Blogs from Vatican City, Vatican City, Europe - page 6

Early in the morning we left our apartment in Rome and joined the line to enter the Vatican Museum. I had heard that the line here can sometimes stretch on for hours, but to our surprise we were inside the museum after only waiting for about twenty minutes. I had also heard that the Vatican was pretty strict about maintaining a modest dress code, which really didn't seem to be the case either. In the museum we joined and English language tour which included all of us wearing pretty stylish headphones and walking around in a pack. It was funny to see all the naked statues that had leaves glued to their crotches so as to make them suitable to be shown at the Vatican. Also, I was surprised at all the stuff the early Catholics ... read more

Buona sera (Good evening)! Our first full day in Italy was really busy, but extremely memorable! Our day was spent at the Vatican, home of the Roman Catholic Church and its leader - Pope Benedict XVI. We had to get up very early (6:00 am) so we could arrive in St. Peter's Square by 8:00 to get good seats for the pope's weekly General Audience, which is open to the public. I couldn't believe what good seats we got! We were in the front section, and had a very good view of the proceedings. When the pope was driven around the square at the beginning of the program (after we waited in the open square for about 2 hours!), he came very close by where we were sitting. I couldn't have been more than 20 ... read more

Today was a lot of walking. I got up early and went to St. Peter's Basilica, a short walk from the hostel. I had to wait in line for security screenings, but it was worth it. From there I headed to Castel Sant' Angelo, which I got into for free. Next, I went to the Plazza del Popolo, where the 155th Anniversary of the founding of the Roman police was occuring. I then tried to head back to the hostel for a short break, as I was really exhausted from the walking and not having been around 80 degree temps for quite some time. Unfortunately the hostel was closed for cleaning, so I took the metro line to to Plazza Barberini. There I took pictures of the Fountana del Tritone. I then walked to the ... read more

Sua Eminenza alza gli occhi dal documento che stava studiando, mi vede e con fare adusto mi fa cenno di entrare. Non è esattamente un invito, piuttosto il mal dissimulato colpo di coda di un cavallo che cerca di liberarsi dal fastidio delle mosche. Mi riceve controvoglia: pessimo inizio. Mi ci erano volute settimane per ottenere un appuntamento, poi, una volta fissato tale colloquio, cause di forza maggiore lo avevano tenuto lontano dal palazzo vescovile proprio quel giorno, a quell’ora. Stavolta m’ero presentato quindi senza appuntamento previo, adducendo l’urgenza come causa. Ed è vero: stasera parto! Lo studio del vescovo è piccolo e modestamente arredamento; stilisticamente a tono col resto del palazzo ma assolutamente privo di ostentazione alcuna. Solo l’enorme crocifisso d’oro che porta al collo stona con l’ambiente e finisce col dare a Sua Eminenza ... read more

I went to the Vatican today. I climbed up the cupola of Saint Peter's Basillica. The walk is quite exhausting as there are many steps which curve up, some of which are steep and narrow. The top offers a great view of the Vatican and Rome. I got to see the Pope (one has to get tickets beforehand). He holds a general audience on Wednesdays, and the room is completely packed. I got in an hour before it started but I still got seated at the back. That ended up being great, because the Pope enters through the back, and allowed us in the back to get right up close to him (a few people touched him). The atmosphere was wild, like a rock concert: people were screaming and shouting wildly and standing up on chairs ... read more