Boy, do I feel like I caught up on some good ole couch potato time or what. I scrambled to finish my essays early (which basically never happens, but it must be something about the Roman air...) and got them out of the way on Thursday which left me with a three day weekend wide open.

Friday was an exciting day in San Lorenzo at la festa della liberazione as I had mentioned before, and the rest of my afternoon was spent sketching and doodling after being inspire by Alice's artwork. Then on Saturday I decided to go look for a wall painted by Sten & Lex in Garbatella, which is a neighborhood our sociology professor suggested we go visit. It's one of the garden neighborhoods, filled with green space and lots of cool artwork as I soon discovered. The houses and courtyards were very different from any of the other neighborhoods I've visited in Rome (I think it's safe to say I may have done the most periphery exploring out of my entire class), and it was a beautiful area to be in. I also stumbled across Eataly which is basically Rome's version of Whole Foods on steroids. It was quite overwhelming, but now if I need any last-minute artisan chocolates to buy as souvenirs I know exactly where to go.

Sunday was a big day seeing as Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II were being canonized at St. Peter's. I wasn't sure exactly what was happening, but I watched the livestream as I ate breakfast (thanks for the recommendation, Official CNN Twitter account) and decided I should go see what all the hoopla was about since I wasn't here for Easter, and apparently this was way more important and more people were in town for this particular ceremony. I took a stroll through Trastevere and as I approached the outskirts of Vatican City I saw hundreds of people sitting, lining the sidewalks to hear the echoes of Pope Francis' voice over the loudspeakers. I stumbled my way through the crowds to test how close I could get (which wasn't very close at all) and could only see seas of people and heads bobbing up and down at the entrance to Via della Conciliazione. There were thousands of people packed on to Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, and I crossed over the bridge to walk along the Tiber for quite a ways until I mad my way back across into Prati where all of the streets were chaos. Police blockades at every intersection, yellow tape dangling from sign posts, and just so, so many people everywhere. I think I spent more of my time dodging tour groups and old ladies than I did actually trying to listen to what was happening, but my morning was accompanied by lots of harmonized singing in the background. I spent the rest of my time wandering the streets near Via del Corso after maneuvering my way past Piazza del Popolo and headed home for lunch break. My friend and fellow intern then invited me to go find the tunnel Gio Pistone painted near Quadraro, so we set off on a hunt for some crazy looking monsters in the rain (which proved very successful!). Termini was a complete mess and completely overflowing, but now I know what my professors meant when all Rome goes to hell when events happen and tourists arrive by the hundreds of thousands. It was quite the experience to just be wrapped up in the aftermath of religious ceremony in the center of Catholicism, but I'm glad to be on a quiet street in a smaller neighborhood away from the madness that is probably the city center even at this hour. I just hope the bus schedules return to normal for the school week!