Another early start but the view over breakfast of the city of Rome as it comes to life is to die for! We then loaded into taxis for the short trip to Vatican City. The queues were enormous but thankfully moved quite quickly because even at 8.00am the temperature was already high and standing in the sun was energy sapping. Getting into Vatican City is an ordeal. You line up to get in, you line up to go through security, you line up to get a radio transmitter, you line up again to enter the corridors that lead to the Sistine Chapel and if it is really busy they employ the Ikea method of crowd control – round and round you go. Fortunately, we didn’t have to do the full back street boogie and we were suddenly entering the very famous chapel. It really is beautiful, and Michelangelo’s work defies description. It takes quite awhile to take in all the intricacies of the very famous paintings. The mosaic marble floor is also gorgeous.
Our next stop was St. Peter’s Basilica. Another ornate but oh so beautiful building. It is huge and again there is so much to view as every wall and ceiling is covered with paintings, tapestries, sculptures and again the magnificent marble floors.
After leaving the basilica you descend to St. Peter’s Square. It is huge!!! Capable of holding over 50,000 people at one time. The Pope actually conducts mass there every Wednesday and each week in excess of 35,000 worshippers attend. While the inside of the basilica is beautiful, the outside is stunning. The pristine white marble glows in the sun and the sculptures of Christ and the disciples that adorn the roof are truly magnificent. Now I am not a religious person and I am not sure what I was expecting but my lasting impression was that while absolutely beautiful, Vatican City is not much more than a very slick business.
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| The small chimney on the greenish roof is the one from which white smoke blows to announce the selection of a new pope. |
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