Saturday--Republic Day!!

I tried my skills at photo-bombing.

Today has been a pretty cool day. It is our first free day in Rome since we arrived, and while the schedule does not appear to be grueling, this day is a welcome respite. I still woke up early because my friend Carol and I wanted to go to the parade for Republic Day, celebrating the unification of Italy. The parade began just three blocks from our hotel at the coliseum, and we lined up along the barricades like so many others. Except we were first!

The Snow Patrol
 

We had a great viewing spot and got to watch the many different branches of police coordinate security for whatever was coming up. Turns out it was the president of Italy, who actually drove by us twice--once getting into parade formation (yes, we were that early!) and then again at the start of the parade. When the parade began, it was lots of police followed by the President, then many military vehicles with dignitaries in them, followed by so many marching units that I lost count. Many of them marched to a drum beat, some played instruments, and some sang/chanted. One group, who had paused before us letting the parade continue, suddenly started playing instruments, singing, and RUNNING! I can't wait to upload the video I got of that!

After the parade, we walked along that main road from the coliseum to the Victor Emmanuel memorial. Carol went to the bank, and I went into a church. It's the funniest thing in these churches--hardly does one light a candle anymore. Today, I put in a small coin and then flipped a switch to turn on the candle. It just kind of loses something when you don't light the actual candle. In one church, the candle lit up automatically when I put a coin in! So, this afternoon, I brought back a panini for lunch--so fresh and delicious. Then I talked with Karen as she was getting ready for FA graduation (YAY!), and then took a little nap. I'm going to try to stream the ceremony at 4 for a little bit before going to the farmacia with a friend. Right now, I'm sitting in the patio bar area, enjoying a prosecco and a little sunshine shaded by vines above me and listening to the kitchen staff as they prepare tonight's dinner. Tomorrow, I am going to try to visit a library that is open from 10am-12:30pm. It's in a church that has mass at 10:30, so I might do that first, depending on what time I get there. The mass is in English, although I don't know why anyone would choose that over a beautiful Italian and Latin mass! But anyway, the library caters to english speakers, and is a subscription based lending library of materials in English. I might write my paper on this, if it works out. Ciao!