Photo: St Peter's
Day 31: Rome & Vatican City
Today was the day we were going to have our religious
experience. We tried, but I just didn’t feel it. I did feel that the wealth of
the Catholic Church is nothing short of obscene. I’m sure they could solve
world poverty if they wanted to – but I guess they don’t want to. St Peter’s Basilica
was, of course, stunning. In Lachlan’s ranking of world churches, he says its
#1, so it must be. The Vatican museums, which include the Sistine Chapel, were
interesting, but the number of people took some of the gloss off the experience.
Interesting the lack of respect people have for some of the rules set by the
church. In the Sistine Chapel were prominently displayed signs indicating no
photography (it was allowed in other areas of the museum), but hundreds of
people were taking photos. This is the only place I’ve seen such signs ignored.
Needless to say, once I saw so many others ignoring the signs, I did too. I was
surprised by some of the modern art included in the collection. I’m sure that
if I glue 2 paddle pop sticks together into a cross and send it to the pope you’ll
be able to view it the next time you visit.
We then walked past St Angelos Castle, the burial place of
Hadrian (of Hadrian’s Wall fame) and up the Corso to Piazza del Popolo. One of
the highlights of the day was the visit to Pantheon. I remember reading about
this place in Dan Brown’s ‘Angels and Demons’. I’ll need to re-read the book
now after visiting Rome. I’m sure it will make so much more sense now.
Dinner was again at an outdoor-on-the-road restaurant, again
with simple Roman style pastas. Lauren can’t wait to get home to try making
some of these simple dishes. After 11 hours of mostly standing and walking we’re
having a quite night in, before heading to Naples in the morning.
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