After a restorative night's sleep, we were thrilled to wake up to sunshine this morning. We walked across the Tiber on the Ponte Mazzini to catch a bus headed toward the Vatican Museums, where we had reservations for a walking tour of the Vatican Gardens. We could probably have traveled as quickly on foot, but we're making a few concessions to Tom's left foot and right knee, both of which have been a bit sub par in recent days.
In any case, we arrived well in advance of our tour time and were besieged by tour operators all along our walk from the bus stop to the museum entrance. Had we not booked a reservation, the throngs lined up for entry to the museum would probably have been enough to convince us to sign up on the spot!
Once through security in the museum, we assembled to meet our guide, Ludovica, who led us on a two-hour stroll through the gardens to the top of the Vatican Hill. En route, we had great views of Michelangelo's extraordinary dome, as we wound our way through woods, gardens, along the old and new walls of the Vatican City State, above and among the various monuments, fountains, and buildings that dot the gardens. Though we have been to the Vatican quite a few times, this was all new to us, and very interesting.
After lunch on a terrace overlooking the gardens and the dome of St. Peter's, we explored the building housing the pinacoteca, museum of painting. Because it's in a separate building from the main route through the museum, it was quiet and uncrowded, allowing visitors plenty of time among the treasures.
Once we entered the main building, however, we joined a swiftly flowing river of humanity moving from one hall to the next. Any real appreciation of the bounty of works on display was impossible, and we never even attempted it. The flow of the human river was damned at the Sistine Chapel, where everyone crowds to stand with their eyes riveted on Michelangelo's glorious ceiling for as long as their neck muscles allow. (Photos not allowed)
We took a shortcut from the chapel that allowed us to get to St. Peter's Basilica without the circuitous walk from the museum entrance and the long security lines at St. Peter's Square. We entered the Basilica through the Holy Door, which Pope Francis has opened for this Jubilee Year of Mercy. Again, this is a first for us, as we have never been here during a Jubilee Year. Inside the church, not much has changed. Michelangelo's Pieta still has the power to move, the size of the interior still overwhelms, the dome still soars over Bernini's baldacchino, which in turn, rises above the main altar. Most affecting, amid all the Baroque counter-reformation splendor, is the preserved body of the simple man who became pope and saint in our lifetimes, John XXIII, visible in a crystal sarcophagus near the center of the basilica.
Leaving the church, we made the obligatory stop to view the Swiss Guards before entering the grand piazza, encircled by Bernini's grand colonnade. As the bell tolled 4:00, it was relatively quiet, though the seating was set for tomorrow's gathering of "Jubilee Boys and Girls", whoever they are.
Throughout our visit to St Peter's, we witnessed the arrival of groups of pilgrims, who processed down the center of the nave to the main altar, which had been cordoned off. Once outside the piazza and walking down the grand approach boulevard, the Via della Conciliazione, we saw that a lane of the wide road had been reserved for the pilgrims, who approached St. Peter's processing behind a cross adorned with the symbol of the Year of Mercy.
So ended our day in the state surrounded by the city. We found the right bus, bought some more wine, and headed home for happy hour and dinner. And -- not a drop of rain!
No comments:
Post a Comment