|
|
| I took Frecciarossa, the high speed train from Firenze, enjoying rolling hills of wheat fields and olive orchards on my way to Rome. |
A 90-minute Frecciarossa ride brought me to the Roma Termini. As approaching, I got excited although it was my third time to visit this city. |
| |
|
|
| As soon as I checked in my hotel and left my baggage, I took off to the Vatican, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church.
|
As expected, in the Piazza San Pietro, St. Peter's Square, there was a very, very long queue of tourists waiting to enter the Basilica Papale di San Pietro, St. Peter's Basilica. As I had reserved an online ticket to climb to the cupola, the top of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, it was not a long wait for me. |
| |
|
|
| I was so energetic as I first started walking up the stairs, but soon got too tired. Yet, somehow I could not stop climbing the stairs and more stairs and more stairs and more stairs, feeling giddy. In some spots, the width of the staircase was very narrow with no railings and slanted because of the curvature of the dome. I stumbled a few times and felt suffocated. |
As I reached the top, what I saw took my breath away! I gaped in amazement and awe at the view of not just the Vatican but all of Rome. |
| |
|
|
Castel Sant'Angelo and the Tiber. |
Looking toward the southeast side, I could see
the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, Victor Emmanuel II in Piazza Venezia. |
| |
|
|
| From the opposite side, looking right down, it was the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo. |
I never thought the Vatican has this green. But I saw no one in the gardens despite this beautiful weather. I later heard that there was no general public access as it is owned by the Pope. No wonder... |
| |
|
| As I went down from the top of the Basilica, there was a terrace in the middle and saw this sea gull although the Mediterranean Sea is a bit far from the Vatican. |
|
|
