A Glimpse into The Papal Residence

It is officially our first full day in the Italian capital of Rome and what a day! The glistening rays of the sun are well dispersed in the blue morning skies, the temperatures feel just somewhere around the mid twenties (of course in the Celsius degree), and it's a vibrant mood in the group. The walking tours in the sandwich city have just began, and needless to say, the excitement is almost tangible!

Walking on the streets of Rome, one hardly needs to make any effort to appreciate the various layers of history, the robust architecture and countless numbers of Churches most of which have now become museums. In fact, I remember our lovely and most wonderful guide, Katia G., pointing it out that one could actually spend and entire year visiting a different church in Rome every single. In other words, there are at least 365 of these in the Roman capital. Breath taking, right?

On the other hand, as we strolled along the streets, there were other attractions besides the basilicas and the various Obelisks that could be spotted as landmarks on various parts of the cities. Just in case you are wondering what the-pasta the obelisk is, take a deep breath and continue reading! I've got your back!

In a nutshell, an obelisk is a tall monolithic four sided monument that the ancient Romans "stole" from Egypt to demonstrate their conquest over the Pharaohs! (hope that helps). The most striking one to me was the Lateran Obelisk, perhaps the tallest standing in the whole of Rome. Hey, that stuff is tall and assuredly gigantic. Now, how on earth did the ancient Romans manage to ferry it all the way to Rome from Egypt? Well, while that may remain a minor mystery in my mind, one thing is crystal clear. The ancient Romans must have been notoriously determined!

One of those other attractions was the Pantheon which literally into "[temple] of every god." Our guides had it that it the building was earlier commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus - the first and possibly the best emperor Rome ever had. He is the guy who defeated the famous Egyptian queen Cleopatra and was also instrumental in the formulation of the constitution for the great Roman Empire!

The Pantheon is said to have inspired several other works in the Western architectural sphere right from the period of the renaissance on wards most notably being Brunelleschi's 42-meter dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. (We'll be heading there in a few days time!).

The most notable event of the day was the visit to the Vatican City. The Vatican is the world's smallest State in my opinion. But trust me, it's probably the most visited spot in Rome! Wait, what? A country in a city? Yes, that sounds just about right! In fact it would be right to say the Pope is the president!

It took us quite some time to get to the Vatican itself but every walk is always worth it! As we approached the Papal residence, we could not help but wonder how long the lines were! If you've ever seen a railway line then you know what I'm talking about! Endless queues of humankind, all anxiously waiting to enter through the gate was my first impression of the Papal residence! We were not different as we walked on the opposite side of the road to avoid the congestion making it to the entrance ahead of thousands of other tourists.

For me, the Unique is always what gets my attention instantly! What was it this time? I found it particularly interesting that this is the first time in modern history where there are two Popes living in the Vatican at the same time. Little did I know that peaceful co-existence has always been a problem in the past especially when there were two Popes alive at the same time.

Also, that the Pope doesn't live in his actual Papal mansion was quite some news to my ears. But then we are talking about Pope Francis. Let's face it! He is simply different! Period.

After the long and hefty Vatican tours, I was for the first time too tired to walk back to the hotel so I decided to board the bus and enjoy a wonderfully refreshing ride to Hotel Vilafranca! Back to the hotel Rome, there was only one major agenda on my list and I would call it a day! Dinner.

#Vatican #Travels #SummerinItaly #Obelisk