Halfway through our week in Rome, it was time to visit His Holiness and the Vatican City State. With a 6:15am wake-up call, this was the earliest morning of our trip, and we enjoyed a full breakfast at the hotel before setting off. The weather app on my iPhone displayed a forecast of 99 degrees in Rome, so we packed two bottles of water and plenty of sunscreen. As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, we had picked up tickets for the papal general assembly, which begins at 10:30am at the Vatican; however, the Church of Santa Susanna website was very confusing — even in retrospect — and we were not quite sure what to expect. The website suggests that the general audience is held in either St. Peter’s Square or the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall, although we did not know which site would be used today until we arrived in Vatican City. We also thought that all shorts were not allowed, but it turns out that only shorts above the knee are prohibited. As a result, I threw on a pair of jeans and was prepared for the possibility of baking in the sun in St. Peter’s Square for three hours. Fortunately — and probably due to the high temperatures — today’s audience was held in the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall, which, although crowded, was air conditioned and comfortable. This was especially fortunate because we had gotten lost a couple of times en route, and a forty-five minute walk (according to Google Maps) took an extra half-hour. By the end of this week, Ann Taylor and I will have covered quite a large section of Rome by foot!
Arriving at Vatican City, we made our way past the Swiss guards and took our seats in the Audience Hall. We had been advised to arrive two hours before the assembly began, but we finally sat closer to 9:30am. Before the trip, I had researched and learned that the papal general audience has a special section for newlyweds (“Sposi Novelli“), defined as a Catholic couple married within eight weeks. Given that our wedding was celebrated only nine weeks ago, I thought that we could probably talk our way into the special tickets; however, I also discovered that the Vatican prefers the couples to dress in their full wedding attire. Recall that as of this morning I had no idea whether we would be inside or outside, and that the temperatures would be in the upper 90s. Aside from the logistical nightmare of trying to get Ann Taylor’s wedding dress to and from Italy, there is no way that we would want to wear a full suit and wedding dress all day (including the afternoon Vatican tour). Our seats in the back were just fine, thank you very much. Pope Benedict XVI came out shortly after 10:30am, and delivered an opening prayer in Italian. The atmosphere in the Audience Hall mirrored that of a rock concert, with screaming fans, waving hands, and all types of camera, phones and iPads capturing the event. In the longest part of the audience, individual cardinals delivered remarks in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Italian, welcoming various pilgrim groups to the Vatican. When each group was announced, they stood and cheered, and many even sang songs — we learned later that there is a thirty second limit for singing. Pope Benedict XVI also addressed each group in their native language, and wrapped the event with a reading of “Our Father” (in Latin) and a general blessing of religious artifacts. Overall, the audience was a really interesting experience both to attend and observe, although I am still quite glad that we were able to experience the audience indoors.
With only an hour before we needed to meet our Vatican tour, we needed to find a quick spot for lunch and settled on Cafe Risorgimento, just two blocks from the entrance to the Vatican museum. Ann Taylor and I both opted for Margherita pizza that was underwhelming, but provided plenty of food for the 3.5 hour walking tour. We met Libby, the Angel Tours guide, and the family of four that accompanied us through the Vatican. While I had toured the museum in 2007, I had forgotten much of the two hour experience (at the tail-end of eight hours of touring Rome), and I was eager to return. Libby proved to be an excellent guide, with incredibly interesting stories about the museum, its collections and the history of the area. We made our way through the courtyards, the tapestry rooms, the Raphael rooms (where “The School of Athens” fresco is presented), and many other galleries before arriving at the Sistine Chapel. The scenes captured on the walls and ceiling are still remarkable, and Ann Taylor and I could have spent much more than fifteen minutes appreciating Michelangelo’s masterpiece. Still, we needed to push forward, and the tour concluded just outside St. Peter’s Basilica. Libby provided an explanation of many of the key areas inside, and we were free to explore the Basilica for as long as we wanted. After about a half-hour — it was already 5:15pm — we decided to head back to the hotel. The journey back only took an hour or so, but we appreciated the chance to sit and relax in an air-conditioned room.
For dinner, we decided to head to Babbo’s, one of the closest restaurants to the hotel, but also one of the most well-regarded. Ann Taylor and I shared an appetizer of Scilian citrus-marinated salmon with Focaccia bread, which was delicious! She ordered the sea bass, while I had the risotto with shrimp, and we both thoroughly enjoyed our entrees. At the end of a day that included more than eight hours of walking, we loved our peaceful stroll back to the hotel, with chocolate and coffee gelato in hand. Tomorrow, we will be able to sleep in (at least comparatively), as we look forward to two more full days in Rome before we head home. If those days are half as good as our time thus far, we will soon be looking back on a wonderful trip.
Take care,
– Dan