This morning we started with breakfast downstairs at the hotel and then went by metro to stand in line and wait in line with all of the other “pilgrims” at St. Peter’s Basilica. We had to go through security screening and were then led into the Aula Paolo VI Auditorium (which holds 7,000 people at a time). As we were 2 hours early, we had plenty of time to sit and wait before the Pope made his entrance.
I was pretty curious how this was going to go down as the time got closer. In the middle of the seats there was an entryway like the football and hockey players come out of, I could imagine it without the smoke and giant TV screens Pope Style, but he chose to come out from a pair of double doors on the stage.
Cardinals from the respective languages (English, Spanish, Italian, Polish, French, and German) introduced the visiting groups of the day to the Pope. In the English speaking group we were fortunate to have the Australian Girls Choir visiting and they sang Halleluiah when their name was announced to the Pope. It was very beautiful and something I am sure they will not ever forget!
There was a large group of Polish students sitting around us and then we seemed to be surrounded by Mexicans who were more than excited to see the Pope. This fact was pretty funny considering the Polish kids were very excited to see the Mexican people and we Americans were thinking, “Dang! They’re in Rome too!” I mean that to be in no way a derogatory comment, it’s just funny since the East coast has a large Mexican/Hispanic population and the Polish kids would probably be less interested with the Spaniards than Mexicans. After all, they had to come much further!
It was also very nice to see the recently married couples walk up individually after the formal audience was over so the Pope could bless their marriages. Most couples came in their wedding attire and some of the dresses were just beautiful!
Following our time with the “Papa” we went into the Sistine Chapel (yes, where I took pictures of the ceiling even though I wasn’t supposed to…whatever, I didn’t use my flash, I see no harm, plus the pictures are great!). We then went into the crypt to see the former Popes before making our way into St. Peter’s Basilica to explore. It was amazing to see that there were 3 former Popes on display, one looked like he was fake – needless to say, he hasn’t deteriorated much, the other two look quite dead.
If you’ve ever seen the movie “Roman Holiday”, our first stop after Vatican City was to see The Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verita) . If you lie, it’s supposed to clamp shut on your hand – it didn’t on mine! I’m always nervous sticking my hands in dark spaces, but everyone else was doing it, so I was ok in the end.
We walked up the road a little further and had the opportunity to see a number of Roman ruins – so fascinating that they are finding new ruins under the city nearly every time they dig. They certainly seem to be everywhere, that’s for sure.
Mom and I stopped at a little place for wine, salad, and pizza for dinner. We took our time enjoying dinner and the beautiful weather before taking the metro back to the hotel for the evening.
Tomorrow we leave Rome by train to visit Florence/Pisa/Tuscany for the next few days. Lots of pictures will soon follow these posts once internet is free again, but for now I need to keep it to words only.
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I wonder where the married couples were from - I couldn't imagine traveling from far away and dragging the wedding dress along with all the other luggage! Lots of rain here - some parts of the Southeast were getting floods, but the rain here was in no way threatening to spill over the banks. It's still very warm and humid - no fall sweaters needed yet (except for those people in UP2 who are wrapped up in blankets and shawls....)
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