Easter Weekend in Rome

This past week has been crazy in Rome because of Easter, and now the impending Beatification of Pope John Paul II.  My friend Caroline was still here on Friday so we woke up really early to go to the Vatican and the Vatican Museums.  We had tried to go two times previously but it had been too crowded so we got to St. Peter's at 7am and then waited for the museums to open at 9.  It was a struggle waking up so early but finally seeing the museums was worth it.  Plus, that early in the morning St. Peter's Square was almost completely empty.  The Vatican Museum was amazing.  I had been there once before a few years ago but I forgot about what was inside.  My favorite statue was the Belvedere Torso which is an ancient statue that later became influential for Michelangelo.  The museums were huge, with a whole room of tapestries, maps, and Raphael rooms which were so colorful.  The Sistine Chapel was great too, but we were not allowed to take pictures inside.

Original Augustus Statue

Belvedere Torso

Raphael Rooms

On Friday night I went to the Stations of the Cross with two of my friends.  It was at the Colosseum and it was so packed we had to stand really far away in order to see anything.  The Pope was there reading out all the different stations.  It was really nice because there was special lighting on all of the monuments and everything looked pretty.

On Sunday I went to Easter Mass at the Vatican.  We had to get there at 7:30 am because there were going to be so many people.  I didn't even expect to be let in, because we didn't have an official ticket but once they let in a bunch of people with tickets they started letting in people without tickets.  Once people were let in, they started sprinting to the seats, so we ran too because we didn't want to stand.  Lucky, we got seats in the front row of the second section back so we were really close.  Once the Mass started, there was a big procession of all the Swiss Guards and then finally the Pope came by on the Popemobile.  He was so close and I couldn't believe it!  He said the whole mass, which took about two hours.  Then he disappeared for a few minutes and then reappeared on a big balcony of St. Peters and said "Happy Easter" in about every language.  People from certain countries would cheer when it said it in their language.  It was crazy how many people came to Rome from all over the world just to go to the Easter mass.  It was one of the best experiences I have had here, because there were just so many people, tens of thousands, crammed into St. Peter's Square.  There were even huge screens set up on different streets so people could watch from there too.

The Pope giving out communion

The Pope on his balcony