An audience with the Pope

We started off early today to visit Vatican City. Owen slept way better than either of us thought he would. So much so, that at 3 am, when he didn't wake up, that's when I worried. No problem though. He seems to have adjusted to the time better than either Kris or I. We ran a little late and rushed to get to the tour office where we had booked. There was a long and bouncy (for Owen) walk to the train station. We arrived at about 9:40 am - we were supposed to be there at 9:30 - and thankfully they were still taking people's money. I even had time to get a cappuccino and latte, which I ordered in Italian. I had to ask how to say "take out", but I did so in Italian and I think the old Italian caffe guy was impressed that I was trying. As always, the coffee was impressive. Take out (or take away, as the guy called it) comes in double cupped plastic with tin foil covers and in a tin foil disposable tray. Crazy.

Our first stop was Piazza San Pietro for he blessing of the Pope. Walking into the square kinda gave me goosebumps, it's just so big and beautiful. Owen slept through most of the ceremony. The Pope entered in a popemobile made by Mercedes. He is, after all, German. There was a short reading - thankfully - done in about 6 different languages. Then the Pope blessed everyone in the square, again in about 6 languages. We left after English.



When he woke up, I knew he'd be hungry, but our tour had about 70 or so people. They weren't stopping for me or anyone else. Even though the tour said we would skip the line, there seemed to be a tour line of line skippers. I'd never tried it before, but the carrier claimed that a person could feed the baby while in it, so I threw on my cover and away we went. It worked like a charm. It was kinda wierd to feed him while standing, but I got over it quickly enough.

The tour through Museo Vatican (Vatican Museum) was pretty cool. We crossed the Pinecone garden to get to them, where we stopped to get an explaination of Capela Sistina (the Sistine Chapel) and all of it's various works. I didn't know that Michealangelo wasn't the only artist to work in there. Or that he didn't want to do the work at all. Apparently, Popes can be very persuasive. Most of the art, of which most is sculpture, in the museums is Roman, Egyptian, and Greek (I think that's what she said). Pagan was the term our guide used-"so don't be disappointed". It was pretty overwhelming. Aparently, if a person spent 60 seconds with each piece, it would take 12 years to get to the end.








We spent about 15 minutes in Capela Sistina. What a beautiful place. No photos allowed though. Michaelangelo painted the ceiling over 6 years looking up with his neck craned back. My neck hurt after 5 minutes.

We ended off the tour with an explanation of the inside of Basilica di San Pietro and then were left to wander about inside. Yesterday, I thought that San Giovanni was spectacular. Today, it seems like small potatoes in comparison. It is massive beyond comprehension. Everywhere is covered in gold. There are tombs of previous Popes all around and marble, mosaics, statues, and paintings. I can barely describe it but to say that it was amazing.

It was a long day for all of us...


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