20091223 – Happy 10th Country

On Wednesday, I celebrated my 10th country. On this trip, I have visited Germany, England, South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Egypt, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and now the Vatican. We ventured into St. Peter’s Square in the morning, and I was overwhelmed by the sheer size and beauty of the spot. At one end of the square is St. Peter’s Basilica. On either end of the church are curving collonades designed by Glan Lorenzo Bernini. The collonades include 4 rows each of 284 64 feet high Doric columns. On top of the columns are 140 statues of Christ and various saints. In the center of the square is an 83 foot tall Egyptian obelisk. There are also two fountains, one designed by Bernini and the other by Carlos Maderno. The sight was simply magnificent. It also helped that the day was sunny the sky was a crystal blue. The rain that had dogged our travels the other day had simply vanished.

We were scheduled to attend the Papal ceremony that the Pope holds every Wednesday, so we quickly headed to the audience hall. We were early, but we had been told that you had to be there early because the seats fill up. Although neither Jeremy nor myself are very religious (and we definitely are not Catholic), it is hard to deny the power of seeing the leader of the largest religion in the world. The ceremony consisted of a prepared greeting by the pope that was given in a number of different languages. As the pope spoke, different sections of the audience burst into applause and shouted greetings. It really was amazing to witness this.

After the ceremony, we ate lunch and headed to the excavation site under St. Peter’s Basilica. We read about tours underneath the Basilica, and we had managed to book a spot. The tour was amazing. We were able to the entire history of the Basilica and to view ancient crypts and mausoleums that had been unearthed during the excavation of the Basilica. The original excavations had been undertaken to prove that St. Peter was truly buried beneath the cathedral. Although this is still a question, we were able to see what the church believes are the bones of St. Peter.

After the tour, we toured the Basilica and climbed up into the dome. My favorite part of this tour was Michelangelo’s Pieta. It may be cliché to speak of the beauty of this early work, but I am personally overwhelmed by the statue. The Pieta is a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Jesus. Michelangelo was only 25 when he carved it. The folds in Mary’s dress are incredibly detailed, and you can see true sadness in her eyes. Jesus’ body is limp and his limp right arm conveys the total destruction of his body. I spent some time simply gazing in awe and even came back for a second look before finally leaving the Basilica.

The other major artistic work is Bernini’s Baldacchino. This canopy is as tall as a five story building! The 4 columns (each 95 feet tall), are covered from bronze stolen from the Pantheon. Perhaps the most important fact here is that the canopy is 5 stories tall. It makes you understand the sheer size of the Basilica. The canopy is inside of it and does not even come close to reaching the top of the dome, which is 160 feet tall.

After walking through the Basilica, Jeremy and I paid to climb up to the top of the dome. There are 332 steps to the top, but it was definitely worth it. I loved climbing up the Berliner Dom in Berlin, and I wouldn’t have passed this up for anything. The view of the city was spectacular. I am looking forward to climbing more tall things in the other Italian cities. Kudos to the architects in this country for designing such awesome and tall domes!

For dinner, we ate at a pizzeria near the Coluseum. This place managed to make their crust even thinner and crispier than the last restaurant. We had some gelato for dessert. Sadly, I am beginning to believe that the best part of gelato is the presentation. It is okay, but the taste just doesn’t seem to match how good it looks.

The plan for the rest of the night was to attend a Christmas concert in the Basilica S. Maria in Aracoeli. The pamphlet promised that Michael Bolton would even be present! The concert started at 8:30, and we were told that we should be there 2 hours early to ensure that we would be admitted. We got in line at 6:30 and were near the front. Sadly, it seems that all of the seats to this free concert that didn’t have tickets were already given away. VIPs were allowed in a side door throughout the evening and by the time they let the rest of the crowd in, it was standing room only. I was very tired by this point, and I desperately needed to sit down, so the lack of a seat hampered my enjoyment.

Jeremy, on the other hand, didn’t turn into a Grinch like his brother, and enjoyed the concert. The church was beautiful, the acoustics were brilliant, and the music was good. All in all, I cannot complain too much. Though by the time the concert was over, I was very tired and ready to get some rest.