Home of Papa Francesco
In a blink of an eye it was the last day of our Italy in 17 days tour. Our last tour would be Vatican City home of St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. Patricia got us out the door at 7:15 A.M. and a quick metro ride we were at the Vatican. I thought we would be some of the first to enter the Vatican at that hour of the day. You’re so silly Kathy. There were already thousands of tourists waiting for their chance to visit the heart of the Roman Catholic. Did you know, 25K people visit the Vatican every day or 5 million a year? Our local guide Maria Laura and Patricia said it wasn’t the most crowded. More people than today? I can’t even imagine. For me the thing that stood out the most in the Vatican was the amount of marble. Marble was everywhere. Our first stop was the Vatican Museum which was full of sculptures, tapestries and paintings. We maneuvered through the rooms admiring the priceless art collection. Long, seriously long hallways were adorned with floor-to-ceiling tapestries made by the Dutch. One hallway had an arched ceiling with ornate gold mouldings which framed beautiful paintings. After a couple hours it was time for the Sistine Chapel. WOW. Stunning. I sat on a pew and for more than 20 minutes and couldn’t take my eyes off the most gorgeous ceiling I will ever see. I wondered how long it took Michelangelo to paint it. For the third or fourth time during my trip to Italy, I pinched myself and said “Kath, can you believe you are actually sitting in the Sistine Chapel looking at the painting done by one of the greatest artists ever?” I just shook my head and replied, “No, this is surreal for sure.” It would have been a true moment of Zen had the guards not repeated “Silencio!!! No pictures! No video!” 45 seconds “Silencio!!! No pictures! No video!” 45 seconds “Silencio!!! No pictures! No video!” etc.
St. Peter’s Basilica was our next stop. This was the church for the people. It is massive with tall ceilings and giant arches. So huge, that 60K people can attend service inside. To demonstrate the sheer size, there are markings on the floor showing how other churches would fit inside the Basilica. By far the Pietà was the most poignant piece of art I saw in Italy. It is Michelangelo’s marble sculpture of a young Mary holding the dead body of her son Jesus. Upon exiting we saw the colorfully clad Swiss Guards who have been guarding Vatican City for nearly ½ a century. Papa Francesco a.k.a Pope Francis had been in the U.S. and was en route to Vatican City when we visited. In a day or so, he was scheduled to give a 3-hour speech in St. Peter’s Square.