Holy Moly!

This morning we were all about schedule. Up early, showers, pancakes and out the door a little past 8:30 - only a few minutes past our target time. Good practice for tomorrow, when we have no wiggle room at all.

We headed to Piazza Silvestro and grabbed a cab to St. Peter's Square, the gateway to Vatican City. Paid, hopped out and headed for the border, where security was lax at best. I think they glanced at G's passport and barely acknowleged the rest of us. Our instructions were to go to the Brass Door at the right side of the Bernini columns, knock three times, twirl around twice...ok, I'm making the knocking and twirling up. We found the entrance, a fully decked out in his fancy pants outfit Swiss guard looked at our papers and directed me in and told the guys to wait. It was so serious! I had to show my documents, passport and answer questions about who was with me. Then they got this envelope out of a box and gave it to me.

I exited, found the guys ogling around and we entered the area where chairs were set up for the papal audience. We got seats in about row 20, which was about 100m from the Pope Throne and Stage. Settling in, we took in the sights and sounds. It's like being in Oz! There is so much to look at. We had binocs so that helped. The fact that weather-wise it was an absolutely perfect day added to the experience. We had a long wait but getting good seats was worth the early arrival as there were literally thousands of people behind us. Griff had a little snooze while we were waiting and nobody had to pray that the Pope would make them feel better, despite a beer pong loss by C & G at the party the night before. There was a large group of schoolboys from a Catholic school in Paris in front of us, and they had a number of songs and chants. At one point Ben asked me why they were saying "Who love a Pop Tart" which is kind of what "Viva il Papa" sounded like.

FINALLY, the Pope Mobile came into view. People unneccesarily stood on chairs - can't they realize if nobody jumps up everyone can see? Anyway, he looped around in the crowd a few times and got within 20 meters of our seats, then headed up to his throne, which was on the front steps of St Peter's Basilica.

So, the program began. After a lengthy homily, in Italian with no translation, what I can only describe as "shout-outs" began. A cardinal or priest would get up and address the Pope in his native language, then recognize all the groups in the audience from his country or region. Each group would cheer, and sometimes sing a song. Then the Pope would read something in that language to them. This went on and on and on and on. Finally, the English speakers were recognized. There were quite a few groups from Ohio. The Pope's message to us was that we should incorporate more silence into our lives.

Finally, everyone stood and sang or hummed along (we were provided with words) and the Pope blessed us, our families, and any and all religious articles we had brought along. The whole experience was not what we expected - we'd heard that it was "moving" and it really wasn't. It was interesting. It was cool to see the Pope. It was boring. It was long. It was something we were glad we did but would probably recommend that people go to the Sunday blessing instead.

Anyway, we decided we needed to find the Vatican Museums, where we needed to report by 2:10 for our tour. After a few missteps - what would be so difficult about some signage - we found our way. Funny thing happened on the way: we were outside the Vatican Wall and there were loads of street vendors selling knock offs. Apparently they were tipped off to a police raid. These people had their merchandise packed and they were hustling away, but we found them all hiding around the corner, some of them still doing business on the fly.

We ate lunch (mediocre, Ben highly critical of the calzone) then went to the the Museum. Now this is the place that stated very directly: If you buy a ticket online and request the student rate you must provide documentation of eligibility or you will forfeit your student ticket completely and have to purchase an adult ticket. So, we were fully prepared with a letter from the Roger Bacon principal and C & G's student ID's. They didn't even look at it!

Going with a tour was the smart thing to do. The galleries are so vast it would be overwhelming to try to tour yourself. We were a group of 25, and we had headphones tuned to a private channel where our guide spoke. We were amazed over and over again. One of the coolest things was a tapestry where Jesus' eyes seem to follow you as you walk by - this was by Raphael. And the ceilings! There were parts that you would swear were carved, but it was all flat paint.

We ended at the Sistine Chapel, and it is stunning. Unbelieveable. Amazing. You can't take pictures, but it doesn't matter because there is no way you could capture it. These are pictures we will keep in our heads forever.

Once the tour was over, we had the option of taking a shortcut into St Peter's, which we did. We noticed an option to go up to the cupola, which we thought sounded interesting so we bought tickets to the elevator. Good choice! We were able to walk around the inside perimeter, and then C & G went all the way to the top, up crooked steps and narrow corridors. We went down, and exited right into St Peter's. We had a look around, and listened to part of a service that was being conducted. It was so cool to be down there in the transcept and look up to the dome and see where Ben and I had been, and even more cool to see where C & G climbed to.

By the way, Connor is wondering if anyone knows how many days in purgatory you get for seriously cutting in front of a Cardinal. He's not wondering for any particular reason, just curious.

Just got back from dinner, again Pizza Ciro. We are known, and welcomed - the owner/manager comes to our table and takes care of us. We got shot glasses of gelato again tonight, and had another great meal. Who knew steak tasted fabulous with lemon squeezed over it?

Probably going to be an early night for all of us. Pompeii, Amalfi coast and Positano tomorrow.