Rome: Day 2- Part 1

Day 2:  Papal Blessing

 

 

Since we attended Mass at St. Peter's on Saturday evening, we slept in a bit on Sunday, enjoyed a hardy breakfast, and then made our way over to the piazza for the Papal Blessing at noon.  Although at the time we couldn't understand Pope Francis' Italian blessing, we couldn't help but feel in awe of what was happening.   The anticipation of waiting for the Pope to suddenly appear in the window kept us all on our toes, and then, there he was smiling and waving.  During the blessing, we kept hearing him say something about "the family."  Later, we printed the translated blessing to keep as another reminder of our time in Rome and seeing the Papa.  What a memorable experience for us all!  

 

 

 

 

 Found a good spot by the fountain about 1 hr before the blessing

 

 

Pope Francis appears in the 2nd window from the top right every Sunday at noon

 

 

 

 

 

Keeping the boys entertained

 

 

 

Check out this crowd!  The rain seemed to stop about 45 minutes before the Pope appeared.

 

 

 

 

 

 

C'est le Pape!/ It's the Pope!

 

 

Pope Francis

February 9, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back at St. Peter's from the Tiber River

 

 

 

 Tiber River

 

 

Photographer Aidan says, "Say Cheese!"  Colin says, "Say what!?!"

 

 

 

A tour of Castel Sant'Angelo

 

 

Castel Sant'Angelo dates back to 123AD and served as many types of buildings over the years.  Early on, it was a mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian and his family, then it was a papal residence and fortress, a prison and now a museum. 

 

During times when the Vatican may have been under siege, the Pope at the time, used a passageway in the old Vatican wall known as the Passetto, to escape the Vatican and find refuge in the castle. 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Michael the Archangel

Gorgeous views from the fortress

 

 

A peek shot of St. Peter's

 

 

 

Not a bad place to sip a coffee.

 

 

 

Beautiful cappuchino!

 

 St. Michael the Archangel sits on top of Castel Sant'Angelo

 

Legend states that Pope Gregory the Great had a vision of St. Michael standing on top of the fortress with his sword sheathed.  This was during an epidemic in Rome where the plague spread rampant.  They believed this symbolized the end of the plague and their prayers answered.