Tuesday 8 October - St Peters, Markets and St Paul Outside the Walls

When we got to St Peter’s the queues were very short and within about 15 minutes we were inside the Basilica. We had planned to try for 8.30 Mass but were told it had started at 8.00 and was in French and almost over. So we walked around, absorbing as much of the overwhelming beauty as possible. It’s incredibly ornate but this church is obviously a place of worship. They have priests hearing Confession in lots of languages, so we went to Confession, then we went to the 9.00 Mass which was in Italian.

This is the tomb of Pope Saint John Paul II.

We walked round looking at so many different altars, monuments to Popes, looked through several souvenir shops and I bought a silver cross and chain. After a couple of hours we left and headed for the Giordano Bruno statue for a daytime look. It was very different in the daytime with lots of market stalls; we had our first restaurant meal – lunch at a pizza place. We had a glass of merlot and it was very yummy; of course we brought home a doggy bag. 

From the Vatican we caught a tram and then two trains to get to the Colosseo stop to walk to St Paul Outside the Walls. I saw it briefly in 2017 and decided it was a must to go back and spend a good visit. It’s not as ornate as some basilicas but again is a house of prayer. St Paul’s sarcophagus has been excavated and the church is built around it. We spent some time praying in the little area beside St Paul’s tomb. It was a shame that several tour groups turned up while we were there but I guess that’s tourism! There was the obligatory gift shop which also stocked wines and edible items made by the monks. We bought a block of 70% chocolate and have dubbed it our Holy Chocolate – ready for the right moment to be consumed!

 

By now we were weary travellers and left there about 5.00pm to make our way home on the metro, stopping for a few fresh supplies at a little co-op supermarket. Our fifth angel opened the apartment complex door for us. Another lovely day! Tomorrow we head for the train from Termini to Venice.