After a long and arduous journey by bus over the hills and far away to Rome, we plunked our bags down in the hotel, freshened up, and set off for our first sight of the Eternal City. After a stop at Soprani's (a great store for anything religious) we stepped into St. Peter's Square for a first look at the home of our universal family. It was such an awe-inspiring sight... no words or pictures can do it justice. Walking into St. Peter's for the first time was amazing. We saw Michaelangelo's Pieta and then we climbed all 535 steps up to the tip-top of the dome. It was a little drizzly, but the view was stunning anyway.
Me in St. Peter's Square
Heather and I waiting to see the Pope!!!
Heather and Audrey waiting for the Papal Audience. (there would be a picture of Anna too, but she was sleeping)
Woohoo! Pope Benedict XVI came out to thunderous applause!!!
Santa Scala, the holy stairs Christ climbed on his way to meet Pontius Pilate. There are four spots covered in glass under which you can see dark stains, reputedly from Christ's blood.
The church of St. John Lateran. This is actually the official church of Rome, I think. Up there in the baldacchino you can see two gold busts... they contain the actual heads of St. Peter and St. Paul. The DNA from St. Peter's head matches the DNA of the bones buried under St. Peter's, which is pretty much proof that it's actually him. Can you believe I was actually about six feet away from the bones of SAINT PETER!?!?!?! I actually saw them! (Heather and I were able to get into a Scavi tour underneath St. Peter's)
I had to visit the Protestant Cemetery in Rome while we were there for my history project, so Heather and I set off on our own morning excursion one day and discovered this gem of a burial place. Percy Shelley and Keats were buried there! After that we set off back to the Vatican to meet up with Sr. Joan Paule and Audrey to explore the Sistine Chapel. It was beautiful, but I have no photographic evidence because photos are strictly prohibited... you have only to hear the Italian guards shouting "no photo!" every two seconds to give up hope of going unnoticed ;-)
After five bustling days in Rome we piled back onto the buses and made our way to Assisi. The peace and tranquility of the city on a hill was a welcome relief after the go-go-go atmosphere of Rome. We saw the original Portiuncula in a nearby town and then we got into Assisi proper, where we discovered our luxurious and blessedly bedbug-free hotel.
Heather and I spent some time reading on the rooftop patio of our little hotel... it got chilly once the sun moved, but it was very very pleasant to just relax and soak in the beauty.
This is the afternoon view from our hotel window... isn't it dreamy?
Once it got too cold outside we took advantage of our wondrous room... there were more than enough beds, all quite comfortable, and the showerhead was SO MASSIVE it felt like standing in a tropical downpour!
The sun started to set, providing yet another breathtaking view from our window.
One night Heather and I ran into Sr. Joan Paule while we were walking. We stumbled upon this cute little street lined with candles. It was so neat because all the building were connected, even the ones across the street from each other! There were little bridges on the second story that connected neighbors and all sorts of attractive vines and old stonework.
Audrey, Anna, Heather and I had a picnic lunch in the piazza outside of Santa Chiara overlooking an olive grove. On Sunday our time in Assisi came to an end and we all clambered back onto the buses for the long trip home.
No comments:
Post a Comment