Monday, September 3, 2012

The Vatican & Pompei

To build up a sense of wonder and anticipation for a visit to the Vatican you must see the movie The Da Vinci Code & the Lost Symbol. It adds to the excitement and thrill of walking the hallowed city..
.. from the top of the dome of St Peter's basilica ..you can see St Peter's sq and the city of Rome beyond. In the middle ground is the River Tiber ( remember Horatio holding the bridge -- I think it was on the Tiber-- am I right?)
Soldiers of the Swiss National Guard who serve as the Papal guards. Many years back I would have loved to get a hold of their Kangols (berets)-- in fact it still interests me . These are Hans & Adam who seem to be guarding Anita ( temporarily). I asked them if I could meet with the Pope - they answered very curtly- No!!
. a view of the balcony where the Pope appears - we wondered if he ever just walked on to the balcony to take a whiff of fresh air -- apparently he does not indulge in such mortal pleasures
the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel-- unfortunately we planned so well that we arrived in the Vatican the day it was not open.. anyways there was enough to see and appreciate -- i was glad -- maybe it would have been too much for one day..the basilica inside was extremely beautiful-- the cheap camera we had did no justice
a two hour train ride from Rome to Napoli + metro down to Pompeii you must see the movie "the last days of Pompeii" before you visit the Vesuvius / Pompeii combo.
.. the audio devices + the movie ( the last days of Pompeii) were very useful else no one can make sense of the ruins
Anita standing at the entrance of what was supposed to be the local politicians home
& me pointing to a stone - who knows what significance it could have had :) ( before Vesuvius devastated the villages of Pompeii & Herculean)
another pic to give you a sense of what pompeii looked like -- a very well planned city constructed with neat right angled streets and sturdy construction-- obviously no match for molten lava .. next - The very scenic & sun-filled Amalfi coast on the Tyrrhenian sea.

6 comments:

RAJNI KHANNA said...

Neeraj like ur descriptions....one is eager ....what next.

Ash said...

The descriptions add volume to your pictorial recapitulations; will you be adding more pictures in the days ahead.

Were you still going for your morning jogs which reminds me, did you miss your dog?

prem and kamal said...

Pictures of Vatican city and the monuments of Pompei are very clear to see.It appears that besides Anita all of you are well looked after by Swiss guards on your tour.
Our best wishess.
papa and ma

The Queen Of Light said...

WOW YOU WENT TO POMPEII!! I wish you had fun there.

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