The Museums open at 9 and we got there by 9:15, only to find there was a line...
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Wrapping around the walls of Vatican City
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And on, and on
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And on, until its terminus, more than a kilometer later, just outside St. Peter's Square
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None shall pass, quoth the Swiss Guard
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In Bernini's colonnade, 4 massive columns deep all around, the
grandest of all such structures, I think |
So at this point, just about that far from the great church, we decide maybe we'll
just visit St. Peter's instead of the Museums |
Outside, by one of the fountains in St. Peter's Square, some younger persons
practice transubstantiation with their brewskis |
Inside, one of the most famous of all masterpieces, behind a
glass wall and twenty feet away |
We wandered about the great nave for a while, and then there was music and
a procession; and mass began; "oh, right, it's Sunday" |
This is about as close as we got; another guard, 45 minutes later, told us there
would be masses and other religious events all the rest of the day, but that we could see the nave, the treasury, etc. |
The great Michaelangelo dome
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Operators are standing by...OK, by this point I was feeling more than my usual
cynical/impish self |
One of my favorite images of St. Peter's; even a hardened cynic has to be awed
by all the history, majesty, art, and architecture |
But no, it was His Holiness, Himself, delivering His Sunday message; a bit of
a thrill even for us, indeed redeeming all of the day's mishaps, so far... |
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