Yesterday I stood in line for an hour just to get a golden ticket to the Pope's weekly mass at Saint Peter's Basilica.
Ticket:
Maybe it's because I'm not Catholic, or maybe it's because I don't speak Italian, but it was as if people were worshipping him while he was performing the ceremonies. After every thing he said people cheered. As he was riding around before mass, people were handing him their babies to touch and kiss. Regardless of my uncomfort with this, it was still cool to see.
The Pope delivering mass:
While in Vatican City I also toured Saint Peter's Basilica. The church was beautiful, as most of the churches in Europe are. There is a dome at the top that you can visit. You can ride half way to the top in an elevator and enjoy the view from there or you can continue the climb through narrow stairwells to the very very top... Or...you can be crazy like me and climb all 551 stairs to the very very top of the dome. The view was breath taking, but they really should monitor the number of people who are allowed up at any given time. They might also consider a weight limit due to the extremely narrow passage ways.
Saint Peter's not during Popal Audience:
The Vatican museum houses hundreds of sculptures from throughout Roman times. My favorite was "Personification of Winter". I had never thought about personification through art and the beauty of this collection of personified seasons has inspired me to create a similar project during my poetry unit.
The statute:
At the end of the museum there is the Sistine Chapel. No photographs were allowed inside. One man tried to be sneaky and take a shot at the ceiling and a guard immediately took him away. The ceiling inside the chapel was definitely beautiful. I don't know why, but I didn't realize the famous painting of God and Adam was only a small piece of a much grander collection of art on the ceiling and walls. It was very interesting to see.
Tomorrow I catch a train to Florence.
Until then,
Kristin
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