Photohunt #14 - Triangle

                    

For this week's triangle theme, I'm showing some rooftops and facade of buildings in Europe.  This first photo is the triangular roof of the bell tower of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy.

 

               

This photo is of the top of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.  This triangle eave is in the center of the basilica. You can see a part of the dome in the background.

 

               

You can see the triangle roof of the Basilica of Constantine behind this

palace.  This is located in Trier, Germany.

 

               

These wood frame buildings with triangle designs can be found in Petit France in Strasbourg.

 

                     

This last photo is of Burg Eltz in Southwestern Germany. (Burg = castle).  This castle has a lot of triangular roofs.

 

                              

The Wednesday Papal Audience - How to Get Tickets

A visitor emailed me and asked for advice on visiting the Vatican and attending the weekly Papal Audience. I decided to write this post to share my experience and help those who plan to visit Rome.

When I was planning our trip to Rome, Italy last year, I knew that attending the weekly Wednesday Papal Audience is something I want to do. I read in a travel forum that I can get some tickets for this event from the American church in Rome. So I googled the website of the Santa Susanna church and emailed them to ask for tickets to the Papal Audience. I didn't hear from them until a few days before we left for Italy. They emailed back and informed me that they reserved the tickets for me and it will be ready for pick-up the evening (after 6 pm) before the audience. This is convenient although you need to take a taxi to reach the church depending on where you are that day. There is no fee for the ticket but they accept $ donations.

I also found out through reading Rick Steves' travel book about Rome, that you can get tickets directly from the Swiss guards that are posted on the entrance to the bronze door. Since I have no idea where this place is, I scrapped this idea. So there we were on Tuesday at the Vatican, we just finished the 3 hour visit to the Vatican museums. (If you plan to go, I suggest going in the afternoon where there are no lines to get in the museum.) We were wandering around, we turned a corner and I looked up and saw on the top of the stairs two Swiss guards and a big bronze door. Voila, there it is! There was a problem though, a barricade was placed at the bottom of the stairs and a Polizei was standing guard. So I told dh I'm going to try to talk my way in. I don't know why I said that when I don't know all but 10 words in Italian. Anyway, with my handful of Italian, I asked the policeman if I can go up the stairs to ask for some tickets for the Wednesday Papal Audience. I think I said something like "Perdone, I want tickets to the Papal Audience" while pointing towards the door. He probably know what it is because he said "Si". So there I went. I asked one of the Swiss guards in English if I can get four tickets. He went inside and came back with the golden Papal Audience tickets. So my advice is, if you will be at the Vatican days before the Wednesday audience, you can get these tickets. The bronze door is on the right side of the square if you are facing St. Peter's Basilica.

If you want to get a front row seat, you need to get there very early. When we arrived, it was around 9 AM and the first 10 rows were already occupied. We still had a good view of the Pope. As you can see from the photos, no one could really get up close because of the steps leading to the stage. Bring an umbrella because it can get very hot in the summer. Bring some water to prevent dehydration. The audience starts at 10 AM and there are big screens at strategic places so you can still see what's going on even if you are seated far away. Remember to dress appropriately if you are visiting the Vatican. I saw some people turned away because they wore shorts, mini-skirts, low-cut blouses or sleeveless shirts. The audience lasted for about 3 hours, it is LONG. The Pope did not say the Mass, he gave his blessings to those who attended and acknowledged the big groups that came from all over the world. If you are a Catholic and plan to visit Rome, I recommend going to the Wednesday Papal Audience.

If you have other questions about the Papal Audience, Vatican museum tour or Rome/Florence/Venice questions, feel free to email me. You will find my email address under MY LINKS at the right sidebar of this blog. :o)

Buon Giorno from Florence, Italy!

Hello! We are here in Florence now. Rome was beautiful! Well, actually, I'm talking about the sights and museums, not the street sights. For the ugly part, there were parts of Rome that we saw graffiti everywhere. It was during the ride from the airport to the hotel. The good part is that the historic sites and museums did not disappoint! I have to warn you though, I used a lot of adjectives in this post: amazing, beautiful, etc. LOL There are just no words to describe the beauty of what we saw. :)

We saw the Pope in his Wednesday Papal Audience. There were a lot of people from different parts of the world. I saw the pope's cap, buti na lang may big screen kaya nakita ko rin kung ano itsura nya. We got there at around 9:30AM and the Pope came in his PopeMobile around 10:00AM. You will know it since people started making noise and standing up on chairs. The whole thing lasted 2 hours since they acknowledged all the pilgrims from different parts of the world. Then at the end was the Papal Blessing. I had with me some Rosaries I bought from the day before in the Vatican Museum so that was blessed by the Pope.

St. Peter's Basilica was amazing, it is so HUGE and all the artworks and sculptures, left me speechless. The Pieta was breathtaking, too bad it was behind a glass so it is about 10-15 feet away. After seeing St. Peter's, all the other churches we saw just couldn't compare. That's how beautiful it is. I also noticed that in the more popular churches amongst the tourists like St. Peter's and the Duomo in Florence, they took out almost all of the pews. I was a little disappointed but I guess with the number of tourists that visit each day, it's a wise move.

We also went to the Vatican museum. The art collection of the Popes and also the designs of their private quarters are very lavish! That's one of the reasons why Martin Luther converted, after seeing it, I don't blame him, I might convert too! LOL We saw the Emperor Nero's bath tub, as you can see in the photo, it is HUGE! You can easily fit more than ten people in there. My favorite room is the Map Room, the ceiling is amazing!

My other favorite place was the Trevi Fountain. We went there at night and while walking closer I can hear the water flowing, we turned a corner and there it is. Beautiful! Amazing is all I can say. We stayed there for an hour just admiring the sculptures made by Salvi. I could go on and on but I don't want to bore you, if you're still reading this. :)

Anyway, we are spending three days here in Florence and will head off to Venice next. We will be seeing Michaelangelo's David and the painting 'Birth of Venus' by Boticelli. I'm excited to see it because I studied it in college. I'm overloaded with history and art that every artwork starts looking the same to me. LOL

Food is great too, I've never eaten so much pasta in my entire life. Good thing that we burn it off with all the walking we've done. Actually yesterday for lunch we had Chinese food just to break the monotony. :)

I could go on and on about everything I've seen but I don't want to bore you with details. I am enjoying this trip, can't you tell? LOL

Well, that's it for now. I don't know when I will be able to update again. I'm having problems with my laptop's charger or battery. The nice thing about this hotel in Florence we're staying at is they have a laptop and free internet access in every room. I will have to write about the hotels we've stayed in. If ever you will be visiting these cities, I highly recommend them.

I hope everyone is in great health. :)