| Erin's Rome Journals 4-24-02 Wednesday we had a schedule to keep, as the pope was known to give audiences and occasionally show up in public on Wednesdays. We all showered up and caught the Metro again to the Vatican stop, and as we were walking into San Pietro Square, found ourselves joining a big crowd being seated in front of a large dais. There were large groups from many countries gathered, as well as many red-robed cardinals and several couples dressed in wedding finery seating themselves in the square, so we joined them all, finding seats in the second section back from the dais. We waited for about 90 minutes until the services began with a cardinal welcoming several of the groups (to their loud cheers) and saying a short opening prayer. Then we saw everyone standing up and getting on their chairs to view the pope, who was driven all around the square through all the aisles in his open-top vehicle. He passed a mere 5 rows behind us and we waved, noting that he looked very tired and sick, but still was waving to the crowds and looking around him. After he reached the dais, he was helped into his chair and given several sheets of paper. As the session proceeded, a cardinal would get up, welcome the crowd and specific groups in his particular language (there were 8), and pass the service on to the pope, who would welcome those audience members and say a few sentences and prayers in the language of that group. He was clearly suffering, and his powers of speech were severely limited, but he completed the service after addressing groups in 8 different languages and remained on the dais afterward to have pictures with several of the various groups there. He is an amazing man. While we sat there, I was admiring the grand facade of the Basilica di San Pietro (St. Peter's Cathedral). It is huge and impressive, with a collonade of pillars setting off a great square in front of it that can house tens of thousands, as at Easter Mass. After the Audience session ended, we waited near the center of the square for friends of Andres & Sylvia to arrive, and were approached by a French news reporter who wanted to ask our opinions about the meeting of the American cardinals with the pope, set for that day. This was the big news item for the day, and we saw numerous international news crews set up all around the square, especially at the end of the day. We were later interviewed by an American ABC news radio reporter on the same subject as well. After Paola & Dario had arrived, we all headed over to the Vatican Museum. Glenn and I had planned to catch one of the guided tours, as we'd learned so much more at the Forum and Coliseum by taking them. The others weren't interested in this though (very expensive, actually), so we split up and planned to meet back in St. Peter's square that afternoon. After searching for guided tours, we found they'd either already started or wouldn't begin for at least an hour, so we rented the cd headset tours offered by the museum and set off. There is so much to see in the Museo Vaticani that I can't begin to describe it here, but we spent over 4 hours there and still didn't have time to see all the rooms. We'd gotten about 3/4 of the way through when the staff informed us that the museum was closing in 30 minutes and we had to hurry to see the Sistine Chapel. So we rushed off to take in this masterpiece, and spent the rest of our time there before getting kicked out. What a place! Afterward, we headed out to find late lunch, and decided to go see St. Peter's Cathedral while we waited to meet up with Andres, Sylvia, Dario & Paola. We spent almost 2 hours there as well, and again were simply overwhelmed by all there was to see. The cathedral is enormous and sumptuously rich in every detail. There are masterpieces of sculpture and art and architecture, as well as holy relics and a huge list of popes & saints buried there. After the basilica, we sat outside reeling from an overdose of sights, and took a moment to send a couple of postcards with the Vatican City stamps on them. This tiny country has a much better, faster, more reliable postal system than Italy, or so it is said. I'll have to ask my sister how long it took to reach her and compare that with the 2 weeks our other Italian postcards averaged. We met up with the girls at the assigned place, just as the rain started. We hurried over to the area of town called the Trastevere to meet the guys, who'd gone to check Dario & Paola into the Alessandro. The Trastevere is on the other side of the Tevere river from most of the sights, and it was a pretty good walk. Once there, we found a very quaint little area with nice tavernas & restaurants and a few unique shops to look at while we waited. Once the boys arrived, we canvassed the area for a good dinner spot and found a good yet affordable place. We enjoyed the food, although the service was long in coming due to a lack of help, and our 90 minute meal turned into almost 2 1/2 hours! By the time we got the bill and paid it, we were all ready for bed, but still a long way from the hostel. We trudged through the rain to catch a bus to take us back to the Termini station, near the hostel, and finally made it back late that night. |
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| St. Peter's Basilica. Note the statues on top, with Christ and his cross in the middle |
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| A black & white shot of the most famous church fresco, the Creation by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel |