Vatican City

This is the smallest country in the world, as big as 6 football fields. I went there a few times during the trip, the first time I went the pope was speaking:

Pic by Cherry

The pope here is like a celebrity, the people LOVE him. St Peter's square felt like a football match, people were waving flags and banners, cheering for everything Benedict said. The German dudes I met in the Hostel said that when Benedict was elected as pope one German newspaper had a headline saying "We are the pope" (Benedict is German).

On my second visit I went inside the St Peter's Church:

When I looked up...



This sculpture is made of marble. I'm amazed at how they can make the clothing look so real , especially when marble is such a hard material to sculpt.

I wanted to go to the top of St Peter's that day, but it closed while I was in the queue! Doh! So I came back again the day after, took the elevator up and saw this:


and climbed these spiral stairs:


And narrow slanting passageways:

It was getting dark when I reached the top. I stayed there drinking in the awesome view until closing time.




By the time I left Vatican City it looked like this:


My Darling Italy, you are beautiful. Despite all the inefficiency and racism in you I can't help but think of coming back to see you again. Especially your architecture! It makes the Parliament house and Art Gallery look like cheap imitations.