Roma Primo Giorno
The train to Rome went very smoothly thank goodness no power outages. We sat next to a very busy Italian woman who was working on her laptop. We sat across from each other so we could play cards. It gave me a chuckle to see parents at the side of the train at one of the stops watching their daughter (college age) get on board to Rome. Mom was waving and waving and waiting for a nod from inside and the daughter never looked out the window. Finally mom called her. It’s a universal mom thing lol.
When we finally arrived around 1 pm it was pouring rain. By the time we walked across the street to the bus station it was a drizzle and when we reached our new home for the next five nights (Travastere neighborhood) it was sunny and pleasant weather.
We were getting hangry so we quickly picked an outside cafe that was on the way to the Vatican. Of course it did not disappoint. We shared cacio e Pepe (pasta with cheese and pepper) and a pollo Romano, both delicious.
We still had a little over a mile walk to the Vatican. It is surreal that we arrived on day one of the Conclave. In case you missed the Stanley Tucci movie, I googled it here:
“A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope. Catholics consider the Pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church.”
I made arrangements for the Jubilee of Rome the day after I got our plane tickets for our adventure. I signed up to walk through all four of the Basilica doors that only open during the Jubilee every 25 years. I purposefully chose the dates for the jubilee of marching bands to celebrate my dad the marching band man. Each week is a different celebration this whole year 2025. I guess I did imagine that we see a Conclave since Pope Francis was very very sick before we left for our trip but again when in Rome for the jubilee and it is also the Conclave, the choice is easy to make, go hang out and see the smoke from day one.
As we got closer to the Vatican we could hear chanting from a Mass. They had grandstands and huge TVs set up just at the bottom of the street that walks up to St Peter square the whole way down to the river. It was crowded and by this time it was around 445 pm.
We continued to walk closer and closer to the square and it got more and more crowded. I convinced Paige to get even closer so we went through the xray machine security lines and joined the thousands in the square to continue to watch the live viewing of the Cardinals who were inside the Sistine Chapel. When their service ended at about 545 pm, the guards closed the Chapel doors and we then just hung out and watched the crowds pour in. I read that the square had 45,000 ppl. People are here from all over the world. A Bishop from TX was with two other priests. He quickly became the center of attention for lying down and talking a nap. He was probably photographed by 15 different professional photographers (and of course by me) and even interviewed.
I found him online: Argentina-born El Paso priest recalls Francis
We hung out with two young priests from Rochester NY and I learned a lot about past Popes, the difference between diocesan and religious priests and the fact that some Anglican priests rejoined the Catholic Church.
Once 7 pm hit we all turned our attention to the conclave on the roof of a building just next to the basilica of St Peter. The Sistine chapel is on the other side of the square. All of the cameras now displayed a live view of the chimney. The seagulls that landed on it were a hit. The overhead drone was also a hit. We actually stood there until 9 pm when they finally released the black smoke. We (me, Paige, Fr Joseph and Fr Juan) all decided it would be white smoke since it was taking so long, and because it was the Jubilee. All of our hopes were diminished and now we will go back for day two. As luck would have it, I kept today wide open when planning.
After we worked our way out of the crowds, we decided to walk across the river to see the Trevi Fountain lit up at night before our journey home. Yes, it was quite a long walk. The Trevi is weirdly very commercialized now with a strange light show. I liked it better 18 years ago. No extra hype is needed in my opinion.
We stopped just before for a pizza just before we got to our place. I do have to say it was the best one so far on this trip. Late night. Long post. Surreal day for sure. Rome part two to be continued.
