Weekend Reflections

Here's the beautiful Ponte Sant' Angelo
reflected in the Tiber, with the
dome of Saint Peter's beyond and Castel
Sant' Angelo on the right.
(And I apologize for the gigantic billboard
 in the center.  I guess they'll pay
for the reno of the building by enveloping
it in advertising in the meantime.)

To see more Weekend Reflections,
visit James's meme.]

he's a halberdier

In addition to all of his other finery
(how about those red ostrich
feathers?), this young Swiss Guard
is sporting the civil merit 
medal—though I have no idea what 
he had to do to earn it.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday
and Our World Tuesday.]

The pope's protectors

I'm not sure what makes a young man want
to join the Swiss Guards—but I doubt it's for the 
privilege of wearing that hat.  Actually, it's a
very prestigious (and hard-to-get) posting.  Since
Pope Francis fired a commandant two
years ago for being too tough on the guards, it
might be a less rigorous gig.  (Apparently, the pope
came out of his apartment one morning and
found that the guard there had been on duty all night.
He brought the young soldier a chair and ordered
him to sit, then went back in, made him a 
sandwich and brought it out to him.)

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

The Weekend in Black and White

I went into the "vault" for this shot that I took at
the Vatican 46 (!) years ago.  (I've never seen any part
of the place this empty at any time since then.)

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

You must remember this . . .

A little over 35 years ago, I took my
first trip to Rome, armed with my trusty
SLR camera and plenty of Kodachrome.
(And back then, I wasn't even winded
when I got up here to the top of St. Peter's!)

[The theme for this Thursday Photo Challenge
is "photography."  To see more, go here.]

Saturday Photo Hunt

The category for this Photo Hunt is "circular,"
and this gorgeous circular staircase (designed in
1932 by Giuseppe Momo) can be found in the
Vatican Museum. Actually, the stairs form a double
helix, with one leading up and the other down.
Wonder what the folks at the Vatican thought 21 years
later when Crick and Watson discovered the double helical
DNA strand and that formation came to represent life itself.


[To see more of the Photo Hunt, visit Sandi's meme.]

St. Peter's

Today we have tickets for the Vatican Museum (pre-booked—

don't want to risk a long line even in November), and 

hope we don't encounter stormy skies like this because I'd 

love to climb up to the top of the dome (again, after 32 years!).

Photo Hunter — "colorful"

The Swiss Guards have been serving the pope

for more than 500 years. Their colorful outfit has 

evolved somewhat over the years (from no

official uniform to this over-the-top ensemble), but 

it's generally believed that the inspiration for

this current version comes from a Renaissance-era

painting by Raphael.

[See more here @ tnchick's colorful meme.]

abc wednesday - V is for "Vatican"

Always impossible to see this place 

without hordes of people.

So here's an online tour of the Sistine Chapel. 

It may take a minute to download,

but totally worth it because you can use your

mouse to move around the room, and zoom in to see 

the details—AND you have the place all to yourself!

While you're there, check out the figure of King Minos 

(the guy who's having a painful problem

with a big snake) in the lower right corner of the

Last Judgment —it's Michelangelo's caricature of his 

enemy Biagio da Cesena, the Vatican official

who declared Last Judgment "unfit for sacred walls." As if!

[See more of ABC Wednesday here.]

Photo Hunter — "military"

This one was a challenge. Finally decided
to post this shot of Italian soldiers at the
Vatican. The Pope was about to leave for
a ceremony elsewhere in Rome (it was the
feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint
of all Italy). The road was lined with Romans,
tourists, and these young soldiers—who
remained just as they were when the skies
opened up a few minutes later. Wouldn't
it be nice if getting drenched while protecting
a man from people who (as far as I could tell
from looking around me) revere him was
the most dangerous duty any young soldier
anywhere in the world ever had to perform?
[See more Photo Hunter pics here.]

abc wednesday - K is for "key"

And this one is the key to the whole
Kingdom, apparently. This statue of
St. Peter, which stands in front of the
Vatican, was sculpted by Giuseppe di
Fabris in the mid-19th century.