Paris for Easter, and Visitors in Rome!

I know it's been a while since my last post...I apologize, and hope to fill you in on everything now! Holy Week was the week of my Spring Break, so I stayed in Rome for the first part, enjoying the beautiful weather and parks near my apartment (things I don't necessarily have time for with my classes) and took in all the traditions. The church right near my apartment says Palm Sunday Mass outside, and then the congregation parades around following the priest, carrying their palms. Holy Thursday I was picking up my friend from the train station, and we walked by San Giovanni in Laterano, where we saw the procession of Swiss Guard and cardinals crowding on to Coach buses, and I remembered that the Pope says Mass there on Holy Thursday! Literally 5 minutes down the street from my apartment!

The next morning, I left for Paris, where Patrick and I met up for the weekend. The first night we walked around and went to the Seine River for a dinner cruise...the food was delicious, and Paris at night was a beautiful sight! Here is a picture of us in front of the lit up Eiffel Tower after our cruise:

The rest of the weekend, we went down our list of things we wanted to do in Paris, and checked off quite a few of them. We went to Notre Dame (where there was a beautiful rainbow...one of the perks of the weather not being so great while we were there), and climbed the towers to get a beautiful view of the city (despite the clouds...you can barely make out the Eiffel Tower). We also went to the Louvre, but they closed early because it was so crowded. The city as a whole was extremely crowded because it was Easter weekend, and we spent a lot of time waiting in lines. We also went to the Eiffel Tower, where the top deck was closed (it seemed like that was just our luck that weekend, but we decided to at least go up to the second floor) until we got to the ticket counter, and they opened it up. The weather was nicer, too, so we got some great views of Paris.

The next weekend, Patrick came to Rome again, since he didn't get to spend a lot of time here the first time. This time, we went to the Vatican Museums and saw the Sistine Chapel (this was my first time going to the chapel since I got here), climbed to the top of Castel Sant'Angelo where we got a beautiful view of Rome:We also saw the Pantheon, which is where Raphael's tomb is located. A few days after Patrick left, Mom and Dad came to visit as well! They got in early Friday morning, and I've had an action-packed trip planned for them ever since! The first day they were here, I took them to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, and showed them around my neighborhood, then we went to get them settled into their hotel. Saturday, we spent a few hours in the Vatican Museums, then went to visit St. Peter's Basilica, walked by the Pantheon and through Piazza Navona. Sunday we went to Latin Mass in St. Peter's, then went to the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Campidoglio and the Capitoline Museums. Today they're off to Naples and the Amalfi Coast, then they go to Assisi on Wednesday, and travel to Florence and Venice before they return on Sunday night.

I'll post pictures of my parents here as soon as I upload them to my computer (hopefully later on today), and I'll try to get better at uploading more regularly, although I realized today I have only a little over 4 weeks left, which is crazy! Ciao for now!