St Peter's Basilica Archives - Two Feet, One World

Father. Leader. Head of a fairly antiquated religious organisation. Whatever your stance on the Pope, it’s hard to deny the power of a man who leads a church followed by approximately 1.2 billion people. When I heard that the Pope was in town while we were staying there, I knew that I wanted to go along to one of his audiences to hear him speak. The new Pope seems to be in a slightly different model to those previous – not only is he the first Pope from the Americas, or indeed the Southern Hemisphere, but he already advocates more relaxed views about certain matters, for which I commend him.

We arrived almost two hours before Pope Francis was due to make his appearance, but the crowds were already swelling at St Peter’s Square. It was moving to see many people for whom this was clearly a pilgrimage – school groups, religious groups, and ordinary people who were all thrilled to be there.

The sun was hot and we quickly caved to the siren call of brightly coloured parasols, which were in high demand!

The Pope’s window

The cacophony when the Pope appeared at his window was amazing – chanting, singing and whistles. However the crowd soon quieted to hear him speak. As most of it was in Italian, it was unfortunately a bit lost on me, although I did pick up bits in which he seemed to be exhorting us to treat each other as equals and to be kind to the world – both good messages! Of course, we were able to follow the Pater Noster, and the blessing of the crowd at the end.

The Pope giving his message

After the blessing, we headed to the river – along with several thousand others. We were planning to visit Castel Sant’Angelo, but were thwarted by crazy lines… so I definitely still have to come back to Rome as I really want to see it!

The River Tiber

Instead of queuing forever, we headed to the Villa Borghese Park, via the Piazza del Popolo and its beautiful twin churches.

Our curiosity paid off when we wandered into one of the other churches in the Piazza, the Santa Maria del Popolo – not only was it beautiful, but it was also the venue for a choral competition, and we were treated to some amazing singing.

The view from the Pincian Hill was stunning

We wandered further into the park without any real destination in mind – just soaking up the afternoon sunshine. And then… this guy happened.

If you can’t quite make it out – that is an elderly man (75+ if he was a day) doing the splits, while rollerblading underneath very low ropes. LEGEND.

For our last evening we didn’t venture far from our hotel, but I had what was quite possibly my best meal of the whole trip – an amazing wild boar and red wine tagliatelle. It was so good I found it difficult to share – but so tasty I wanted the others to try it too!

Mmm deliciousness…

Saluté Roma – we had an amazing time, and I will definitely be back soon!

When Kate and Gin arrived in Rome from London, we headed for the closest pizzeria faster than you can say ‘Una pizza margherita per favore!’ Over a cheeky rosé we caught up on each other’s gossip, and started to plan our adventures for the next few days.

First stop – pizza!

After our delicious pizzas, we wandered in the sunshine to the Colosseum, before heading on to the Trevi Fountain for the obligatory coin toss.

We’ll be back!

So romantic!

Rather hilariously, we were presented with the roses while we were consulting maps. After several days of having them shoved under my nose in various tourist spots, I waved it away without even looking at the person presenting it – which rather annoyed the well-dressed Italian woman who tried to explain she was just giving them to us! We’re still not exactly sure why, but it was a lovely contrast to the usual.

Later that evening, we met up with Lili and Grietje to explore the Trastevere area, which we’d been told was great for restaurants and night-life. The little lanes were very cute and there were many, many choices for restaurants… it was difficult to decide!

Serene Tiber River at night

We headed to the river where there were more restaurants, and lots of stalls selling everything from sweets to souvenirs. It was packed with both tourists and Romans enjoying the beautiful night.

Stalls along the Tiber River

The next morning a new country awaited us as we crossed the border into the Vatican City with ease – we timed it early enough that the horror lines we’d heard about hadn’t yet eventuated.

Possibly the Pope’s hang out in the evening when the crowds leave?

The grounds of the Vatican are impressive enough, but the art collections in the museums are simply mind-blowing. One of the biggest art collections in the world, begun by Pope Julius II in 1506, and now featuring works by everyone from da Vinci to Dali, it would be impossible to see it all in a day, although we did give it our best shot.

Statues, Vatican City Museum

Gallery of Maps, Vatican City

My favourite painting was Raphael’s masterpiece, The School of Athens… not least for his cheeky self-portrait and depiction of fellow artists, including Michaelangelo and da Vinci.

The School of Athens

Raphael staring at the viewer from behind a pillar

Of course, a highlight of any visit to the Vatican will always be the incredible and moving Sistine Chapel, where we sat and contemplated the ceiling amongst the hum of tours and the guards’ noisy whispers of “Silencio!”. When we’d had our fill of amazing art, we headed for St Peter’s Basilica.

St Peter’s Basilica in the afternoon sun

One arc of Bernini’s collonade that stretches from the Basilica

The magnificence and sheer scale of St Peter’s Basilica is almost overwhelming, but at the same time it felt welcoming. This came partly from the afternoon mass being conducted at the front of the nave – to see it as a functioning church rather than simply a massive edifice was very special.

So angelic!

The interior of the massive dome

Swiss Guards – always hilarious

An epic day of art and culture!

Sunday with the Pope

Trastevere & the Vatican City

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