All for a coin

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Alex is an avid Euro coin collector (especially in light of their possible demise, "Just think how much they will be worth!") and he was excited about going to a new country and collecting a Vatican City Euro coin with his friend here.

This is what we saw when we entered this new country. And, at the end of this post, you can watch the clip and hear what it sounded like on this beautiful Sunday morning (having technical difficulties at the moment, though. I'll try to upload again later). Mass was at its high point, with the choir singing. We could see the Pope giving the Eucharist here on the big screen. I had read earlier in the week that he had been in Germany, so I thought this was broadcast from somewhere else.

After much discussion about how one might conquer the Vatican and why it is historically important in the first place, we set about getting inside the Church. How I managed to visit the Vatican and not take a photo of the actual facade is beyond me. But, I've got the view from the top steps in front of the facade for you here.

The music, the history, the architecture, the marble, the art, the enormity. I know it is a trite statement, but the Vatican is breathtaking. And, maybe this statue even seems cliche, but it still is one of the most beautiful pieces of sculpture I've ever seen.

Perhaps not appreciated as much as I had hoped by the younger set. Someday they will understand. In the meantime, there were other symbols to look for. Why bother with this one of the most famous ones?! And, so...how many pigeons, I mean doves, can you find? How many keys, Papal hats, crosses, etc...?

A rare woman in the Vatican: The controversial Queen Christina of Sweden.

So, here is the thing. I thought the Pope was on vacation. I thought the ease of our entry was due to his absence. Dear guests and readers, after some research, I have to tell you that I was wrong. The Pope was giving the service today and he's right up there. One of the small dots above Alex's head. Oh! So that is why we were blocked off and not allowed any further.

We had other things to look at though. Here is St. Jerome. I'm enjoying spotting him around Italy now. As I got closer, I remarked, "Wow! This is a mosaic!"

Alex and his friend replied, "Yeah, we knew that. Look at the feet." Ok...

On our way out we watched the guards smile when they saw children. In Italy, that is the secret.

Then, of course, we turned our attention to pigeons...

We found a good spot for our picnic, but not the best spot for jumping on a bus (just yet, we did that perfectly later!). So, initially, we ended up walking for a while from the Vatican, across the Tiber, into Rome.

This turned out to have been a blessing. It was fun to stand outside Castel Sant Angelo and watch the street actors.
We walked, hopped a bus, and then stumbled around the Piazza Venezia trying to decide what to do. This became fairly obvious to us all when Alex yelled, "Look, there is Marcus Aurelius!" We followed him up the Capitoline Hill and looked at a few famous replicas.

And, with all of the obvious killing discussions that were taking place such as "this martyr got crucified here and this one there," it made perfect sense when Eleni said, "Look, it's a crucified bug!"
We couldn't have planned a better day. Gorgeous weather. Postcard perfect forums.

There was a market going on so we had one of the busiest streets, Via del Fori Imperiali, open just for pedestrians. Here we are heading towards the Colosseum.

Grilled corn for all!

Standing just next to the grand finale of the Colosseum. This is one of my favorite photos of the day.

We were in Rome for eight hours. Add the two hours to and from and you have a pretty long day. A great one though, and thankfully, riot free. Six days later our same route was full of protesters.

And, did we get the Vatican City coin? Yes, we have a 50 cent Euro now. Phew!