17 October ’05, Monday.
What is this, the St Peter’s Dome is still closed ??? Ok, we’ll give it one more day, so let’s head over to the Vatican Museum. Since it was closed yesterday (Sunday), and the dome is still closed, the line was wrapped around 2 corners of the Vatican wall and half way up the street. Checking out the speed of the line, we decided that we would wait it out and find a place in line. With so many in close quarters and for an extended length of time, we found the opportunity to find and talk to some very interesting people from all corners of the world. Finally getting to the front doors and getting our tickets to enter, we enjoyed ourselves for the next 4 hours. The book says that there is over 4 miles of displays, and my feet tell me that they totally agree with that figure. In visiting this museum it is virtually impossible to get off track or lost. The crowd will take you with it, or when it thins, you are taken from one room to another whether you want to go that way or not. The art work is some of the best that is found in Europe and then as you think you have seen the best, you are brought out into the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo’s talent was at his best when he was brought in to do the ceilings and other areas of the Sistine Chapel. It is absolutely some of the best we have had the opportunity to see. Fortunately we had an audio presentation of all the museum and Sistine Chapel’s art. It would have been a waste not to have had it. We had heard a rumor that the dome at St Peters had opened, so we headed there one more time. Well, rumors are just that…rumors. It looks like we will have to come back tomorrow after all. One thing we did find, we found that the Pope was having a special service for the participants of the “General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops”. They were at the Vatican to discuss “The Eucharist, Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church”. Well, we felt this might be a once in a life time experience to attend a mass given by the Pope in St Peters Basilica, so we stuck around. It was interesting to watch the Swiss Guards, the priests and the nuns arriving. We were thrilled to be among the 3-400 general populous to take in this service…quite a thrill. With the service ending at 7, we decided that this was the time to make our “night tour”. It’s not that we weren’t tired, it just seemed that seeing as how we were already there, why go all the way home (back to the van). We caught an underground tram back to the Spanish Steps, and started out our “night walk”. First the Steps, and then onto Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and finally Campo de Fiori. During the walk I think we saw at least 6 wonderful fountains that had some of the most incredible marble sculptures. Or course Trevi Fountain was the most impressive…and we even tossed our coins into the fountain… Just as we were approaching our final stop, Campo de Fiori, I felt kind of a light slap or touch on my back. Well, it turned out to be 3 young boys that had come up behind me. One of them reached up and unzipped one of the zippers on my backpack, while the other two ran up on each side trying to distract my attention to what I thought I had felt. Well, it didn’t work, I knew immediately what had and was happening. When I turned to face the oldest kid, they all stopped and took off empty handed. Finishing up our walk, we turned around and headed back to the station and on to our welcoming bed. We caught the last train and the last campground bus…it was 11:30 and we have a big day again tomorrow.
What is this, the St Peter’s Dome is still closed ??? Ok, we’ll give it one more day, so let’s head over to the Vatican Museum. Since it was closed yesterday (Sunday), and the dome is still closed, the line was wrapped around 2 corners of the Vatican wall and half way up the street. Checking out the speed of the line, we decided that we would wait it out and find a place in line. With so many in close quarters and for an extended length of time, we found the opportunity to find and talk to some very interesting people from all corners of the world. Finally getting to the front doors and getting our tickets to enter, we enjoyed ourselves for the next 4 hours. The book says that there is over 4 miles of displays, and my feet tell me that they totally agree with that figure. In visiting this museum it is virtually impossible to get off track or lost. The crowd will take you with it, or when it thins, you are taken from one room to another whether you want to go that way or not. The art work is some of the best that is found in Europe and then as you think you have seen the best, you are brought out into the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo’s talent was at his best when he was brought in to do the ceilings and other areas of the Sistine Chapel. It is absolutely some of the best we have had the opportunity to see. Fortunately we had an audio presentation of all the museum and Sistine Chapel’s art. It would have been a waste not to have had it. We had heard a rumor that the dome at St Peters had opened, so we headed there one more time. Well, rumors are just that…rumors. It looks like we will have to come back tomorrow after all. One thing we did find, we found that the Pope was having a special service for the participants of the “General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops”. They were at the Vatican to discuss “The Eucharist, Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church”. Well, we felt this might be a once in a life time experience to attend a mass given by the Pope in St Peters Basilica, so we stuck around. It was interesting to watch the Swiss Guards, the priests and the nuns arriving. We were thrilled to be among the 3-400 general populous to take in this service…quite a thrill. With the service ending at 7, we decided that this was the time to make our “night tour”. It’s not that we weren’t tired, it just seemed that seeing as how we were already there, why go all the way home (back to the van). We caught an underground tram back to the Spanish Steps, and started out our “night walk”. First the Steps, and then onto Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and finally Campo de Fiori. During the walk I think we saw at least 6 wonderful fountains that had some of the most incredible marble sculptures. Or course Trevi Fountain was the most impressive…and we even tossed our coins into the fountain… Just as we were approaching our final stop, Campo de Fiori, I felt kind of a light slap or touch on my back. Well, it turned out to be 3 young boys that had come up behind me. One of them reached up and unzipped one of the zippers on my backpack, while the other two ran up on each side trying to distract my attention to what I thought I had felt. Well, it didn’t work, I knew immediately what had and was happening. When I turned to face the oldest kid, they all stopped and took off empty handed. Finishing up our walk, we turned around and headed back to the station and on to our welcoming bed. We caught the last train and the last campground bus…it was 11:30 and we have a big day again tomorrow.