Saint Peter's Square is actually an oval--figures doesn't it?  It was the site nearly 2000 years ago of Nero's Circus, which was a huge, cigar-shaped Roman chariot race course.  We saw this over and over in Rome--churches on top of Roman ruins.  Amazing!  Supposedly Saint Peter was martyred in this square about A.D. 65 and his remains were buried in a cemetery that was located near where the main altar of Saint Peter's Basilica is today.  Peter, of course, is recognised as the 1st Pope so it is appropriate that he be buried in Saint Peter's.

Finally about 7:30 the line begins to move and we are funnelled through the security check--x-rays for us and our hand carried bags.  We have some water, granola bars, and last nights pastries along with umbrellas as it looks like rain.  Once through we rush with the crowd to get to the "best" seats which the nun yesterday told us are along the barriers on the left-so that we can see the Pope as he comes by in the popemobile. We get 3 seats on the left side about half way back from the stage in front of St. Peter's Basilica--Tammy is in a seat by the barrier with me right behind her with Mike next to me.  Now we just wait.

While we wait and chat with the people around us--a grandmother and her granddaughter from Oklahoma, a family from Argentina, and 2 older women (in their 90s) from Ireland--we eat the pastries we bought last night as our late breakfast.  Tammy and I decide about 8:30 that we should do a bathroom run before the audience begins around 9--the bathrooms are right across from us--but there are 2 barriers and a walkway/driveway patrolled by the Swiss Guard so we have to climb over people, walk down to the end, across the drive-way and back up to the doors to the restroom.  The nun yesterday told us to be sure and be on the left side as that is where the best restrooms are--the ones that have been renovated--We did wonder what the others would look like but not enough to brave the crowds to get over there.

About 9 a.m. the cardinals and other dignitaries come out onto the canopied area in front of St. Peter's Basilica.  They welcome the Pilgrims here today and list the various countries and in some cases the names of special groups.  As will be done throughout the morning, each of the announcements is given first in Italian then in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and English.

When that ends, the excitement is palpable--out from the back left side comes a cadre of men in black suits surrounding the Pope in the pope mobile.  Pope Francis does not use the one with the glass cover--he stands in the open and waves at the people.   Then he is driven across the front then down and around the right side, then across the back and up by us.  People are rushing to the barriers--I am beginning to think I shall be crushed when this barrier falls and they charge out to get to the Pope.  But no, we just all yell and wave our hands.  I wonder why Mike is pushing on me but it turns out that one of the Irish women who is 94 has climbed onto the folding chair to see and is using Mike as her prop.  He also complains later about some woman who kept waving her arm in front of his camera and ruining his shots--I look at the photos!  Guess what?!  It was me!

After the "drive by", Pope Francis goes to the canopied area and gives his homily about the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.  It is in Italian so we don't get much out of it.  It is supposed to have been on line in English later in the week but I don't think we'll remember to look for it.  It has been cloudy and cool so far but when the Pope begins to speak, the sun comes out and it is now very hot and steamy.

Finally at 10:15 the Pope begins the blessing of all of us who have come to the audience, blessing of any artifacts that we have brought with us--such as our rosaries (yes both Mike and I actually have one), and blessings on any of our family who are ill.  Then the blessings are repeated in each of the languages.

The audience is over about 11:30 a.m.  We wait while the crowd begins to disperse. While we are waiting we watch the Pope go to talk with the wedding groups, some special groups who are seated near the altar area, and then with a group of young people who have a banner and are chanting "Fran-ces-co" over and over (Mike thought they were saying Stop that Pope and couldn't figure out why!).  Once the crowd has lessened we head for the line to get into Saint Peter's Basilica.  Because this is a Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Holy Doors are open for Pilgrims.  The Holy Doors are a set of doors in every basilica that are sealed until the sitting Pope decides that there will be a Holy Year (about every 25 years) or a special Jubilee year which is chosen by the Pope (this is a Jubilee Year).  The pope knocks on the door 3 times with a silver hammer (Isn't there a Beatles song about Maxwell's Silver Hammer knocking 3 times?) and then the pope opens the sealed door.  At the end of the year Pope Francis will close the doors with bricks and a ceremonial trowel.  Cool, huh?  We are trying to walk through as many holy doors here in Rome as we can.

So through the doors we go into Saint Peter's Basilica.  OMG!  The interior of this place is amazing!  It is more huge than one can ever imagine--and all of the carving, the marbles, the glitter, the paintings--just WOW!  For example, Rick Steves say that the window at the far end as you enter is 2 football fields away.  The statues are enormous and the gold band running around the top of the pillars is 7 feet high!  Of course it doesn't look like it is because it is so far away.  It is said that the basilica will hold 60,000 standing worshippers.   Although it is huge, one just feels a sense of awe and amazement at the splendour.  As with many of the other churches in Rome many of the stones used to build this basilica were scavenged from the buildings of ancient Rome, in this case the ruined law courts. 

The dome which can be seen from around the city is really beautiful.  It soars 448 feet from the floor of the cathedral to the top.  When Michelangelo was 71 the sitting pope persuaded him to work on the "church project" and to complete it with a dome.  He died before it was finished so if you look up at the dome he only finished what is known as the drum of the dome (the circular base up to the windows)--architects using his designs completed the rest of the work.  Under the dome is the bronze canopy which covers the altar.  The main altar is used only when the pope says mass and the columns are made of bronze melted down from the Pantheon.  The bronze canopy also covers the tomb of St. Peter.  Some say that the bones that are under here are actually Peter's--others say that can't be.  According to history the original church was built on top of Peter's tomb in A.D. 326 and remained sealed until 1940.  At that time the tomb was opened for study and the bones of a "robust" man wrapped in an expensive cloth dated from the 1st century were found.  So is it really Peter?  Who knows?

One thing I must see of course is the Pièta.  The Pièta was completed in 1499 by Michelangelo when he was 24.  In fact it was his first major commission--what a way to begin your career!  I find sculptures very fascinating and Michelangelo's belief that he was "freeing" the God-made figure from a marble prison just amazing.  It is very beautiful and you can't tell it was damaged in 1972 by a man with a hammer.  Did you all know that Bob Cassilly of Turtle Park here in St. Louis was there at the time and was one of the people who stopped the person?  Small world, huh?  As a result of this desecration, there is now a bulletproof barrier in front of it.

Two other interesting sites (there are so many I can't name them all) are the bronze statue of Peter under a canopy which was one of the few pieces from the earlier church.  He's wearing a toga which is different and it actually may have originally been a Roman senator who just got renamed.  His big toe has been rubbed smooth by the lips of pilgrims--Ick!  We took a photo of Tammy touching his toe but no way were we going to put our lips on it!  Another interesting sight is the tomb of Pope John XXIII.  In 2000 when the beatification process was beginning, his body was exhumed and low and behold he was still as they say "surprisingly fresh"!  So he was put in a glass box and on show here in the Basilica.  He was canonised in 2014 so be sure to stop and see this "oddity".  Doesn't he look a little waxy to you?

Mike and I decide we want to tour the Treasury (the Tesoro di San Pietro) and see the jewels and gold as well as the relics and reliquaries. Tammy decides to hear mass in Saint Peter's instead--that isn't something everyone has done, for sure.  It was an amazing walk through this area--ending of course with a gift shop where we bought a bottle that could be filled with Holy Water from the Sacristy--the time was very near when they closed so we asked and they said yes they would fill it.  We paid and gave the bottle to a young man who scurried behind the closed barrier and then came back with the bottle full--we got this for Tammy as she hadn't come with us in here.  We wondered if the water really came from the Sacristy or did he just get some from a fountain back there?  Apparently we are way too cynical and jaded! 

As we are getting hungry--our one little pastry didn't really last--we walked down the street to find a restaurant.  Finally out of desperation we chose the Antico Café San Pietro--which turned out to be a very mediocre cafeteria.  The food was just okay--pasta of course and some fried fish.  Before we head back out to tour we decided to check out the facilities--well this one was different--one door with two doors behind it--one for men and one for women but they share a sink.  They sure do things differently in Europe than we do here.

On we go down the street to the Bridge of the Angels (Ponte Sant' Angelo) and the Castel Sant' Angelo.  This fortresslike building was originally built as a tomb for Emperor Hadrian and served as a tomb for the emperors until A.D. 217.  In A.D. 590 Pope Gregory said he saw the Archangel Michael with his sword over the mausoleum signifying the end of the current plague--thus the name Castle of the Holy Angel.  During the Dark Ages the place was a fortress and a prison and has an elevated corridor that connects it to the Pope's quarters in the Vatican and was built in 1227.  It is a huge monolithic brick structure looming over the Tiber river with lavishly decorated apartments for the popes on the top floors.  If you don't mind climbing this is a must see.

Tammy decided the climb would be too much so she would stay outside by the river--there are vendors and musicians, etc. walking around.  Mike and I head in and wind our way from the bottom to the very top.  Once up there we look for Tammy so we can wave but don't see her (she had been watching for us also but no luck!).  Back down and we begin to search for each other--we ended up having to text to find where we could meet--she was by the Bridge but behind some people so we missed her.  The bridge was also built by Hadrian so that he could get to his tomb quickly from downtown.  The angels on the bridge were designed by Bernini (one thing we found out is practically every fountain and statue seemed to have some Bernini connection) and of course are very Baroque in design. 

We are very tired so we took a taxi back to the room.  Once there we decided a nap was in order before dinner tonight.  Dinner tonight is at a restaurant suggested by Terry Tomaczik, a faculty colleague who comes to Italy regularly.  He suggested La Gallina Bianca which is only a few blocks from our hotel--off behind the Santa Maria Maggiore, up a street, by some street vendors (hmm--we'll check them out later), and down an alley.  Terry says the food is similar to what "regular" Italians would eat--not so touristy.  It is very eclectic inside but nice and cozy.  We begin the meal with bruschetta caprese and bruschetta with tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella.  Lovely!  Tammy orders 1/4 vino of Prosecco and Mike and I share 1/2 vino of a house red.  Both very nice.  For the main course Tammy had spaghetti alla carbonara while Mike and I each had paccheri con vongole (paccheri noodles with clams and shrimp).  The food was delicious.  We also shared a bottle of still water, of course and then Mike and I each had a sambuco.

Full of delicious food and wine we shopped our way up the street to our hotel.  We are sated and exhausted and tomorrow is another adventure.