Roma
if i had to describe rome, i would have to say that it’s magnificent. julie and i basically did rome in a day.
we didn’t meet up with the ordained priests-to-be (the ones we met in venice) to score some tickets to midnight mass because we were beat by the time we got to rome. we woke up early, though, to beat the crowds at the sistine chapel at the vatican, but unfortunately, it being christmas day, the sistine chapel wasn’t open. as we went to see the basilica di san pietro, we saw chairs set up in front of san peter’s and so we decided that we would wait for the annual blessing from the pope later at noon.
the basilica di san pietro is the most amazing cathedral i’ve ever seen with so much detail in the ceiling, it was simply… well, magnificent. i liked it more than the basilica di san marco, perhaps because the basilica di san marco was a bit too ornate for my tastes; the basilica di san pietro was much more elegant. i must admit, that it was a little creepy that some of the popes were mummified and on display and what’s even more creepy were that people were taking pictures and videotaping them! one of the cool things about st peter’s, though, is that it’s one of the very few cathedrals where you’re allowed to take pictures.
after waiting awhile in front of st. peter’s, we realized that they were going to let the crowd in to sit in the chairs, so it was nice waiting for the pope while sitting in the chairs.
he gave the annual christmas blessing in several different languages, although, it took some time to realize it when he got to the english version. nevertheless, he waved a few times at the crowd and we got to wave back to him. the vatican city was packed, but surprisingly orderly. then again, we had to pass through metal detectors to even get into the city.
we also realized what a few people were saying about how the europeans like to do what they want, as in, close whenever they feel like it. christmas morning, we bought a day pass down in the metro station and later in the afternoon, the metro station was all gated off and closed and we weren’t even sure if the buses were running.
we didn’t get to see all the sights in rome, although we got to see most of them – vatican city, colisseum, ruins, roman forum, spanish steps, trevi fountain. we threw three coins in the trevi fountain, though. the trevi fountain is the biggest fountain i’ve ever seen in my entire life. the coin throwing is a tradition to vow to return to rome.
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