There are lots of reminders that we are in the center of Christendom. Our B&B is only 2 blocks from the Vatican. Any walk we take invariably takes us by numerous churches. No building is allowed to be taller than St. Pete's Dome.
They say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, so here we are, surrounded by 10,000 of our closest friends, seated in St. Peter's square, waiting to see and hear the Pope. He gives an audience on Wednesday mornings, starting at 10:00 am. We understand it is best to be at the square at 8:00 am to get a good seat, so we arrived at that hour, umbrella in hand, to see his holiness.
Two months ago we wrote to the Vatican asking for tickets for this event. We received back a letter saying we were welcome and directions on where to display the letter to receive our tickets. Yesterday afternoon, Sally talked to one of the fancy dressed Swiss Guards about getting our tickets, and he directed us to the right side of the square, a couple hundred yards away. Once there, a plain clothed guard allowed Sally in, after seeing her letter, to retrieve her tickets, but I was not allowed to come. Fifteen minutes later she returned, tickets in hand. Those same tickets got us in this morning.
At about 9:00am, cardinals began introducing groups from around the world that were attending today's audience. Each cardinal spoke in his native language, introducing groups from countries that spoke the same language. There were about nine cardinals and nine languages used.
As they were finishing up, the Pope drove into the square on his "Pope Mobile", an open platform from which he could wave to the crowd as he passed by, often stopping to kiss babies held up to him. As I watched and took pictures and videos, I got to musing; "what if you held your baby up to be kissed and the Pope didn't comply?" Does this mean your child is condemned for life? I mean, the Pope can't take the time to kiss every baby in the crowd. Do those that get left out suffer severe psychological damage, destined to the lower ranks of society, living a life of scorn? What about the parents? Do they now look at their child as an unworthy one? The Pope deferred to recognize their child. Is there something they don't know about there little one that the Pope identified? And the ones that did get kissed. Are they now elevated in their parent's eyes. There child is obviously special, especially compared to the ones that did not receive a Pope's blessing. hmmmmm, I wonder . . . . .
The Pope took a couple laps around the square, waving, smiling and kissing babies. We were able to follow his movements by standing on our chairs and scanning the vast square, following the gaze of 1000s of people. Also, he was being covered live on Jumbotron screens at the front, so we could pick out where he was by watching the screen. He looked like he was truly having fun. A kind and gentle grandfather visiting with a few of his relatives.
Pope Francis disembarked from his vehicle at the front of the square and climbed the steps up to the alter. After a few minutes, he read a story, in Italian. Mostly he read it, but occasionally he looked up, said a few ad lib lines to the delight of the Italian speaking people present, then went back to reading. All the literature said it was fine to get up in the middle and leave. I did not want to act like those parents at the Christmas concerts at the elementary school who leave after their child's class has sung, disrupting the whole concert, but after the English speaking portion was complete, we did indeed get up and leave.
Our original goal for the day had been the Borghese Palace. Lacking tickets, we headed on foot for Travestere, the heart of original Rome on the south bank of the Tiber. We walked on the down narrow streets on the north bank, angling for the Ponte Sisto, the same bridge we crossed from the bus on the first day in Rome, only this time headed south instead of north to Campo de Fiori.
Once across the bridge we headed for the Church of Santa Maria where I assumed the Rick Steves audio tour began. Once there, with headphones in ears, we found we were in the wrong place and had to walk east 3/4 of a mile to the bridge to Isola Tibernina to begin. As we followed the audio tour, we entered a narrow alleyway and had to "Scusi" ourselves past some l'uomni (men). As we walked another 30 feet we discovered we were right in the middle of a movie shoot. About 30 people, with cameras, lights, audio equipment, directors in director chairs and all the rest you would expect to see in Hollywood were setting up a shoot in this narrow street as we walked right through the middle of it. They barely batted an eye, until we stood behind the director's chair to watch the action. An assistant said we should leave because the scene was of a high speed scooter weaving down the narrow street and we might get hurt. Disappointed, we squeezed past the crowd of workers and pressed on.
About noon, with stopped for lunch at an inexpensive outdoor cafe and were seated next to a couple from Florida. They come to Rome often, rent an apartment for 3 weeks and take side trips to various cities. They travel heavy to Rome, then light on side trips. He described walking the 3/4 of a mile to the top of Vesuvius as if he were summiting Everest. It was at this point I confirmed we were in quite different leagues. They were pleasant, and nice, but I was glad we were not traveling with them.
Once we completed the Travestere tour, we headed to the Jewish Ghetto to listen to an audio tour of that area. Again, it was fascinating. Here we saw ancient Roman columns and ruins tucked into the city landscape.
It was now near 4 pm. We had been walking most of the day. We started walking back to our B&B, clear across town. But, we ran into familiar landmarks, such as the Campo de Flori and familiar streets and we Sally was soon taking her afternoon nap at home while I caught up on my blog, a little late, but much needed.
We awoke at 7pm, walked to the grocery store for pasta, cheese and rolls, headed home and cooked dinner. We were going to go out for a stroll, but it was now near 10 and we were planning to get up at 5:30 to get to the colosseum tomorrow morning, so we gave in and went to bed.
About using Italian language on the people of Rome. I find most are appreciative of my efforts. Some mistake me for Italian and begin rapid fire speaking, to which I have to confess my deception and admit I only really speak English. In some interchanges, my deception holds, and I can get through a brief exchange in Italian. However, sometimes the person will look at me and ask, "Do you speak Italian, French or English", a bit annoyed at my inability to carry on a conversation. I actually take this as a compliment, that they even consider that I might speak Italian.
I really find I must study my Italian every night, for I find many words I need and that I used to know are slipping away due to lack of study.
No comments:
Post a Comment