part 6....Italy

April 1st

8.00 am, a sunny brilliant morning and we were on our way to Beverello Port where we boarded a boat to take us to Capri. My mother told me it was really romantic there. I made a disgusted face when she said that but really, I couldn't wait to get there and see if what they say about Capri is true...one of the most romantic places on earth. The sea was really calm which was a good thing because Louise and I had pizza for breakfast and then a chocolate sandwich. We arrived in Capri at 11.00am. I guess when someone tells you over and over again about how beautiful a place is, you're always a little disappointed. It's very pretty but it looks like it's made for tourists. On the plus side, a boy gave me a flower when we were walking through the town. He must have ripped it out of someone's garden because the roots were still attached to it. Anne Patenaude hasn't stopped complaining since the trip began. Louise got fed up and while Anne wasn't looking, she took her camera and snapped the whole roll of film of her feet. We visited the island, bought a few souvenirs and got back on the boat at 4.45pm. I wish I was an artist. The colour of the sea was a colour I've never seen before. Blues , pinks, oranges and reds covered in diamonds where the sun hit the waves. It made me want to cry. I don't know why. P.S. My favourite city so far is Rome

April 2nd

We arrived back in Rome at 10.00am. This was supposed to be one of the most important days of our lives. We were to meet Pope Paul VI. The nuns made sure that our uniforms were pressed, our blouses ironed, our hair braided, no lip gloss allowed and our shoes had to have new laces . We were lucky to have a private audience with the Pope because the Mother General had known him when he was a mortal ordinary person. We all got on the bus and half way there, I noticed Louise was missing. My heart started to pound so hard I thought I was going to throw up. We had checked out of the hotel so I knew she wasn't there. She had walked to the bus with me. I went to the front of the bus and told Sister Mathilde. She has red hair and when she gets upset he whole face lights up and goes different shades of red. She told the bus driver to go back. We got back to the hotel but Louise wasn't there. I started to get really nervous. I was praying that she hadn't run away or gotten kidnapped by the mafia. We were told to stay on the bus. The minute Sister disappeared from view, I ran out with the driver yelling at me. I heard Louise before I saw her. She was calling my name. I looked and finally saw her waiving from behind a bush. I ran to her and when I saw her her white blouse was covered in dirt and her arms and neck were all scratched up. She was holding a scary looking cat who was missing an eye. I grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out on the sidewalk so that Sister would see her and would stop yelling at the top of her voice. Louise said that the cat ran under a parked car and she crawled under to get it because she was afraid it would get run over. By the time she got up again, the bus had started to drive away. She was afraid to go back to the hotel because she didn't want them to take the cat away. She said she knew we would come back for her. While she was explaining this to Sister who had gone from red to a funny looking purple, an angry old lady came towards us, grabbed the cat from Louise, yelled at her in Italian and walked away with the cat under her fat arm. I got back on the bus, Louise was pushed back on the bus and we drove away in silence. All the girls were glaring at Louise. We were too late to go see the Pope. Sister Mathilde sat in front of the bus, clutching her rosary and looked like she was about to cry. I felt very sorry for her. Instead of going to the Vatican, we were driven to one of the Marcelline convents. Louise was dropped off. Her punishment was to spend the day in the chapel. The rest of us got a tour of the city and we were allowed to shop and stop in a park to write postcards. At around 4.00pm we went to pick up Louise who looked very upset and went back to the hotel. We went to bed at around 10.00pm. I love opening the window and looking down onto the street. Louise sat next to me. We didn't talk, we just people watched. We saw a man and a woman kissing and walking hand in hand. I can't wait to fall in love. Hopefully I'll come here for my honeymoon.