Being Sunday, we decided to go and have a look at the crowds gathered in St Peter's Square to see the Pope. It wasn't far from our hotel, and soon, many people were seen converging on the same spot.
The great man did his thing on time at 12 noon. Although there was a deal of singing and praying going on, his part seemed to be more "and now lets give a big shout-out to the lads from Milan who have come so far to be here today."! Then much cheering and flag-waving ensued. Clearly there were people from all over the world - we saw a big banner reading "Ecuador". The catholic church has a very long reach ...
Afterwards, we dandered back along through the bohemian old quarter of Trastevere, eventually crossing the Tiber and heading for the Palatine hill with its ruins of many Roman buildings and palaces. In the event, although it is a peaceful area of parkland, we had difficulty interpreting the maze of massive brick buildings. Not very beautiful, as they have long ago been stripped of their marble facades; more homework required for next time!
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| Inside the Vatican City, and the streets are filling up ... |
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| The view from the back |
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| Under the distant canopy, the Pope is second on the left |
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| Through the binoculars - he can be seen after donning his mitre |
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Bridge over part of the Tiber leading to a mid-stream island with a rather good cafe
where we had coffee and cake |
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| Parts of the Flavian palace on the Palatine hill |
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| View over the city from Palatine hill |
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| Roma in the gloamin' ... |
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