Look it up. Then we went back to the hostel and got ready, got some falafel for dinner and made our way to a really cool bar based on a weird stock market sort of system. Prices varied based on how many people bought the drink. So if a lot of people were buying Guinness, the price of Guinness would go up, and the price of Heineken would go down. Really cool place. After that we went back for the night, woke up early and went to an open-air food market and got some lunch. Then we rented some bikes and rode to the top of a huge mountain/hill thing where Gaudi's Park Guell, which is a huge park with incredible views of the city and the coast. We hung out there for a while then rode back to the shore and hung out there for a bit, then went back to the hostel and got ready and went out for falafel and sangria again, then went to an Irish pub to watch the Barcelona football game. It was a good time. We just wandered around on Sunday until our flight, and I am officially tired. I have a huge Italian test tomorrow, so wish me luck. Busy week!  Talent show, end of the semester banquet, calcio (soccer) finals, and last week of classes. Should be interesting. I'll write sometime later this week. Have a good one, all.

Easter Weekend

So for Easter Break just staying in Rome, which has been a nice break from traveling. For the most part I've just been relaxing. I've had some friends in from Madrid, mainly Kate Buckley and her friends as well as Cameron Harding, so I played tour guide most of the day Friday, then I got dinner with Jim and his parents and then headed to Stations Of The Cross at the Colosseum with the Pope. That was cool, but I hated the huge crowd, so I left in the middle. Then Saturday just kind of bummed around all day, went to Hard Rock Cafe with Andrew, Will, and Aaron for dinner, then just went back because I was tired (and the Cardinals' game was on, but naturally that didn't affect my decision...). Then today, Sunday, I woke up at 6, walked down to the Vatican at 7 for Mass at 10:15 with the Pope which was awesome, and I was only 8 rows back!  All of St. Peter's Square was packed with people, and I had a chair 8 rows back. You can't beat that. There was an awesome choir and band, the Pope blessed everyone and said Happy Easter in 50 languages, and it was a great experience. Not sure what the rest of the weekend holds, but we're talking about dinner tonight in the Jewish ghetto, then I'll probably do homework and relax tomorrow! Hope everyone has a great Easter. Less than a month until I'm back in the States. That's weird. I will miss Roma! Buona Pasqua e buongiorno!

Ireland

Well, it was refreshing to go to a country where everything was in English, for starters. This weekend was in Ireland. Mike, Jim, and I flew out Friday at 11, getting into Dublin a little bit before one since we gained an hour. We went to our hostel and dropped our stuff off, then went around the corner to the oldest pub in Ireland, which was founded in 1157. That is not a typo. 1157 AD. So that was pretty cool; we had our first glasses of Guinness and some fish and chips, and we were happy campers. Then we walked to St. James street to the Guinness Storehouse at St. James Gate. That was pretty cool to see, and it's pretty awesome to be able to say I had a pint of Guinness where they make it! From there, we headed back to the hostel to relax a little. It was Mike's birthday, so we decided to do the hostel pub crawl in celebration. We met some British and Australian guys who were having a bachelor party for their friend, who I soon learned was a fellow Tottenham Hotspur fan, and we hung out with them all night. We introduced them to the game of beer pong, which they had never seen before. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them, then headed back to the hostel after the crawl. Jim and I woke up at 6:00 to get to the Dublin tourist center for a day of travels. We took a bus with MacCoule tours to their family farm, followed by the Cliffs of Moher, followed by Galway City. The farm was great, and we did a little hike up a mountain on the farm, then had some homemade cakes and Irish coffee, then we took the bus to the Cliffs, which were the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and then took the bus to Galway City, where Jim and I got some shepherd's pie and a pint, which was the perfect end to the day. We got home around 9PM, then met up with Mike, who had gone on a hiking tour. We then went in search of some pubs to just relax, and hung out at one all night and played the game from Inglorious Bastards where you pick a character for the person next to you and they have to guess who it is. That was fun, then we slept in the next day. We got some cheap breakfast around noon, then walked around, settled in a pub to watch the first half of Newcastle v. Liverpool, then just wandered around until we saw Ryan's pub, and we had to stop in for a pint in my honor. Then we went back to the hostel and hung out for a bit, then went to another relaxing pub until midnight and just sat around talking to an old, drunk, Irish man named John. He was quite a character. We went to bed, and woke up at 4:30AM to catch our 6:30 flight, and then we flew back. I had class today, and then finished editing my ten page history paper. Busy day, but glad to be done. I'm starring in a film that the kids in the film class are making, so the last two hours has been filming parts of that. I am tired!  Bed time. Have a great week. Arrivederci.

Paris

Little late on the whole Paris thing. Sorry, ya'll. I'm going to do it in brief because it's late at night. Left for Paris last Friday, got in and then went to the Eiffel Tower. Went to Dispatch concert at night, and it was INCREDIBLE. 200 people, small venue, played all my favorites. Couldn't have asked for more. Saturday, woke up around 11, bought a chicken, some bread, some grapes, some wine, and some cheese and had a lunch on the Louvre lawn, then went into the Louvre, then went to Shakespeare and Company Bookstore, then went out with some girls Mike knew to a hookah bar. Then Sunday, went to Musee d'Orsay, climbed the Eiffel Tower, then met up with my good friend Emmy Carragher to go to a Sangria bar, and went to bed early. Set the alarm for 5:30AM, woke up at 7:30AM, missed our flight. Paid 110 euro to get on the next flight. Sat in airport in Beauvais all day. Walked a mile to a McDonald's. Flight left at 9:30. Got into Rome at 11:30. Got home at 1. Slept. Class. The end. This weekend is Dublin, and I am so pumped. I shall write after that, and try to be more prompt!  Have a great weekend everyone. Ciao!

Travel Map

Did this to waste some time today. Thought it was kind of cool!  I am a lucky guy. Paris this weekend. Au revoir!

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World War II Trip

Hello there. Been a crazy week thus far. Ten page paper draft due tomorrow, so I got that done Sunday, and Art In Rome test Thursday, which I need to begin studying for because I basically have a novel to memorize! So should be a busy rest of the week, too. But last weekend I went on the World War II study trip, which was basically day trips on a bus Saturday and Sunday to see World War II sites around the Rome area. We went to a German military cemetery first on Saturday, which was really interesting to see. There was a group of older German tourists there, and there were a lot of them crying, which was in interesting reminder that the Germans who died in the war were brothers, sons, and fathers, too. We went in with the mindset that we were seeing a Nazi cemetery, but went out with a more human perspective on things I think. So that was an interesting start to the morning, then we went to a museum with tons of artifacts and authentic stuff. It was the personal collection of a guy who owned the land, and it was basically 10 or so warehouses filled with stuff. There were planes, cars, guns, uniforms, everyday household items, and tons of other stuff. So that was pretty cool to see. Then after that we went to the American military cemetery. It was really beautifully set up and reminded a lot of us of the Washington Monument. So that was a very informative and interesting day, and I learned a lot about the war from an Italian perspective that I don't think I ever would have if I hadn't gone. The two guides were two Rome Center alumni, Jim and Phil, and they were two of the most knowledgable and nice fellows around. We went out that night to Trastevere for St. Patrick's Day and Jim DeLuca's birthday, so that was a lot of fun, and we got back relatively early to get a good night's sleep for the next day of the trip. The next day was completely based around the events of March 24, 1944. On that day, 335 Italians were massacred at the Ardeatine Caves site. A group of Italian communists had killed 32 German SS members the day before, and the massacre was a reprisal. Hitler first wanted the whole neighborhood leveled, then wanted 50 Italians dead for each German, and then was eventually talked down to 10 Italians for each German that died. Needless to say, it was a heavy morning starting out in the caves where the executions had occurred and where the graves still were. It made me sick, but it was interesting. The hard part to believe is that under the Geneva convention, 320 of the murders were completely legal, and only the 15 extra could be brought to court after the war. It's hard to see how anyone could ever think that was a good idea. So basically, we went to the caves, went to a museum about the liberation of Italy that had some more information, and then we went to the site where the attack on the Germans had happened. Then we all went for lunch and made our way home, and then I wrote my ten page paper. Busy weekend, busy week ahead, lots of busy. But this weekend, I am going to Paris with Jim and Mike to see Dispatch, and I will get to see Emmy Carragher and Chandler Duff, and I am quite excited. Should be a good time. I will write back after that. On another interesting note, I am in the process of signing up for the Bank of America Chicago marathon in October through St. Jude's. I will need to raise $1200, but I want to do it in honor of Chris Zandstra, a kid from my high school class who died of cancer for anyone who didn't know me in high school. Of course I would hope to get well over $1200, but we will see. I have yet to hear back from the people at St. Jude's!  Also, I bought a ticket to Bonnaroo in Tennessee from June 7-10, so that should be fun. And how about them Blues? And Cardinals' Spring Training? I'm missing St. Louis! But I don't want to leave Rome. Pickle. Well, not the worst pickle to be in right? I'll catch you folks later. Have a good week.