Pope Merchandise Anyone?

Picking up from the Vatican City...

While in St. Peter's Basilica, we were bombarded with photos of the current Pope. I was somewhat amazed at how much of a celebrity the Pope is, and somewhat confused as to why there needs to be so many products with the Pope's face plastered on it... I confess I did not know what the Pope looked like prior to my expedition to the Vatican.

Well, now I know.

(Un)fortunately, I didn't take any photos of the merchandise.

Moving onwards from the Vatican, we proceeded to Castel Saint Angelo (I think?), which was topped with a statue with a rusting sword.

You can't really see the rusty sword, but it would've glimmered if it's not rusty, right?

This castle gives a pretty good view of the Vatican City. It's not a tall building, but everything else in Rome are pretty close to the ground. At night, the street lamps shimmer on all sides of the castle. Since it's a little quieter than the streets below, I remember it as a relaxing stroll. As these memories distance themselves from me, I can't tell you how much accuracy there is in my statements.

Afterwards, I got my first gelato in Rome! It was so good that I got one the next day, and two days after... Many many gelatos to contribute to my weight gain.

The Ruins

On the way to see the Coloseum, we stopped by the ruins for a somewhat spooky photo at night... took many shots to get the lighting "right". My photography skills need some nurturing!

After seeing the Coloseum at night, we returned again in the day for a look of the inside. Did it look bigger from the inside? I think it did, but will need my wonderful travelling companion to remind me... My memory has failed me. Regardless, it was a little surreal to step foot into such a historical site. It was rebuilt, though, wasn't it. Again, my memory fails me, Wikipedia to the rescue (when I have time)!

Roman soldiers still patrol the Coloseum!

It's amazing, isn't it, that Roman soldiers still take posts there? *You can imagine me falling out of my chair from laughing how lame my joke is here* The line outside the Coloseum is long, as advertised everywhere. We decided to pay for the audio guide to "queue jump", though we didn't pick the guide up because there was a line for that as well (I think it was an extra €4?). It must've saved us about 30 minutes? Can't remember that either. Memory deteriorates too quickly. Perhaps the guided tour would've been interesting?

Guess Rome requires a part 3 post. Stayed tuned if I haven't bored you out of your mind yet. It's just fun for me to reminisce.

By fishii with 2 comments