Roma Secondo Giorno (May 8)
Part 1 Back to the Vatican.
We began our day by, you guessed it, walking back to the Vatican. I really wanted to see the first conclave of smoke on day two of the conclave (I am posting this in May 9). I had to talk Paige into it bc he feared I would want to hang in the square the whole day. I was really hoping to see father Joseph and father Juan so that we could take our photo with them, but we did not see them and I’m very sad about it . As soon as the black smoke appeared after the morning votes around 1150 am, we headed out. Luckily, it wasn’t anywhere near as crowded as it was last night.
Part 2 On the Way to the Forum.
We stopped at a restaurant on the way to the forum to get some Roman pasta Carbonara, and Amatriciana. We passed right by the pantheon (we did not plan to pass by) A funny thing happened, we walked by one of the places that I remembered from 18 years ago, a delicious granita bar. I had only talked about it since we arrived in Italy.
After we ate our delish pasta, we had the granita Café con panna.
I asked the owner how long they have been there and he said 40 years and I knew that it was the place that I fell in love with granita. It was just as delicious as I remembered it! Granita originates in Sicily. The owner‘s family is from Noto. He was so happy that we came back after 18 years lol.
We took some photos of the pantheon (we didn’t go in) and headed to the forum. We spent a lot of time in that area checking out the ancient Roman sites, listening to Rick Steves free audio podcast, took photos of the Colosseum, but did not go in but as listened to Rick Steves again! We made our way to the Basilica of San Clemente (we did go in). We did visit 18 years ago. We both think that it has been excavated a lot more than it was when we were there the first time. It is three floors, two of which are underground and the bottom temple was pagan. It is way more organized and more relics were uncovered and restored. The forum was also more organized and official and you now have to pay and there are numerous walkways and signage.
Part 3 The White Smoke!
We just got back to our room to charge our phones and get ready to head back to the Vatican for the second voting when we heard that there was white smoke. It was about 615 pm. The pope was elected! We literally ran (along with thousands of others running) back to the Vatican so that we could see the new pope being announced and give his first blessing to the crowd at the square. Thousands jampacked into the Saint Peter Square. It was very special for us to be present for our first United States Pope and quite an experience! We feel truly blessed. It was also quite an experience getting out of the square since they had fence blockades everywhere. Ppl were climbing over fences and we had to shimmy over the side of a huge column to get around a fence. Cars were blocked by hoards of people walking in the streets.
On our way back to our room we had a nice dinner, Cacio e Pepe again! Now it’s time to relax. But we do go back to tour the Vatican and St Peter Basilica in a couple of days, we don’t need google maps! And I am hoping that they will reopen the Sistine Chapel.
Today we go through the doors of the Bacilica of Saint Paul outside the wall.
I will try to add photos but it takes a long time. That is why my posts are so late.
Photos at the square for the morning voting session day 2 of the Conclave
The Colosseum, the Forum and San Clemente chiesa
Pope Leo the first Pope in US history
Being in Rome in the St Peter Square for the announcement for the first US Pope is a true blessing and a memory that we hope to never forget. It was quite a surreal experience.
