Rome Day 1

posted November 15, 2010 by Holly Hayes part of trip: Old West Road Trip

After lots of rain the night before, the sun shone brightly Wednesday morning so we headed for St. Peter's Basilica, which faces east unlike most other churches. It turned out to be a very lucky decision!

Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica from across the Tiber River

St. Peter's Basilica (and another obelisk swiped from Egypt)

Saints on the facade. The inscription says, "In honor of the prince of apostles; Paul V Borghese, pope, in the year 1612 and the seventh year of his pontificate." On the right is Saint Peter, the aforementioned prince of apostles.

View across the plaza of St. Peter's. The pope lives in the greyish building on the right.

Interior

One of many domes

A member of the Swiss Guard, in traditional Renaissance uniform, shares a laugh with another official.

There was a special service of some kind going on when we arrived, but fortunately tourists were still allowed to roam around. On the right are a group of pilgrims from the Czech Republic. We noticed a bunch of cardinals sitting near the front, which was fun. So we waited for awhile to see what would happen.

And then all the lights in the church were turned on, and the pilgrims began cheering and waving their flags. I said to Sarah, "Boy, with all this excitement, you'd almost think the Pope might appear!" But I didn't actually think he would - it was just a random Wednesday, after all.

But then I looked again, and saw a guy in white sitting on the throne at the front. The papal throne, that only the pope is allowed to sit on. It was the pope! We were pretty thrilled at our luck.

He looked so small beneath the huge bronze canopy (by Bernini, 1633).

The pope conducted a special service for the pilgrims, including a substantial portion in Czech, then the cardinals and other clergy filed past him to receive individual greetings. It's too bad I didn't happen to have my zoom lens with me, but here's the best I could do with my general lens and cropping.

We had rushed down to St. Peter's to try to catch the best morning light, which meant skipping showers but not breakfast (we have our priorities straight). So after the Pope left the building, we headed back to the hotel to shower and rest a bit.

But it began to rain on our way back and then poured - huge heavy drops that get you incredibly wet! - the rest of the afternoon. So we found a late lunch at a coffee bar near the Spanish Steps, then pretty much spent the rest of the day in the hotel. That was actually much needed - my busy days in Pavia, Parma and Bologna were catching up with me and I really needed a rest. I might have gotten some blogging done, too, if the internet had cooperated! But instead, I organized and backed up photos and we both did some reading. Good stuff.

And speaking of needing a rest, it's nearing 11pm in Florence and I should try to get to bed. I hope to get a little more posted tomorrow morning, before we leave for Venice!

next: Rome Day 2

previous: First Night in Rome

Article Info

Page Title
Rome Day 1
Added By
Holly Hayes
Date Published
November 15, 2010
Last Updated
February 1, 2024