Quo Vadis? Non studiare, certo

Ahh, sweet procrastination. Yesterday Christina and I took a trek out to the Via Appia Antica (the Appian Way) to, ahem, "study" in the beauty of nature and brown ruins. Should've saved my shoulder and left the books at home. It was a lovely afternoon.

We first made a stop at Chiesa Domine Quo Vadis (Latin for "Where are you going?), site of Christ's apparition to St. Peter when St. Peter was having cold feet about staying in Rome. As a sign of his presence, Christ imprinted his own feet into a slab of marble. As someone who's trying to figure out what I'll do after the dream finis...I mean, gets transplated back to the USA...it was incredible to visit this location.



To be honest, I'm a skeptic when it comes to relics of these sorts. But when Christina pointed out the rounded indents of the nails in the middle of the feet, I got chills. Perhaps the contemplation that an object triggers is slightly more important than the inherent "truthfulness" of the thing. Every once and awhile. In Rome.

Our trek next took us past some old residences. I think Christ was making an reappearance at the end of this one:



Then we arrived at a lovely spot with a ruined castle on the left and a gutted church on the right. We opted for the accessible churchyard for a picnic. (I was thinking of you the whole time, Megan W!)



The light that afternoon was incredible. The field to the church's right was a shimmery leafy green carpet. Moving carpet, at that; the wind picked up towards the end.



We used a stump for a table and enjoyed the view:



Christina caught me thinking:



Incidentally, I usually don't wear denim suits. Ever. It was an accident. (That's my new school bag btw, Sharon).

And finally, our parting gift from the Lord as we took our freezing bones back to Rome:



Did I mention that I am doing schoolwork non-stop today?