Celebrating Easter in the Right Place

I woke up early in order to head to the square for Easter mass. I was a little nervous, because Italian streets are not at all easy to navigate, (actually, most streets in Europe are difficult to navigate) and I was going to be by myself. But, I've gotten through London alone, so I could do this, right? Yes, yes I could, and I did. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and I had time to kill so I wandered the square that was the emptiest it would probably ever be.

He has risen

I was a little worried about getting inside, because I had read so many articles about how strict security was with all the tourists. As it turned out, one of the altar servers let me in. He was very friendly and showed me where I could wait while the mass before mine finished. It was no Vatican, but it was still an amazing church. I sat front row, and even though the mass was spoken in Italian, I could basically follow along, except for the homily. Now, pictures weren't allowed in San Marco's Basilica, but they were if you took them secretly and the security guards nodded at you and understood you were an actual Catholic in awe of a beautiful church and not an annoying tourist. So, I have pictures.

So much gold

Front row!

View from the back

Candles lit for Grandma Patricia and Grandpa Gordy

You can see my joy in having a stranger take my photo

I spent a little time after mass in the square before going back to the hostel and meeting the girls to head to the train station. Next stop was Bologna, where we were going to spend some time in the country. The owner of our bed and breakfast picked us up at the train station once we arrived, and took us far into the hills, which was a great break from the cities we've been in. It had a really cool psychedelic set up, but the best thing about the place was the views it gave us. We were in awe when we first arrived. Of course, I had to call my family to show them and make them jealous.

So 70s 

View from my room

They love me

After some pictures, the girls and I agreed we needed to take a walk to get an even better look at our surroundings. About five minutes in, we were noticing that every single house seemed to have at least one dog, when all of a sudden one came running at us from the top of the hill we were climbing. No one else was around, so we figured he had gotten loose somehow. I took a look at his collar and found that it had "TOMMY" and a phone number on it. We continued our walk with Tommy leading the way, trying to see where he belonged but still enjoying his presence as we explored the rolling green hills.

Tommy was running to catch up with me

We never did find Tommy's house, and when we asked the owner of our b&b, he said that no one knows who owns the dog, but he just joins people when they go on walks and keeps them company. Before leaving for dinner, we watched a spectacular sunset from our terrace. Even though it was a little cold, we stayed out just to enjoy the view.

For dinner, we went a little way in to town, and ended up having one of our most authentic Italian meals of our entire trip. No one there spoke English very well, but we had the best pasta with cute little rolls. We were sitting next to two older gentlemen, who kept pointing and and laughing at us when we tried to communicate with our waiter. One of them turned to me and said that he could help translate if we needed it, and then asked us where we were from. When I said America, his friend pinched his cheeks and said something in Italian, laughing. Apparently, he said that we looked American. So, I laughed and stuck my tongue out at him. Then, the English speaking man explained to me that his friend was a priest and he was a seminarian and that they had driven a long way from their church to enjoy a meal at this restaurant because it was so good. Moral of the story: Mara stuck her tongue out at a priest. Don't be like Mara.

So delicious

We went straight home with full bellies. I called some more family, who I was extremely excited to see. I wish I could have spent time with my family on Easter, but I think I still had a pretty good day, even if I did disrespect a priest...