March 24

ARRIVEDERCI, ROMA!!!

We woke up on our final day in Rome, sad that our pilgrimage was soon to be over but happy to pack up stinky pilgrim clothes. We set off on our final adventures, breaking into little groups to have breakfast and do some final exploring before leaving for the airport. Most of us took in our final cappuccini, while others invested their last euros on chocolate for the trip. We gathered in the lobby at 11:45 and lugged our suitcases out of storage for the last time (PHEW!). Thanks to our MVP (Most Valuable Pilgrim), Sasha, two minibuses were waiting for us outside and ready to take us to the airport, rather than the alternate mode of transportation, four cabs and two trains.
PILGRIM MINIBUS


Snug in our minibuses, we waved goodbye to the Eternal City, sad to go but very excited to rest. We wandered around the airport, window shopping, and eventually boarded our plane for Heathrow. The flight was short and sweet, and we arrived in London where we had to go through two more lines of security (including a full body frisk) before we could embark on the final leg of the journey.



Luckily, the British Airways strike did not affect our flight, but unfortunately it did affect our meal. Instead of the usual hot meal, we were served “substantial” salads. (They were surprisingly delicious!) We then settled into our movies, which elicited all kinds of sentiments from the pilgrims: Sasha and Hannah endured an emotional roller coaster in Gran Torino; Allegra sobbed while watching Up In the Air; Will shamelessly enjoyed He’s Just Not That Into You. Seven hours and three movies later, we thought we were finally finished.
We arrived in lovely New York only to find that we had one more pilgrim obstacle: a heinously long line at Immigration. We waited forty-five minutes, but were happy to come out on the other end and see that at least our luggage had arrived this time. Well...almost all of them. Passenger A. Hannum’s luggage was suspiciously missing from the flight.
We said our goodbyes and were finally home! With a successful pilgrimage complete, we felt cleansed and ready to approach our next assignment: class on Tuesday.

Ciao e grazie per averci accompagnati!