All good things must come to an end.

Its 5 pm on sunday night.
Im sitting on my bed in my apartment.
The sun is setting behind the vatican, which is three blocks south of me.
I can not believe i am leaving in less then 48 hours.
How is that possible? This semester has been unreal, no words can describe the expirence of living in Italy for 5 months.
Let me try my best by recapping the last 5 months with the highlights.
I lived in a small Italian town in the country side for 3 weeks, getting the feel of real italian lifestyle. No one spoke a word of english so our italian language skills grew immensly. I climbed the highest peak in the apennins.I went to the beach in the Adriatic sea. I have travelled all through out italy; milan, sienna, florence, venice, arezzo, perguia, como, tuscany. i have ridden on a gondola in the picturesque canals of venice. I have travelled through out europe. I have been to london, paris, dublin, galway, cork, prague. i returned to the land of my namesake. See the countryside of the country that i love. I went on a pub crawl in dublin. saw the cliffs of mohr. i saw buckingham palace, big ben, parliment, the eiffel tower, the louvre, the arc d'triumph.I climned Notre Dame. I ate crepes in paris, had fish and chips in london. had irish stew with a pint of guiness in ireland. I had the time of my life in Prague, eating goulash and pilsner. I have seen the pope, met him twice, kissed his ring on the second time. Ate lunch with a cardinal. have seen the coliseo, trevi fountain, spanish steps, and roman forum more times then he can count. I have lived in an apartment with 4 other people completely on our own. I have learned a language that is completely foreign to my own. Learned my way around a foreign city. Had some of the best times with friends i will never forget. I have made some great friends in every city i have visited, sadly some of which i will never see again.
From this trip i have learned alot about myself aswell. I can survive completely on my own. The world is a my oyster. I can travel completely on my own in a foreign land with nothing but a map and a backpack. I am open to all cultures. I am not afraid to try new things, even if that means eating cow stomach, or staying out all night for the hell of it.
I have learned that this life is too short to be spent wondering 'what if'. The world is too big not to explore. There are far too many things to see and do to waste your life with insignificant issues.We all need to learn to let loose, have fun, make mistakes, do things for the hell of it, stay out all night, go church,do what makes you happiest, love more, hate less, laugh more, cry less, be happy and less sad and never ever regret a single thing. This life is short and this trip has taught me to live my life the way it was meant to be lived.

So with my bittersweet departure early tuesday morning i will grab my bags and leave on a plane. A plane destined for the people i love most in this world. I am sad to leave and happy to go home, no words can describe the feeling.

Ciao Roma, thanks for being the time of my life.

-Matteo

live it up and drink it down.

i come home in 13 days. its unreal. im going to live it up the rest of the time i am here though. tomorrow is my last day of classes. finals next week. most of them are papers so it should be ok.

HAPPY 17th DREW DREW, I HOPE ITS A BLAST. WISH I COULD BE THERE!

baci,
Matteo

the countdown has begun....

so not much has happened since i last updated. on thursday morning we went on the Scavi tour. it is a tour of the neocropolis of the vatican, it is really cool. you go under the church then under the tombs of the popes to the orginial roman road and ruins. There are a whole bunch of tombs and crypts its really neat. I actually saw St. Peters bones, which are not in the big brown box under the alter like most people think. then on friday i went to the vatican museum and the vatican gardens. The museum was awesome, it is worth more money then anyother museum in the history of the world. there were masterpieces everywhere. botticelli, da vinici, raphael, micelangelo, carrivaggio. i liked it way more then the louvre which was overpowering.
After the museum we went to the sistine chapel which is breathtaking. to think that one man painted all of that. not laying on his back on a scaffolding either, standing straight up with nothing but candle light to light the way. We also saw the famous raphael, the school of athens. which is cool to stand right in front of a masterpiece which is in every art book ever.
After the tour we went to the vatican gardens, which is very exclusive, it takes 2 months in advance to book the tickets. these are the pope private gardens . there are statues and chapels everywhere. Some interesting facts about the gardens: there is a recreation of the grotto at Lourdes because one of the popes couldnt leave the walls of vatican city so they built him a similar one so he could see it, there is a family of parrots that live there, the pope has his own train station. i kid you not, there is a train station only for the pope in his backyard. Though it has only been used twice. the second time by john paul II at the peace confrence in assissi. It was really interesting to see the popes private gardens, even though it is winter but had we gone in the summer the flowers would have been out so even better i can guess.
On friday night we went out in Trastevere, it is this really cool bohemeian area lots of artsy people selling stuff at night. street music, hippies, hobos, harmony... it was a good time.
saturday i had a lazy day. i slept until 12, didnt do anything until 2 then went on a 4 and 1/2 mile run then came home. dont think im an overachieveing because let me tell you thats the first phyical activity i have done in almost 2 months. haha.
Saturday night we went to another AS Roma soccer game. which i cant believe im saying this... was actually scarier then the first one. at this game we got flairs shot into our section by the opposing team. normally quite scary but perfectly normal at an italian soccer game. a cop got lit on fire due to a misplaced flair. there were fights and nearly a riot. they had to bring in the cops with the sheilds and helmets. It was awesome! really good time!
Today, sunday, i got up early and put on a jacket and tie and went(45 mins away) to St. Maria Maggore to go to mass for the first sunday of advent. well the reason i went all the way there was because i was hoping to catch up with Cardinal Law again. Well i went and i was early and i caught him before mass started. I he was being escorted to change into his vestments and i walked over and called out "hey cardinal law, great to see you again, how are you?" he had a bit of a dazed look on his face so all i said were three little words "john mccarthys grandson" his face lit up " oh how are you? im so glad you came, please stay for mass" we talked only for a little bit then mass started.
after mass i looked for him but im sure he had a bunch to do. I walked home and ate lunch and hungout bymyself for a bit.
i came home to realize that i forgot my keys again, shocker!, well this happens just about every other day so i just hollerd up to my roomates to let me in like usual, but no one was home. so i walked around saint peters to kill time for a bit. finally then were home when i got back.
We decided to go to Castel St. Angelo because we had yet to and we had nothing to do. it was 5 euro which was really worth it. Castel St. Angelo- for those of you who are not familiar with rome- was the mosoleum built by emperor hadrian then later converted into a fort then a castle. it is right down the road from the vatican. the popes used it as a safehouse during the middle ages if they were being attacked. there is a secret tunnel under the road that connects the two. It gave us great views of the vatican and of rome.

it wa sa good weekend, not as eventful as most but good nonetheless.
God, did you just listen to that? how jaded am i? seeing the popes private gardens, the world famous museum, soccer game, and castel st. angelo is only a slow weekend. haha. i think thats the sign of a good semester.

well i come home in about 15 days.... cant wait, even though i love rome and europe. i miss the fam and my friends at johnny c.

peace and love.

baci,
matteo

La Bohemia.

i just got back from my most recent adventure: Prague, Czech Republic.
Amazing.
Things with me are always interesting....
Before my trip even started, Wednesday night, the night before my trip things were already getting complicated. i helped my roomates with their bags, the whole group was going back to L'aquila (where we were for the first three weeks) for thanksgiving. Upon comming back to the aparment i realize that i have once forgotten my key in my room. not to worry i thought, just buzz the landlady and have her let me in. well she was out. so i got a bit worried but decided to go to the pub, have dinner, come back in an hour to have her let me in. come back in an hour. shes still not in. crap! i got let in by someone else and luckily she was home with in a few minutes.
I wake up at 5 and head off to the airport to fly to prague.
I dont know much about prague. i just thought of castles, churches and the old soviet block. people had told me it was beautiful but i didnt know what to expect.

i get off the plane and now realize that i dont know how to get to the city. no one around me speaks english either. and the czech language is unbelievably difficult. it might as well be swahili. there are like 9 consonents in a row. after surveying my dilema i decide to just follow a group of people, maybe not the smartest move... but i had no other options. well turned out it worked. to the bus to the metro. on the metro same story... where the hell do i go?? well i managed to get off at the right stop and find the hotel with no difficulty. mind you, when i got off the train it was what felt like negative 10. i thought rome was getting chilly. nothing compared to this.
So i find the hotel, which was the Four Season. the highest rated hotel in all of prague.... but more about that later.
I tell them that the people i am with will not be in til later and could i leave my bag with them. well the lady at the desk tells me they just recieved a message from Mrs. McCagh that their plane is delayed and will not be here till 7. it was 2. oh god, what am i suppose to do? so i walked around the city a bit by myself but didnt want to wander too far for fear of getting lost. long story short i eventually meet up with the McCaghs at about 9pm. We check into our amazing hotel and have dinner at the four season resturant, which one of our books said is the nicest resturant in all of Czech.
The next morning we decided to get up early and have breakfast and tour around. We saw some of the sites and shopped a bit until we met up with Adam. Adam is studying in prague and goes to fairfield so he was one of maura's friends. It was awesome to have him show us around the city like a pro. He knew what most of the stuff was and speaks Czech well. In the evening we went to a organ and volin concert in one of the many old churches. it was all bach and mozart. it was cool.
That night we met up with adam and his friends and he took us out to some fun bars and clubs.
There is a really fun nightlife in prague, much different then here in roma.
The following morning we went on a scenic boat tour of the city. it was well worth the money. Prague has a really rich history due to the various regimes and wars. the nazis, the russians, etc.

After the boat tour we walked around old town and saw some of the things that we didnt get to see the first day. Got some soviners and then we went to dinner at a brewery. it was an awesome dinner, did you know that prague is home to Pilsner and Budweiser beers? the guy from bud visited Czech and took the idea back to the states, he copied the style of beer and the name.
We went back to the hotel after dinner and had some wine and things that we got the McCaghs for having us in this amazing hotel. then i packed up my bag because i thought i had a ten oclock flight home the next morning. i double checked my itinerary just in case.... well my flight was at 8. Bummer! that means i would have to be up and out by 5. well we were in prague so i was gonna go out either way and just sleep on the plane. We decided that i would just go out all night, come back at 5 grab my bag and head off. so needless to say it was an amazing night filled with stories not fit to print here because my grandmother reads this.

Well all goes according to the plan, we leave the club at 5, come home, i grab the bag, take the metro to the bus to the airport. i get there by 5:45.
this is where the fun begins.
I'm at the airport and cant find the desk to check in for smartwings. i look up on the board of all the flights, still no roma flight. in my mind im thinking, god i must be really early.
then a thought creeps in. oh no, that cant be possible, i didnt. no way!
i double check the itinerary.... 8 am smartwings from prague.... all good...... on the 27th of november.
JESUS CHRIST! i am an idiot.
now what do i do? the mccaghs were checking out that day. im stuck in this beautiful but god forsaken country. i decide to take the bus back to the metro back to the hotel and hope for the best. well im exhausted having been up for nearly 24hours and having gone out quite hard a few hours previously.
well i get on the right bus, head back, fall asleep on the bus due to utter exhausten. well i wake up a bit later to a czech man screaming at me in a language that i dont fathom. from is anger and gestures i figure he wants me off the bus. i get up, he pushes me out onto the street.

i was in the middle of a parking lot with nothing else around. no airport, no metro.completely by myself in the middle of prague freezing my butt off at 6 in the morning, and i was a bit inebriated. a sister pat's ears would have bled if she heard the things i was cursing. boy i was fired up and had no clue what to do.
i finally get on another bus that comes by about 40 minutes later. got back to the hotel, thank god they were still there. collapsed for about an hour and told my tale to the mccaghs who couldnt believe my unfortunate luck/utter stupidity.
well i went to adams house after the mccaghs checked out with kristi and casey, who were mauras friends from spain who came to prague and stayed with us also. he was just as shocked to see me as the mccaghs were. he said not to worry that i could crash at his place for the night. we hung out all day doing nothing really because i was so miserable and tired. i still had yet to sleep. he showed me around his neighborhood and we didnt do a whole lot. we came home watched a movie then went to see the other main square in prague that i missed.
at 11 i finally went to sleep for the first time in about 40 hours. exhausted.
i was scared that i would sleep so much that i would miss my flight.... again.
but i made it and now im home to tell my crazy tale.


i missed thanksgiving at home which i was bummed about but im glad the mccaghs were here with me. Prague was amazing. Probably my favorite city ive seen so far
this was my last trip so the next plane ride i take will be back to the states.....


ciao,
matty

La mia coure é in irelanda

So Im back from my amazing trip to ireland. it is quite an adventure, so far it has been the highlight of the trip (second to shaking Il Papa's hand).
So my adventure started before i even left italy. you know the saying mother knows best? well, its completly true.... My loving mother has dubbed me The Dumbass (due to various car accidents, inicidents with alcohol in high school, and losing my license/cell phone/wallet/ car keys on more then one occasion) back to the point. in true form i am a dumbass. The night before my flight i was checking my itinterary to see what time to get to the airport. Well what i noticed was that i was flying from roma to london and london to dublin. two seperate tickets because it was cheaper that way. well to my shock and horror, i realized that i was flying into london stansted and flying out of london luton.... TWO SEPERATE AIRPORTS. so of course i freaked out, it was nearly midnight the ngiht before i was to leave. I go to the girls apartment because they had internet to solve this debocle. There is no i can make it from one airport to the other without missing my flight. Well im going to ireland if its the last thing i do. so i find another flight straight from rome to dublin and buy it. Im bitter about my stupidity but no big deal at least i will get there.
I fly to Dublin on thursday morning and meet up with Maura. they called for rain and gross weather but we got out of the airport to beautiful sunny clear skies. a good omen. I was estatic, i was finally home. Mo and I take the bus into city center Dublin and find our hostel. It was in a great location right in city center on the river, a few blocks from trinity college. We went to lunch and living up to our heritage, had our first pints in ireland... even though it was only 2pm.
We explored the city most of the afternoon and plan our weekend.

((Mom dont get angry at the following few paragraphs))
Then we decided to make a rule, every pub we pasted on our side fo the street we would stop in for a pint. this idea sounded great in the begining and not so much after about 3. We met up with melissa and had dinner then decided there is no better way to see dublin then a pub crawl. logical thinking right? so we had a pub crawl through the city of guiness. great time.

well i will skip to the next morning for obvious reasons.....

Well we got up early because we had alot to see before we left the city. So we got up and decided to tour the Guiness factory, see Saint Patricks and go back to the Trinity College to see the book of Kells.
We took the Bus to Guiness for the tour.... well, haha, we step off the bus and smell of the hops and barley that were in the air was a bit too much for Maura and Melis who happened to have a touch of the Irish Flu. They proceeded to puke on saint james gate. the irony was too much to handle and they called me an ass because i was laughing so hard that it took me a few tries to take a picture. haha it was hilarious.
We toured the factory which was really interesting and it goes back to the begining when Arthur Guiness started the company and how it grew to the phenom that it is today. After guiness factory we went to saint patricks, then went to the train station to catch a train to galway. We happened to run into some of our friends, randomly in the train station. We caught the 4 oclock train for galway and we were on our way....a side note about the train, it was like a rolling party, they said many times not to drink on the train, as soon as those wheels started churning... everyone had a drink in their hand. gotta love the irish.
We got there like 4 and half hours later. It was dark out but we were excited to be there. Our hostel was right on Eyre Square which is the center of town. We went to an amazing dinner at a hole in the wall resturant and i had traditional irish stew which was awesome. it was nice and hot, because it was freezing out. We found a pub that had like no one in it but an irish band. awesome. drinking a pint in ireland, listening to traditional irish music, in the town that is my namesake. it was amazing.
i loved galway alot more then dublin, i mean dublin is dublin but if i ever go back i will most definatly go to galway. the sense of culture and community it was so warm and welcoming to an irish american visitor.
We met up with my friend brendan, and he was friends with a whole bunch of fairfield kids studying in galway so maura knew them. It was an amazing time. the most fun i have had in all of europe so far. a funny story, in one of the pubs i was talking to some irish girls and they were convinced i was from kerry. they didnt believe that i was american, that was a real compliment to me.. to think that even the locals thinks im from ireland!
the next morning we got up and took a bus tour to the cliffs of Moehr which were the most beautiful feat of nature i have ever seen. absoutely breath taking. We toured the coast and had lunch in Doolin which is a tiny town across the water from the Aran Islands. It was real ireland, stone walls, sheep, rain. amazing.

We got back late from the tour had to rush to catch the last bus to cork. We arrived in cork late and found our hostel. Cork was very different from both dublin and galway. it reminded me of Pittsburgh, very industrial on a river. and it was way bigger then the other two cities. We went to dinner and walked around a bit but then went to bed early because we had to fly back to our respective cities in the morning. We said our fairwells at the airport and thought back on our amazing weekend. We vowed to come back to ireland in the near future.

I travelled all day by myself to get back to rome, i flew to dublin then caught another flight to roma. i had alot of time to think back on the weekend and reflect on what it means to be an irish-american. This trip was very emotional to me, i felt a bond in ireland way more then any country i have been to. there is something special about going back to a country that three generations ago my family came from. the struggle to make themselves a better life for their children. They gave everything they had for a chance things will be better. thats amazing to me.
Also i felt the need to preserve the irish culture in america. We need to remember where we have come from in order to understand where we are going. We need to keep the traditions alive, we cannot forget who we are.

heres to an amazing weekend. and an amazing event in my life....

slainte,
matthew GALWAY wooters

SLAINTE

GOD I LOVE IRELAND, ESP GALWAY!
check back with you this week.
i miss home.....



matty

London- Paris

So i am home from my crazy trip to london and paris. it was one of the best times ive had on this trip. we flew to london and arrived at midnight london time. because we didnt know where we were going we didnt get to our hostel till 4 am. we got up at 8am to start touring. we were dead. also london was 20 degress colder then rome is. freezing. bright sunshine but freezing. We saw the tower of london, tower bridge, the crown jewels, big ben and parliment (my friends found the joke old after about 2 min when i kept doing the thing from national lampoons "hey kids look, big ben..parliment") haha

we rode the london Eye which is the biggest farriswheel in the world. great views of the city at sunset. that night i met up with my friends kristin and zack who were on my crew team last year. we went out to a few pubs which is an awesome atmosphere. the next day i saw westminster abby, buckingham palace, hyde park and kensington gardens, we also saw kensington palace where princess dianna lived till her death. it was beautiful. we also went to harrods which is the biggest department store in the world. the whole time i was thinking how much my sisterin law would go nuts and how much my brother would be hating it.

side note, the pound is double the US dollar which was BRUTAL to the wallet, i spent a ton fo money just on food. a 10 dollar burger is 20 bucks.

that night i met up with my friend melissa. we went to a piano bar. it was alot of fun. we had fish and chips.

that night we didnt have a hostel because our train to paris left at 5am and we had to be there by 3 am to check in and get tickets. so we spent the night on the floor of the trainstation. not fun.

we got to paris and went to see notre dame and we climbed to the roof, we got an amazin view of all of paris. then we went to our hostel and took naps because we hadnt slept in a few days. then we went to the louvre because it was free to students on friday nights. what an expirence. i was there for 2 and half hours and didnt see a third of it. i did get to see the modonna on the rocks, mona lisa, winged vistory and that statue with no arms, the name escapes me now. the next day we climbed the eiffle tower which was a feat! nearly 700 steps. then we went to the arch di triumph. after the arch we took the metro to see the moulin rouge. we didnt go to the show because it was too expensive. then my favorite part of the trip was seeing the lightshow and the eiffle tower lit up at night. one of the best things ive seen on the trip. the others being saint peters, and david.

the next morning we got up at 5 and flew home to roma. it was an amazing trip that i will never forget.

its monday and i leave in three days for ireland.

(ooooh i forgot to say, real weird from going to an italian speaking country back to an english speaking country then to a french speaking country within a weekend. and i was the only french my group knew.... not a good sign seeing as how the last time i spoke french when i was a sophmore at prep and Guy "fraich-daddy" fraiture was my teacher... haha)

bye, avoir, and ciao

matty

venezia, milano, largo como, bologna

So im back from my whirlwind weekend.
here is the 90 second recap:
-we rode on the bus for 6 hours and spent the first night outside of florence
-the next morning got up early for a couple hour bus ride to venice. venice is awesome, we went in the main churches, took a gondola ride and spent the afternoon wandering around. its kind of over rated, its beautiful but there are 9 bazillion tourists. in the main square, st. mark's piazza, you can feed the pigeons and they litterally attack you. it was interesting. we left venice that evening and drove a few hours to our hotel in milano.
-woke up early the next morning and drove to lake como. it was AWESOME. its right on the border of switz. and the alps are in the background of the lake. its alot like deep creek but much more moutainous, for those of you who know deep creek. we got a tour from a boat of the surrounding villas and towns. we saw a villa where they filmed part of one of the star wars movies, we saw the villa where JFK was two days before his asassination. We saw a huge villa that brad pitt bid on but was out bid by the guy who started Ryanair. We didnt see George Clooney or Modonnas because they were 20 km down the lake.
- Then we spent the afternoon in the town of Como which is a vacation town, lots of familes with their kids.como is known for its silk.
-The next day we spent in Milano, Milan is alot like new york city with the hustle and bustle of a big city. it is the fashion capital of the world and i could tell, everyone was beautiful. we saw the very first mall in the world. We also saw michelangelos last Pieta. he did three and on this trip we have seen all three, the first one is the most famous in St. Peters. The second one is in Florence and the third one is in Milano.

well now im home and have a ton to do because i leave tomorrow night for london and paris.
love you all.
-matteo

update for the days to come....

so now i am past the half way mark of my trip. kinda sad but exciting also.
here is whats happening for the days to come:
i leave today , wednesday the 25 for a weekend trip, we are going to venice, milan, bologna and Lake Como. we get home late sunday night.
i have class monday and tuesday and Tuesday night i leave for another fun adventure.
We are flying out tuesday night and landing in london, we are gonna be in london for a few days, where i hope to meet up with Maura's cousin Melissa. Then we are taking the train from London to Paris at 5 in the morning on friday. We will be in Paris for 2 days then fly back sunday to Roma.
should be a good time.
then i have a week of school. the weekend after that i am flying to Ireland. we are flying into dublin and doing dublin for a day then taking a train to galway then see cork, hopefully see the blarney castle and the cliffs of moehr then fly out of cork. crap! that reminds me i need to buy ticket home from cork. damn me and my memory of an old man.

So those are big trips comming up. so siked. updates later.
love and miss everyone reading this.
ciao ciao,
Matty

ps. this is a pic from the soccer game last weekend.

Just when i think it couldnt get any better.....

So in my last post last thursday, a mere 4 days ago, i told the tale of my unreal experience seeing Il Papa up close, in the front row. i truely thought that was gonna be the most amazing part of my trip... oh no.
Yesterday, we had a mass to celebrate the begining of the school year with all the Ponitcal Univesities in Rome, it was held In Saint Peters Basilica. It was a huge mass 8,000 people where there. All of them were students or affiliates at the Pontifical Schools. The mass was in Latin and Italian. Same drill for this mass too, we got in line at 2:00 for the 5:00 mass, i was up near the front of the line so when they moved the barricades it was a mad dash through the security check point into Saint Peters. Mind you we are running full speed to get good seats and the mass starts 3 and half hours later. haha. well being the athletic adonis that i am (ha!) i got in the very first row in the very first seat. It was so cool. I had to drop my shoulder to a few monks but it was worth it.
The coolest part is yet to come.....
The mass ends and none of the 400 priests present move. Then from all sides come about 100 Swiss guards. Then from the way back fo the basilica there is a ROAR of the crowd. Mind you we are in a church. Here he comes walking down the isle, the friggin pope. At this point im so excited i cant contain myself and my roomate Rob is standing next to me balling. Well he makes his way up the isle and SHOOK MY GOD FORSAKEN HAND. I TOUCHED THE POPE AND HE LOOKED ME IN THE EYE! it was UNREAL!
oh, i was totally composed i had what i wanted to say to him as hes walking down. i was gonna say "bless you your holiness, all glory and honor to you" what came out at the time was "AHHHH OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" hahah didnt go as planned but i think he got the idea.
So me and Benny are homeboys now. it doesnt get much better.

on a side note: on sunday i went to a Roma soccer game, one of the more terrifying expirences of my trip. I knew it was gonna be trouble because i got frisked by what looked like a guy from the navy seals, he had an automatic machine gun out, a bullet proof vest and one of those riot helmets on. well we get in there and its crazy, there are flares going off, smoke bombs. every good call the fans would go nuts and throw stuff. It was amazing and terrifing at the same time. We plan on going to the Roma/ Lazio game which is suppose to be 50 times worse then the game i was at. it was fun


- pace,
Matty

VIVA IL PAPA!!!!!

So today is thursday, i just got back from my run by the river and i met a whole bunch of nice homeless people . unlike the one homeless man's dog that attacked me last week. and i decided that i am going to cook them dinner one night this week.... anyways thats not the point im trying to make.
i am looking through my pictures from yesterday and i am in still in disbelief that it was real.
we woke up at 5:50 am to be first in line of the pilgrims to see the pope at his weekly wednesday papal audience. the doors opened at 8:30 and it was absolute chaos. we called it "the running of the nuns" there were nuns throwin' bows. old german women tripping you and pushing to get good seats. well.... they are old and slow so me and my group ran full speed to get good seats. and we did. the very first row in front of the Papa. im not even kidding our seats were unreal. when he drove by in his pope mobile he was within feet of me. the look in that mans eyes were pure love. ive never been so moved by anyone person. sure, nonbelievers and protestants say hes just another man. just another priest. you have no idea how holy this man is until you look him in the eye. and i did that. he looked right at me. i couldnt hold myself up my knees buckled i started crying. absolutley indescribable.
at home in our shelterd little world we can talk about the pope. the media can critize every move he makes. we complain about his conserative views but i will never again judge the man. he truely is the vicor of peter. god had a plan for him. I hope someday i can be as loving and as wise as Pope Benedict XVI.
viva il papa!

i hope you all have an amazing weekend,

-matty

AMDG

Tuscany

Buona Sera,
Just got back from our weekend in Tuscany. We left thursday night and drove to Aruzzo, a small town north of italy. It is in the middle of Florence and Siena. The first night we got there and checked into the hotel and at dinner at the hotel. the hotel was a really nice it was a 5 star hotel, by italian standards.....think of like a comfort inn by american standards. The next day we got up at 7 to start touring Arruzzo. We saw some original frescos of the Pregnant Madonna and Christ Triumphing Death, they were really quite good and still in pretty good condition even though they were made in the same year Columbus left for the new world. Me and my roomates went to this little teeny hole in the wall italian resturant for lunch and we had 6 courses for only 20 bucks a peice. It was the best food ive had since weve been in italy. We also saw Petrarch's house.
Saturday we got up early and went to Florence, which is very different from rome. We saw the Duomo, The David, the Pont Di Vechio and spent most of the day in musems. It was ok because there isnt alot to do in Firenza. It is a beautiful city but only one that i would want to visit. The David is magnificent it is one of the most beautiful things ive seen. And he is like 15 feet tall which i had no idea. We saw Michelangelo's second and third Pieta's the ones he did after the original most famous ones. Then we went to the Ufizi, which is kind of like the Louve of Italy. We saw some of Da Vinici's works aswell as his notebooks. Also the Birth of Venus and La Primavera were there, they are amazing too, it was crazy to think that art history students all around the world were studying the paintings i was standing in front of.
This morning we went to Seina and had mass in the Church of San Dominico. Seina is really neat, very different then rome, its very laid back. We went to the museum there and saw the cathedral. And then spent the afternoon to ourselves shopping and hanging out.
Anyways, im glad to be back at my place in rome, im beat. And mom and sr. pat and grams are home now, i was very sad to see them leave. They had a great week here and i totally loved having them here.

ciao,
Matty

La Dolce Vita

Hey everyone,
Here is a quick update of this past weekend which has been nuts. My mom and grandmother and Sister Pat arrived in Rome on saturday afternoon and i met them at the hotel where they are staying. Its a very nice hotel near the Spanish Steps. We didnt do much the first day because they were obvi jetlagged like crazy. But we did walk down and we showed them the Spainsh Steps. Gram went to bed early because she had been up for almost 30 hours straight because she was excited for the trip. Then me and mom and sister pat went to an early dinner of pasta and wine. Then came back to the hotel for the Free Cocktail Hour. Now mom was lovin rome.haha. I took the metro home because they were pretty beat.
I met them the next day, with one of my roomates Rob, for Mass at San Mary Magore. It is one of the 4 biggest cathedrals inRome. We got there early to save seats for Gram up close. We got second row seats but had to scare away about 8 nuns and 4 pissed off old italian women. Mass was great it was a traditional high mass, it was in latin the whole shebang. Grams old friend Cardinal Law was present at the mass and was the whole reason we were there. So at the procession out of mass at the end there is about 30 priests two bishops and the cardinal. As he walked past he did a double take then stopped the whole procession to come over and give gram a kiss. And he said he would be back to get us. Now let me fill u in on what is going on while this is happening.... everyone around us is shocked the cardinal stopped to kiss this women and they are all thinking she is some kind of royalty. haha
After Mass we went with his Eminance to his private residence. Which was unreal to think that we were eating with one of the men who elected the new pope. He was telling stories about Grandad and said that he was the single most influentail lay person in the church. It was a real honor to here my family being spoken so highly of. THe Cardinal's face completely light up when Gram told him that i was going into the same line of work as my Grandad. He said that i had big shoes to flll but with that legacy that I had it wouldnt be a problem.
So we are eating crossants and sipping on Cappochinos but when Gram got up to get hers, She was told to sit down, and THE CARDINAL SERVED MY GRANDMOTHER. It was unreal. He had to go to a meeting but it was great to meet such a man of honor. He was one of the nicest people i have ever met, not to mention one of the holiest. It was a day i will never forget.
Needless to say im taking the metro 20 minuts every sunday to see him. because now he knows me, more importantly he knows that i am John McCarthy's grandson!
As we left the residence the cardinal called a cab for gram and kissed her hand, not the other way around.
My roomate rob goes, "god your family is special. ive never seen anything like that" You know what, he was right.
Me and the fam went our seperate ways and then i met them in the afternoon and we went to the Borghese Gallery. Which is the prize of rome, home to more Berninis anywhere, only second to the vatican. Then we went to a real nice dinner on Via Venato, which is one of the most famous roads in rome.
The following day i had classes but Mom and Sister Pat got a tour of the vatican Museums, which is the most expensive, most comprehensive musuem in the history of the world. then they saw the sistine chapel and the necropolis of the vatican. i met them afterschool and me and mom had the afternoon to ourselves and we got groceries for their hotel and i showed her around my place and my neighborhood. We went back to have dinner at the restuant where we went the first night. today they are touring around then im meeting them after class.

it has been really nice having them here. and to think that my 88 year old grandmother traveled around the world to see me is something i will never forget.

ciao,
John McCarthy's grandson.

io amo L'italia

Ciao Belli!
So here is the update: Rome still rocks. My buddy Maura is here to visit for the weekend. She is studying in Spain and made a long weekend to visit me. So we are going to all the sights. My roomates left for the beach today which is good to just hang out and do our own thing around rome. I'm going to the touristy places that i normally wouldnt have because i live here. We met a whole bunch of americans last night at the bar, even some girls from maryland. Im having a ton of fun.
We had our first week of classes this past week which went really well all my classes are super interesting, especially my religion class which is The History of the Papacy, because my classroom is 2 blocks from said papacy.
I just got back from lunch with Fr. Roach who was the headmaster at Prep when pat, john, Cr, and nick were there. He knows the fam real well and i am good friends with beth who is his niece, she works at prep now. He took us to the jesuit headquarters right outside the vatican and that has a redic view of all of rome. He is the Secratary of Education for all of the Jesuit Schools in the world. We had a real nice lunch and we plan to meet up later.
Me and maura are finalizing our plans for Ireland which i am siked for! we wanna spend a couple days in dublin then go to galway. It should be great. also i might meet up with maura in prague over thanksgiving because her folks are gonna be there and will house me. but that means i have to tell the director of the program im skipping our thanksgiving thing and she is psycho so we'll see what happens.
Mom and Gma and Sisterpat come a week from tomorrow which will be cool to see them. Im getting ready for that (and by that i mean warning all the wine bar owners), can't to see everyone!!!
thats all i got for now.

ciao tutti.

Everyone please keep in your prayers Phil Sackett and his family, Phil died in a car accident in Australia on monday. Phil went to prep and graduated in 2003. He was a great guy and was on the wrestling and lacrosse teams. We will miss you phil...

the greatest city in the world.

Hey everyone.
Today we woke up early to go to mass in st. peters but the line was so long it wrapped around the whole square. so that plan got axed. yesterday i went to see moms hotel it was really nice. There are palm trees and its gated. It is like a little over 2 miles from my house but its not an easy walk by any means. I will prob take the metro. not much more news, oh... i finally start school tomorrow. Which i am looking forward to finally having a schedule. My university is less then a mile from my casa.and i have to walk through san peitro's square to get there which is really cool.
jcu peeps- i hope u all had fun at homecomming. i wish i could have been there.
nwb peeps- i hope that u all are having fun in your senior year.

ciao belli


ps. HAPPY Belated BIRTHDAY STACY ROSE!!!!

rome is still sweet.

Hey everyone im all settled in the eternal city. It is breath taking. My apartment is 3 blocks from the Vatican. I go to St. Peters Square to waste time during the day, how crazy is that. I am living with 4 other guys and its great. We have to buy food for every meal and cook which i am not used to yet. but tonight im having some of the girls cook for us. Later today we are thinking about climbing to the top of st. peters basilica to check it out. on my running route in the morning i run by st. peters square, castel st. angelo, then along the Tiber, then do my warm down run in st. peters basilica....how many people can say that. haha.
So far we have seen the St. Peters basilica, the catacombs, the colosseum, the roman forum, the trevi fountain, the Gesu (the world headquarters for the jesuits) and pantheon. Classes start next week. our university, urbania, is in the vatican. if you are looking at the basilica from st. pete's square its behind the wall on the left and my apartment is in the other direction the right, only like a 15 min walk.
there are tourists everywhere and i laugh and them because im not a tourist, im a resident of rome. the asian ones are the worst..... oh how i love me some asians.

sr. pat- be sure to wear the cape and learn the secret handshake so you can take me in the secret clergy doors. there are a gaggle of nuns here. tons of 'em.

on wednesday we are meeting the cardinal who is president of our university and then having dinner with him.


thats all for now,everyone should get skype so we can talk. its free to call over the internet.
ciao, matteo.

mambo, mambo italiano

hey everyone! well since the last time i posted we went to a winetasting at a vineyard. it was so fun. we toured the factory then had this 5 course meal and learned how to drink wine correctly and how to pour and when to drink what wine with what food and so on. great time. i learned alot and the wine was so good. i was showing everyone how to pour correctly they all wondered why i was so good at it, haha when i told them i have been uncorking wine since kindergarden then didnt believe me... then again these italians dont know how the irish celebrate.
see mom im always making you proud. haha

i move to rome on sunday and prob wont check email till im settled there sometime next week.

please call me! its free for me when you call so please please please call i miss everyone.

its intresting in my time here ive seen alot and learned alot about the italian culture but at the same time i feel like an outsider, not only am i not italian im an american. but being here has made me embrace my own culture and heritage all the more because you realize where you come from.


some things ive learned:
italians dont like irish people, ive learned that the hard way.
they dont like meatballs
they dont eat bread with pasta.
every meal is 3 hours long.
they are very cocky and think the term "roman catholic" only apply to them, yet none of them go to church
they seem not to have any culture.... you may wonder what i mean because i am in the country of all the classic artists. they have old culture.... no new culture. example..... paris hilton is their favorite song, i know i hate it too. they all wear Nike and Polo clothes
food is an art here.
americans need to learn to slow down.
we are fat. they are skinny and everyone is good looking.
someone in a bar said i look like a "young john f kennedy"....so i got that goign for me. haha


ciao. i love and miss u all.

2 weeks in....

so we have been here 2 weeks and here is an update.
- we have climbed 5 mountains
-seen 4 castles
- had 5 masses with the archbishop
-1 mass with the cardinal
- i got a papal indulgence
-we climbed the highest mountain in Appenines the GRAND SASSO, 7, 200 ft.
-swam in the adriatic sea
-we were recieved inthe ArchBishops house/ residence
-saw the medici tower
-toured one of italys most beautiful towns
-sang kareoke in italian... wow that was fun
-toured 30 churches
- seen roman ruins that were around since before christ
-saw a church charlengne built in 700s
- i became a relic... yes its a loing story

bellissimo...

Hey Team! yesterday we went to the beach all day, which as you know. i LOVED we were on the mediteranean in the adriatic sea. amazing weather. and to fit in with the locals.... i wore the speedo, yep i did haha. it was a great time. today we are touring around some more. on wed we are climbing the highest mountain in italy, the grand sasso. it is redic we drove under it yesterday. hope all is well at home. wish i was there, mom sorry i missed your call a few days ago try again whenever you want if i dont pick up. i prob didnt hear it.

i havent lost anything yet which is a huge shocker.

peace love and laughter.

ciao

Ciao bella....

let me tell you, if picking up girls is an art. then consider me Michalangelo. i speak about 10 phrases in italino and most of them are about food. having the curage to talk to a girl a party is kind a big deal, now trying when you clearly stick out as the tall quasi awkard american and you speak no italain even harder. haha i kid i kid.
birdie- hope the recovery is going well.... get back in shape for lax, we all know its life.... or so i hear.

mom- ive hoped you stopped crying, jusjoshen
dad- i hope you are enjoying your doo-doos
trey- hope your thinking of more creative excuses to not go to work
stac- hope you are getting siked for the gellato! its redic.
nick- hope you are still alive
sis- hope you are dealing with the crazies/..... and by crazies i mean my family, not those actualy crazy at your work
IV- hope u are diggin the fan and laughing at the wall/ staying up all night to piss off III


ciao

LOVE LIFE

I have only been here two days and we have done a crap ton! the flight was really good. under 8 hours. then we got here and moved into our place. a redic apartment. everyone else is in a hotel type thing. we meet the archbishop and have been to mass twice in two days. we went dancing with the locals at a festaval. (i have to hurry this up because we are leaving)
- food...amazing
-the view is redic we are in the moutains, amazing views.....think saranac times 150
- i love the people, we are makinglots of friends
- im learinign alot of italian
- i cant stress how amazing the food and wine are..... yea mom the wine is good.... get excited.
- bird hope the surgery went well, ill think of u in mass because italians go to mass like a bazillion times a week
- pictures and more to come
- feel free to call my italian cell phone, its free for me. costs for u.
- i miss u all and will get in touch more when we are in rome in 3 weeks.
- im forgetting alot but we arnt allowed alot of time in the computer.
Arrivideci!

ciao, matteo

ps. there are 18 girls on my trip and 5 guys ... :)


peace, love and laughter.

SIKED!

i made this thing so i can fill in everyone on my trip through europe seeing as how i wont be using my phone or email that much.

So i leave TOMORROW for my big adventure. and i am STOKED!
This summer has been a blast. here is a quick recap:
-my last year swimming at NWB and it was my best year yet which was cool.
-went tubing, jetskiing, waterskiing, in deep creek lake with TBO, stacy and the guys.
-my godson CHALRIE got baptized which was real cool. party with the fam, you know.
-went to cleveland with Jaim to say goodbye to some school friends.
-some guys from my crew team came down to phils house in Balt. for some crabs
-went to the beach with the fam to celebrate the big 1-9. more crabs, great times.
-nick moved to cali and im siked for him.
-worked allday everyday to save up for italy. my job is so boring but i get paid well so it makes up for it.
-i got the COACHES AWARD at the swim team banquet which was a huge honor and total suprise.


- thats all i got for now, my next update will be from italia.

ciao bella.