I had just spent the previous semester studying Seventeenth Century art. This was great timing since I was now in the mecca of 17th century art: Rome, Italy. All the paintings and churches I had studied were at my disposal. And even though I only got a B- in the class, I was the official guide of Bernini and baroque for the trip. I think I learned more than my grade reflected. So, I'm not that good at writing an outline of the book as I read. I was never great at taking notes. Ok, end rant now. Moving on...
I really wanted to find the church where the "Ecstasy of St. Theresa" was located. My traveling buddies were not so excited about this venture. We decided I would get up early and take the bus to the church and then we would meet up at St. Peter's in the afternoon. Great idea, yes?
Two things I learned from this endeavor: Santa Maria della Vittoria is not located on the tourist map and the clocks in Rome are not all set on the right time, nor do they all work.
I eventually found the church. It's rather small. If you've seen Angels and Demons, the church is in the movie. It is a lovely church and much less "Disney" like than St. Peters. Yes, I know it is the Vatican and all, but there were so many people there, it was hardly a place for a quiet moment with God. I'll take a small church any day of the week.
Of course, finding my friends was a different matter. I was relying on the clocks around town to help me keep track of time. I know, I know, I should have been wearing a watch. Eventually I figured out that these clocks were all wrong. None of them matched another on time. This made for an annoying day trying to meet up with my friends. I did end up finding them in the square at St. Peters. And the quote of the day (it's officially in the travel journal quote page), "This is not a trip of assumptions!!"
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