Bovril, Gingerbread Man, Constable, Rome, and the Pope

I have a lot to update you all on since my last post the first term has ended and I'm really enjoying having some down time to sleep, relax and sight see. I still can't believe that I have one semester under my belt and find it amusing that another term of students is coming into the program in January and have no idea what they have in store.

Haley, Nadia, and I made a gingerbread man. The first gingerbread man for Nadia and I, and quite an experience. He was very yummy and he even ran away for a little bit, but luckily we found him!

When in a quaint little coffee shop on the coast of Newcastle after having another amazing lunch of fish and chips Nadia and I looked on the menu and noticed an option we had never seen before. Bovril, so we asked the people next to us what it was and they explained that it was like a beef stock that you sip but that is usually better over a roast. We decided to order it because while in England order the thing that sounds the most disgusting on the menu, just to say that you have!!!

Mission Accomplished! I finally found my constabul and had my camera at the same time. He seemed to think it was very strange that I was asking to take a picture of and wanted to be assured that I wouldn't put his name on it...well I don't know his name but if I found it out it would have most likely made the blog. I just love that they wear those hats so seriously and walk around patrolling the streets, it's just one of those things that makes me laugh.


I made it to Rome without any troubles (they even let my oversized luggage onto the plane without making me check it). I can't say the same for the way back, but you can't win them all. Rome was amazing, we (Haley and I) saw so much. We saw all of the historic stuff (the coleseum, roman forum, pantheon, several piazzas with little festivals, the vatican (sisteen chapel, vatican museum, tomb of the Popes, cupula (which if you don't speak italian and I don't means dome or at least i think it does when we followed the signs they led us to the top of St. Peter's basilica and a few of the entire city which was breathtaking).
You may have noticed that I those are pictures of the current Pope Bennidict! How we got tickets to see the Pope was quite amuzing. Alanna (my friend from home) told me about how the pope does Audiences on Wednesday so on Tuesday afternoon we wandered around the Vatican asking various people how to get tickets. Everyone responded to see the Swiss Guards. I guy said they were just beyond the first pillar another up the stairs, and I finally asked someone "you mean the guys in the very colorful clothing", and sure enough it was them. I went up to them and asked them for 2 tickets to see the audience and they very nicely got them for me. It was quite an experience. Then the next day we got to see the Pope, a rare occation for sure. It was honestly more like a basketball game than anything else. People from all over the crowd were chearing, yelling,singing, playing and chanting for the Pope to come on. Once he did he said his message to the crowd (in this case his christmas message as it was the week before christmas) in 7 different languages. As each language was read groups of people who spoke that language showed there appreciation and gratitude to the Pope by singing for him or yelling a message and he just sat there and clapped. I had know idea that he actually knew that many languages including: German, Italian, English, French, Spanish, A Slovic Language, and another language that I didn't recognize. Overall it was an amazing experience!
Until next time!