As we started to eat, the French couple rushed out and said in a mixture of Italian, English, and French..."Papa Francesco is at Saint Peters square...now. Everyone is going there." So, we hurriedly gathered our stuff together and headed in that direction, only to be met by more and more people going the same way. There was a sense of expectancy and excitement. This was just shortly after ten o'clock.
It's only a five minute or less walk to the square from our B&B, which, by the way is really a three bedroom lockout-type apartment with a common small eating area, but no lounge or sitting room. Each bedroom has its own bath with small shower, nicely done but minimal.
To continue...we arrived at the colonnade area and got in the security check line which funneled us into the huge piazza which seemed to be subdivided into a sitting area and farther back, a standing area. We squeezed into the sitting area and as we walked closer and closer to the front we realized that most of the seats were available. We really had no clue what was happening or where. Once we sat, right in the center facing St. Peter's on the aisle about six rows from the fence, we heard the Pope speaking and very close to our left was a large TV screen showing the Holy Father saying Mass...early on. People watching were divided - some were participating and some were just watching, TV like.
I tried to figure out if this was live or not and said to JM, "I don't think this is real. I think this is a rerun of an older Mass, maybe Pentecost or his first Mass after becoming Pope." A little while later, JM said, "Are they going to edit out Communion...there are a lot of people in there!" And then I said, "It's not real, because there are lots of Cardinals in there and if he's leaving tomorrow for the summer, they wouldn't come all that way".
We proceeded to watch and look around for more clues to what might be going on. Some people stood and kneeled, repeatedly and said the right responses as if they were participating! It was very strange because there were only about three or four people in the rows in front of us, and not many at all behind us. Most people were sort of in front of the TV screen. And there were people milling around the perimeter as well as around the entrances to Saint Peter's. at one point JM said,"I really don't want to sit here for two hours and wait for him to appear at the window...and he might not!" But still we sat.
Suddenly, out from the front doors came two very long lines of priests with ciborium ready to distribute Communion! We were flabbergasted and flummoxed to say the least! We started paying closer attention, for sure! And we moved closer...to the first row. People got in lines, sort of, and the priests fanned out on the other side of the fence to give Communion to the people in our sitting area. We were very humbled by that experience, to say the least. We expected nothing more, but after Mass ended, the crowds didn't disperse, but seemed to move toward the right hand side of the piazza, or closer to the Pope's apartment...and we noticed the window had a cloth hanging from it making it different from the other windows.
We waited while Saint Peter's emptied out, then we moved to our left, past the TV screen, and out through the colonnade near where we had entered. It was about 11:30-11:45. At noon, sure enough, Pope Francis appeared at his window and an enthusiastic crowd greeted him with applause and Italian wishes. He spoke for about 10 minutes or so with great feeling in his voice and sounded very hearty with his expressions. He asked everyone to pray with him and we did, and then he gave his blessing to all of us and talked a little bit more. I don't know what he said, but it sounded very friendly and very familiar.
I've posted a couple of photos from that very special time. Now, I realize it wasn't a private audience or a face to face one on one meeting, but to us, because it was so very unexpected...was so very meaningful. The frustrations we had had the day before had gone away and we were beginning our love affair with Rome.
Would the rest of the day match our morning? Well, we wandered the streets, taking hundreds of photos and stopped for a late dinner in one of the thousand eateries. We liked this one because it looked out on a quiet, old corner of buildings and wasn't jammed with noisy folks, but a few older groups who were eating and drinking with gusto! After dinner, we hurried toward the river and Castle area for fireworks set to begin at 9:30. We could hear very well the first of the noisy explosions as the sound bounced off the narrow cobblestone walkways and marble and stone buildings. And the crowds were growing much heavier the closer we got to the river.
But there was a problem...there wasn't enough room for all the people and the outdoor cafes weren't very happy trying to deliver dinner to diners swamped by this enormous crowd. At one point, we just couldn't move forward any more and the crowd started getting stupid...pushing and trying to get through even though it was not possible. I was behind JM and I felt that awful feeling of anxiety and that I HAD to get some breathing space...and there just wasn't any. I tapped his shoulder and tried to tell him I needed to get some space and he let me slide in front of him and then he spaced himself behind me but with some moving room. The display ended soon and we tried to continue forward but that wasn't possible. A stream of people had started going back and we joined in staying right close to the buildings for some space. JM guided us to a place where the human traffic was less and I was soon able to breathe like a normal person again.
That was pretty awful and reminded me of the bad experience in Kuala Lumpur at the KL Tower. I wrote about that earlier and when your anti anxiety med is back at the ranch...well, you muddle through the best you can. To end the evening we didn't need to get a taxi, as the adrenalin enabled me to walk another mile or so. We then tried gelato, ending the day with a resounding, "YUM"! It was a day to remember!
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