St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro) Vatican City

Another hot day in Rome - 35oC. We had an early start as our entry tickets for the Vatican were booked for just after 8am. So onto the bus and off we went and it was so nice to be met by our guide Alessia - very pretty and very knowledgeable - and marched straight up to the head of the queue. Inside we visited the Map Gallery, the Tapestry Gallery …

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
.......blah blah blah.

Anyway, I celebrated my Birthday this day by visiting the Vatican. We woke up early as we had to collect our tickets at the appropriate time, we had chosen 9.30am so we could go on elsewhere later.
The Vatican Museums were amazing with …

Sat, June 4, 2011

We both woke up at 4 am. We were both wide awake and starving. Never getting sleepy, we were at the hotel breakfast at 7 am and on the metro at 8 am. We arrived at St. Peters at 8:30 and were inside by 9 am. The line was really long, but only 1/3 as long as it would be by the time we walked out of the basilica. The only …

To avoid the crowds of people at the weekend we decided that the best plan was to visit the Vatican and the churches on our first full day. We asked at the reception about getting to and from the city centre and it turned out the best bus to take was the number 86 as it stopped pretty much straight outside the hotel. Unfortunately once more we were …

Being an international route, our journey to Rome consisted of many changes. On our first train we did not have reserved seats so we had to change several times. We took a train from Nice to the French-Italian border, then from there we went to Genoa and then onto Rome. We had a short lay over in Genova where we saw a huge monument for Christopher …

Para llegar al Vaticano nos tomamos el bus numero 64 y nos reunimos en la explanada de la Plaza de San Pedro. La basílica de San Pedro estaba, para variar ya, tapiada con andamios pero lo más curioso es que el Papa mismo pasó con un carrito sin vidrios saludando. Creo que pasó a unos 3 metros de donde yo estaba. Recuerdo que daba una muy frágil …

This morning begun very much as did yesterday: everyone waking up early for a hearty breakfast, some small talk and a buzz in the air about today's activities. During breakfast I was asked by Father Stephen if I would be interested in reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians 2:17 - 22 at mass this morning.

And coming, he …

We arrived at the Vatican in the wee hours of the morning so that we could begin lining up for the canonisation mass and excited to be the very first group in the line that formed at our entrance. Apparently it was such a good spot that several groups tried to join us by cutting in until Graziano and some of his colleagues encouraged them to go to …

Meeting back up with Louisa (our panoramic tour of Rome) we began by queuing up to enter the Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museums). We ventured down to the Pinecone Garden which was named after a pinecone-shaped fountain flanked by peacocks. The original sculptures were Roman in origin and combined in to their current form thereby giving the gardens …

This morning Father Stephen arranged for our last mass together in the boardroom of Hotel Galles. It was certainly less grand that in one of the basilicas we had used throughout the week but yet it still felt very much like mass. We gave thanks for the time we had together, for the opportunity to be present for the canonisation of St. Mary of the …

... the popular phrase "What the Barbarians didn't do to Rome, the Barberini's DID"! After seeing the church we walked into St. Peter's square and concluded the tour. Karla and I bought some postcards and then picked up tickets for the Easter service and ...

... yesterday to visit Pompeii, Florence, Assisi and Tivoli; Graziano had kindly lined up to get tickets for the papal audience in St. Peter's Square this morning. Thankfully we did not have to be there as early as we did with the canonisation, but being our ...

Wow!  I love Vatican City!  It is the smallest country in the world (300 people and about a mile large).  The Pope is the absolute monarch there.  If he is in town on Sundays, he comes out to the square and gives a blessing at ...

... But all over Rome there are water fountains that are free to the public, and there was one right inside St. Peter's Square. St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro) was designed and built by Bernini in 1667 for the specific purpose that the ...

... stopped at The Old Bridge gellateria for, of course, gellati!  It was delicious, and as we were walking back to see St. Peter's square in the sunshine, we ran into our pal from yesterday, and learned his name is Shane.  We were surprised to run ...

... Day. This was definitely one of the highlights of our time in Roma, and our excitement was warranted. When we stepped into St. Peter's Square it was easy to understand why this place is a major stop for both the religious and tourists alike. The Square ...

... !! What we did see was fascinating though, saw a lot of Raphaels work, little cherubs everywhere- gotta luv it!!   St Peter's square is just huge!! You can see where the pope makes his speeches. Unluckily the pope had died the week before getting ...

... the question, so I was walking to the Vatican City. This ended up taking an hour, which was pretty much what I had anticipated. St. Peter's Square is vast. It's hard to describe just how big it is, similar to a lot of things in this city. You really ...

... ), and download the millions of official photograph copies of the artwork. Damn. Now look, I've cussed. Moving right along, in St. Peter's Square was the line to enter St. Peter's Basilica (makes sense, I think) and the window where the pope greets ...

... trying to pull a U-turn. ;)  (I had the insurance so it didn't really matter anyway.) Our first stop was St. Peter's Square (which, of course, is everyone's first stop if you are visiting the Basilica).  Actually being there gives you a new ...