Easter in Rome

Let me start this post by saying Easter in Rome is nothing like what I expected or anticipated. I figured since it's basically the headquarters of Catholicism, it would be a huge deal and all this stuff would be going on etc. False. It was just like any other day would be. Not to mention it was nothing like the US where it is all commercialized with the Easter Bunny, dying eggs, easter egg hunts, etc. None of that. Just going to church (which there is no shortage of churches here) and spending time with family.
Our morning started early, but not too early, with an adventure to St Peter's Square. Because all the locals just go to their normal churches (only tourists and study abroad students go to St Peters for the most part) our bus ride was quite pleasant since we live in a residential neighborhood. Once we got to the square, it wasn't quite as crowded as I expected, but there was definitely a large turn out. We weaseled our way into the square as close as we could get. We were only about 5 rows of people away from the gate, so I'd say we did pretty good at getting close. There were free tickets you could get ahead of time to attend mass and have a seat and everything, but we didn't plan on staying for the whole time, the service was in Latin, and I didn't do anything for passover so I figured I'd just not do anything for anything, so we only stayed for about an hour before we went for some 11 am gelato.
Gabby's dad had sent her something that said it's interesting to go to tourist spots like the Spanish Steps on Easter because it's a different vibe and different crowd. Since none of us wanted to do any work, we ventured over there after finishing our gelato outside of the Vatican wall (no big deal right?). Even though Easter is completely different here than in the US, I could still feel it in the air for some reason. We had sandwiches on the steps and people watched and you could tell people had just come from church and that people were with their families and loved ones. On the way home we stopped in a church for Rachel and Gabby to light candles in honor of their loved ones and headed home for an afternoon of what was supposed to be work (but I took a nap). We then decided to treat ourselves to Easter dinner at Carlo Menta, where I ate so much I had the biggest food baby I've had in a while... so big my friends were terrified. For now it's off to bed because I can't seem to stay awake for more than like 5 hours and then a day of real serious paper writing tomorrow. Adam in 4 days!!