July 25
Ciaowdy, and welcome back to the blog! If you read yesterday’s post from Katherine and Lucas, you would’ve heard all about yesterday’s leadership sessions, as well as Dustin’s personal roommate horror story. I don’t want to spoil it, but if you’re interested in learning what it’s like to live with a professional bed wetter, I highly recommend putting it at the top of your reading list.
Today, all roads lead to Rome. Our travels for the day began on the Castiglion train once again. We weren’t exactly thrilled for the 3 hour train journey that awaited us, but the Vatican City wasn’t going to explore itself, so we loaded up onto the train and went on our way.
The group split up when we boarded the train, and everyone had a different way of passing the time. Many people spent the ride reading, without fear for the risk of motion sickness. Others decided that waking up at 6:30 did not provide a sufficient amount of sleep and took a long nap to pass the time, although comfort was a challenge to find since the AC was pretty flaky. Music listening, admiring the beautiful Italian countryside, and playing a fierce city building game were all activities we did to avoid boredom on this long trip. Some other bright young Aggies had the idea to challenge chatGTP to a game of hangman and ended the game victorious, proving that A&M fish are superior to artificial intelligence. Despite all this, the long ride had every Aggie pondering, “when in Rome?”. We finally arrived at the train station, but our travels were far from over. We had to immediately rush to the subway, where we took 2 brief rides to finally reach our destination.
After we resurfaced from the subways and finally got a fresh breath of air, all of us were dying to get some food. Once again, the group went its separate paths so we could get a quick lunch before our journey to Vatican City. One group got some fried chicken at an Asian style restaurant, while another group went to a pizza by the slice cafe. The other group decided they really needed a taste of home, so they journeyed to the nearby McDonald’s for a healthy and classy meal. No one was more passionate about this decision than Lucas, who had been advocating for McDonald’s for days now. Hundreds of McNuggets and fries later, we left feeling satisfied and energized.
But what’s cooler than McDonald’s? The Catholic capital of the world. As we walked along the Vatican’s century-old walls, we discussed all of the art we were looking forward to seeing, and we tried to figure out what we would say to the Pope in the unlikely event that we saw him (“Ciaowdy”, of course, was one of the group’s top picks). We took a quick picture outside of the Vatican, and, after a short wait, we followed our tour guide into the third European country we’ve visited on this trip.
Let’s just say that it became very obvious very quickly that Rome was, in fact, not built in a day. The Vatican’s grandeur became immediately apparent, its extensive gardens and formidable corridors conveying the historical dominance of the Catholic Church. As we ventured into the Vatican’s hallways, we found that they were teeming with ancient sculptures, rich tapestries, and old Italian maps. The ceilings and walls were covered in frescoes such as “The School of Athens”, and the floors featured intricate mosaics. Marble and gold leaf were everywhere, and they glimmered in the afternoon sunlight. We were encircled by opulence, and it’s safe to say that we were all made aware that the Vatican doesn’t spare any expense.
Our next stop was the Sistine Chapel. I don’t know what could’ve prepared us for the Sistine Chapel. Every wall told a story, and every brushstroke appeared precise and intentional. Unfortunately, the chapel did not allow photography, but I doubt that any of us could forget the impression that it left on us. From The Last Judgment to the Creation of Adam, the Sistine Chapel amazed us with its beauty.
After our extensive travels, dinner was on the mind of every Aggie. Fortunately, it was dinner time immediately after we returned to the hotel. As usual, dinner was nothing to complain about. We started the meal as usual with some delicious pasta, and then were served pork and spinach with a generous amount of olive oil. The meal ended with some excellent ice cream cake, then it was off to gelato.
We then headed back into town to grab some gelato. Tonight also included some dance lessons, and after some refreshing ice cream many of us went back down to the park, where we continued to learn about Italian culture through intense soccer matches and zip line rides with the locals. By the time curfew came around, it was safe to say that the day of travel and sightseeing had left us exhausted.
Overall, today was one of the biggest adventures that we had seen yet. It’s not everyday that you get to just walk into a new country and view some of the most historically important and beautiful artworks in the history of the world. Vatican City was definitely a tour that all of us will remember for a lifetime, and everyone could definitely agree that it was well worth the trip. Tomorrow will be a bit of a change in pace, as we will make a short trip to Cortona and spend the day there.
Grazie per aver letto!
TJ Martin ‘27 and Mason Mock ‘27
