Saturday, October 23, 2021: The Eternal City
By José Martha Muro
Our trip to the Vatican City started again at 6pm. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, after having some time to enjoy the beautiful city of Rome on our own, all the students and the staff met at the Obelisco di Piazza San Pietro. There we waited for our turn to enter the magnificent Basilica di San Pietro. Inside we were amazed by the spectacular immensity of this amazing building. In smaller groups, we wandered around the Basilica, stopping every few seconds to admire the art inside of the building. As we walked around, we found different types of breathtaking sights, from the perfectly preserved body of Pope John XXIII. Even though he died in 2005 his body has not decomposed yet by some miracle according to the Roman Catholic Church. Or the amazing paintings, statues or even the pillars reaching high up into the ceiling. After having an amazing view of the Basilica from the obelisk one more time, we left through Bernini’s colonnade. From there, amazingly the day only got better. Our tour of the Vatican Museum ended with a walk through the Sistine chapel. For me this was an amazing experience as it was my first time being inside this amazing work of art. As we walked around the museum, we saw different types of art spanning a couple of thousand years of history. Then we ended our tour in a quiet and amazing view of the Sistine chapel. Sadly, photographing the chapel is prohibited. After all this amazing touring, we had some time to view the city at night time. As we walked back to our bus parked near Piazza del Popolo, we felt so tired from the trip. My group decided to have a stop before boarding the bus to get some gelato. This lifted our spirits and made us want to walk back and admire the city again. After a day of walking and visiting such beautiful places in the Eternal City, the time to get back on the bus finally arrived.