Trip to Vatican City State (Click on any image to load a larger copy)
Introduction
On Wednesdays, the Pope holds General Audiences where the average person can see and hear the Pope. While on
vacation in Rome (See Trip to Rome, Italy), I took the opportunity to go and take part
in this. In order to attend the General Audience, a person needs to get a ticket, which is free, at the Vatican
a day or two before the General Audience. I did not have an opportunity to get a ticket, but thought that I
should not have a problem getting one the day of the audience - I was very mistaken.
I woke up early on Wednesday to go to the Vatican to see if I could get a ticket. I left my hotel and headed of the the nearby train station to catch the subway to Vatican. As I got to the subway platform, I began to realized how many people were going to be attending the General Audience as the platform was full. Three subway trains left before I could even board one and there were still many people on the platform waiting for a train.
I arrived at the station closest to the Vatican and followed the throng of people going to St. Peter's Square. As I got closer to the Vatican, I determined that I need a ticket to get through security to enter the square (and to get to the the ticket office which is in the square). I was beginning to think that I would not be able to attend but soon saw that the security was limited to Vatican City State. I could stay behind the border (In Italy) and look over the barrier on the border to the stage where the Pope would be (In Vatican City State) some 1000 yards / meters away.
I waited on for about an hour and a half on my spot along the border watching as many people went through security and stated to fill up St. Peter's Square. At 10:30 Pope Benedict XVI arrived in his Popemobile to the cheers of the crowd. The Popemobile made several passes through the audience (now many thousand strong) and drove up to a stage built on the steps of St. Peter's. An announcer told us in English that several groups of people were attending and as read out their names, that group would cheer. The announcer switched to Italian and repeated the process with many more groups. This process would also be done in French, German, and Spanish.
After the introductions of the group, the announcer told the audience the theme of the Pope's address which was on Jerusalem. Pope Benedict XVI then made his address first in Latin. He then repeated the address in Italian. While the Pope was addressing the people in Italian, I noticed that the security guards were now allowing everyone to pass regardless if they had a ticket or not. So I mad my way past security, and entered St. Peter's Square in time to here the address in English (The Pope's address in English). After speaking in English, he continued on giving the address in French, Spanish, and German. He got a large cheer when he started speaking in his native tongue of German.
After the address was over and the audience slowly left, I headed off the the Vatican Post Office to mail some postcards. I then went to tour the interior of St. Peter's Basilica. It is an enormous building with many beautiful objects. I then went below to see the grave of Pope John Paul II. I continued on next to get to the top of the Basilica, climbing over 300 stairs to get there. From the top you have an excellent view of the whole country of Vatican City State and Rome. After going down over 300 steps, I went to an Italian Post Office near the Vatican. I posted another group of post cards in a attempt to see if the Vatican Post Office was really better than the Italian Post Office. A week late at my house, I received the post card from the Italian Post Office one day earlier that the Vatican Post Office.
I woke up early on Wednesday to go to the Vatican to see if I could get a ticket. I left my hotel and headed of the the nearby train station to catch the subway to Vatican. As I got to the subway platform, I began to realized how many people were going to be attending the General Audience as the platform was full. Three subway trains left before I could even board one and there were still many people on the platform waiting for a train.
I arrived at the station closest to the Vatican and followed the throng of people going to St. Peter's Square. As I got closer to the Vatican, I determined that I need a ticket to get through security to enter the square (and to get to the the ticket office which is in the square). I was beginning to think that I would not be able to attend but soon saw that the security was limited to Vatican City State. I could stay behind the border (In Italy) and look over the barrier on the border to the stage where the Pope would be (In Vatican City State) some 1000 yards / meters away.
I waited on for about an hour and a half on my spot along the border watching as many people went through security and stated to fill up St. Peter's Square. At 10:30 Pope Benedict XVI arrived in his Popemobile to the cheers of the crowd. The Popemobile made several passes through the audience (now many thousand strong) and drove up to a stage built on the steps of St. Peter's. An announcer told us in English that several groups of people were attending and as read out their names, that group would cheer. The announcer switched to Italian and repeated the process with many more groups. This process would also be done in French, German, and Spanish.
After the introductions of the group, the announcer told the audience the theme of the Pope's address which was on Jerusalem. Pope Benedict XVI then made his address first in Latin. He then repeated the address in Italian. While the Pope was addressing the people in Italian, I noticed that the security guards were now allowing everyone to pass regardless if they had a ticket or not. So I mad my way past security, and entered St. Peter's Square in time to here the address in English (The Pope's address in English). After speaking in English, he continued on giving the address in French, Spanish, and German. He got a large cheer when he started speaking in his native tongue of German.
After the address was over and the audience slowly left, I headed off the the Vatican Post Office to mail some postcards. I then went to tour the interior of St. Peter's Basilica. It is an enormous building with many beautiful objects. I then went below to see the grave of Pope John Paul II. I continued on next to get to the top of the Basilica, climbing over 300 stairs to get there. From the top you have an excellent view of the whole country of Vatican City State and Rome. After going down over 300 steps, I went to an Italian Post Office near the Vatican. I posted another group of post cards in a attempt to see if the Vatican Post Office was really better than the Italian Post Office. A week late at my house, I received the post card from the Italian Post Office one day earlier that the Vatican Post Office.
Photo Info
I used a Olympus C-750UZ 4.0 Megapixel Digital Camera. The images were cleaned up a bit with Adobe PhotoShop
Elements (To correct the color balance). Additional Camera Information
Vatican City State
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| Panoramic view of St. Peter's Basilica and The Apostolic Palace | You can just see Pope Benedict XVI in the center of the picture as he is being driven around St. Peter's Square in his Popemobile. | |
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| The Pope being drive up a a ramp to address the people from a platform on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica | The Pope addressing the audience in one of six languages that day (Latin, Italian, English, French, Spanish, and German) | One section of the crowd of onlookers in St. Peter's Square |
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| The Pope is leaving his audience in the Popemobile (A modified Fiat Campagnola). Note the license plate SCV 1 (Stato della Citta del Vaticano/Vatican City State 1) | A confessional booth in St. Peter's Basilica. Note the sign that this one is for Italians | The interior of the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica |
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| The high alter of the St. Peter's Basilica under the Baldacchino | Interior of St. Peter's Basilica | The Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica. It is only opened on great occasions such as Jubilee years |
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| The tomb of Pope John Paul I, who was pope for 33 days | The tomb of Pope John Paul II | The Swiss Guard of the Vatican |
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| Looking down on St. Peter's Square from the top of St. Peter's Basilica | The Exterior of the Dome of The St. Peter's Basilica |
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