Il Vaticano! Et un petit rendez-vous avec le Pape

Obelisk

Salut, je suis très heureux que vous etes toujours intéressé par mes aventures en l’Italie. Bon, on y va…

Sorry for the lack of updating the blog yesterday. The network was absolutely wonky and kept getting disconnected, and it didn’t help that I was trying to figure out how to work ‘Hello’ with blogger. Can only upload one picture at a time and each one a different blog entry…will have to try and figure it out later again. Gave up trying to do anything by midnight and just went to bed. Charissa battled the network demons though and managed to plough through the night and got hers updated. If you guys want an alternative view to our travels, go to coconutgreentea.blogspot.com and savour un different point de vue. Ça va?

Road leading to the Vatican

I believe several of you would have gone to the Vatican before so the following would not be any epistemological revelation. Here’s an overview of the Il Vaticano.

Saint Peter's Square

This was after we managed to get into the Vatican. To refute a dear friend (the who makes a lot of noise while playing mahjong, you know who you are), I have been getting up early this entire holiday, though it is not exactly my cup of tea. The pope apparently grants us plebeians the pleasure of his presence every Wednesday and Sunday, so if any of you want to meet the pope (or in this case catch a glimpse of him), these would be the best days to go. Of course, it doesn’t help that the rest of the world thinks the same way too.

Crowd queuing to get into the Basilica

We had to jostle with an amazing crowd of people; and this was at 0930. At times like these, being a Singaporean helps; us being perennial queue cutting championship contenders. It was so chaotic and disorganised that through a fortuitous stroke of luck (actually was pretending to take pictures and made my way through the crowd), I managed to get us to the front of the queue. Even then, by the time we got in, it was 1020. The pope was scheduled to make an appearance at 1030 and the entire Basilica was packed to the brim, with hordes of screaming school children. Later through a nice nun (another nice nun also gave us plastic Vatican flags to wave around…haha…will bring back to decorate the choir room), and through a lovely French couple who interpreted the Italian for me, the Pope was to give a special benediction for all students today, thus the spike in the number of people visiting the Vatican. We were really blessed to have been able to attend the short little service, and being students, the gravity and significance of that benediction could not be more poignant.

Pope giving his benediction

Pope Benedict XVI

The entire atmosphere was electric, almost like a rock concert. As the Pope made his way up the aisle, we could see the people just go wild, and I mean really wild. Jumping, screaming and general orgasmia; it was like the Pope was some rock star or K-pop idol rather than the religious head of the Catholic Church. But the most disturbing was the sight of nuns swooning as he stopped to talk to them. Haha. Too bad the picture I took of that moment was too blurred and far away, it was almost hilarious to see nuns in their habits jumping like teenagers. And it wasn’t just the younger ones that were behaving like that. The sight of old Sisters waving their flags frantically with a huge grin plastered on their faces and calling out to the Pope…whoa…the image still haunts my sleep. Getting the shudders just writing this out now…

Words fail me as I try to find the terms to describe the Basilica. If you have been there in person, you’d know the inadequacies of language to provide words to the majesty and awe of the place.

Basilica


Rear of the Basilica


More of the Basilica

All that you see on the ceiling, the frescos and murals, it’s all gold. Gold, gold and more gold. It’s a plethora of riches. The ceiling soars above us and the entire Basilica is cavernous. As I mentioned before, we do not have the same gravity or grandeur in Singapore. The spirit both soars and shrinks here; we are made to feel so small in the presence of God, yet a part of our soul finds the freedom to explore the space, to move closer to a state of prayer because of the space. We are called to look within ourselves, to find the small corner of peace that we so often drown out in the noise of our everyday lives.

We went down to the crypt where past Popes where buried and saw the tomb of the late Pope John Paul II.

Tomb of Pope John Paul II

Just want to say something. I guess that most of us go through life just bumbling through it, taking what comes to us and most of the time avoiding the need to make painful decisions or to take the easy way out. Maybe sometimes, we are called to lead a life less ordinary, just like the late Pope did. How many of us would have had the same courage and tenacity to stand up, to take that first step and take up the cross, no matter how big or small? Do we have the will to find the strength to do what is right and not just what is most convenient for us? Many are called but few are chosen; I guess many are called, but even fewer truly answer it.

We headed off to the Sistine Chapel but by the time we got there at around 1230, it was closed. The ticketing office opens from 0900 to 1220 only and the chapel/ Vatican Museum (they’re the same place) closes at around 1530. So, if you want to visit the chapel, you have to get there within those times. If not, you’d have to come back again another day; which was what happened to us. Tickets cost 12 euros and students pay 8. Must flash your student card though and you must be below 26. Mature students need not try. Ha.

Thus thwarted, we went in search of the Castel Sant’Angelo.

Castel Sant'Angelo

It’s another crumbling ruin; the façade still holds, but the interior is testament to years of wearing and tearing. The interesting point about this place is that it was a refuge for past popes to escape to. There is a land bridge that connects the Vatican to the castle; according to an Old Italian man whom we chatted with, in times of crisis or if the pope was in imminent danger from invading huns and what not, he would run from the Vatican and seek sanctuary within the walls of the castle. The image of an old man with his mitre and robes running for his life from the Vatican…haha…sho cute, too irresistible not to conjure that up.

Ok, my favourite part, saving the best for last right now. This has to be the cutest army in the world; I figured that the main reason for their uniform (and I hesitate to call it that; the word is costume, not uniform. A uniform is like our no.4. Even Malaysia’s ugly electric blue crap qualifies as one. Cirque du Soleil probably inspired the genesis of this one) is to distract the enemy. Too busy laughing, can’t attack the Vatican, problem solved. Must have taken them years to figure that out. And it works; the Vatican hasn’t come under siege for like what, 2-300 years? Perfecto. Now for the SAF…

Swiss Guards (clowns) =)

One More!

Shall leave you with this picture; sitting on St Peter’s square and just watching the world go by, something we can’t do back home. Wish you were here.

Enfin, c'est la tranquilite de la vie