Rome Day 2
Our first full day in Rome. No longer having to adhere to a set agenda and schedule, we indulged ourselves a bit and slept in until around 9:30... heaven! Had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel, and then planned our day.
We decided that this would be our Vatican City day. Tim had told me you pretty much need a whole day to tour Vatican City. We decided to walk, given the weather and the fact that we didn't need to be anywhere at a certain time. We headed down the hill and cut through Villa Borghese, down to the Spanish Steps, and then wandered over to Vatican City. While it was a beautiful day, it was also HOT! And while I'm a fan of the hot weather, Tim is not. Plus, he's a guy. So by the time we had made it about half way to the city walls, he was pretty hot and very bothered :-). This was the day that we learned that if we were going to travel any distance in Rome, and wanted to arrive in fairly civilized condition, we should plan on taking a taxi :-)
If I haven't already mentioned, Tim had been to Rome before (about 10 years ago). I had not. I'd seen it on TV of course - the infamous overhead shot of the magnificent circular Piazza San Pietro (St. Peter's Square). But it was about 100 times more impressive in person.
St. Peter's Basilica is ENORMOUS. It's huge! As we sat near the entrance of the square staring at the impressive architecture surrounding us, drinking our icy bottled water, I was struck with a bit of disbelief - I've seen this place in pictures, on TV, in movies, but I couldn't believe that I was actually here!
The day we arrived in Rome, the Pope had just returned from a 4-day trip to Slovakia. They were setting up the square for his Weekly General Audience that was planned for the next day (9/17). There was a huge stage in front of the basilica, and a large portion of the square was blocked off where they were setting up the seats. I guess this is something he does every Wednesday. Had we known that there was going to be a General Audience the next day, we might have gone back. Although it would have been quite chaotic I'm sure. We could tell that they were setting up for something big, but we had assumed it was for a Sunday mass on the 21st. It wasn't until I started writing this web page, and started researching the pope's schedule for the week we were there, that I learned that what they must have been preparing for was the general audience on the 17th. On the 21st, he was apparently in his summer retreat in Castelgandolfo, Italy :-).
If you're truly interested in learning more about the Vatican, you can browse through the Official Vatican Web Site. Yes - the Vatican has a web site. They also have their own Internet Domain. ".va" :-). In case you were totally unaware, they also have a television broadcasting station and a radio station.
At any rate, here was our agenda for the day:
- Walk to Vatican City
- Sit in the square, admire the surroundings, and people watch for a while
- Wander through the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
- Talk the stairs up to the Cupola in St. Peter's Basilica and take in the breathtaking view of Rome
- Take a cab back to the hotel to shower and change and enjoy a glass of wine on the balcony
- Take a stroll over to the Trevi Fountain, throw in our coins to ensure our return to Rome, and enjoy a nice dinner.
- End the day back at the hotel bar sipping our complimentary cocktails
And that's exactly what we did! It was perfect. Here are just a few of my favourite pictures from the day.