On my second night in Rome I decided that I needed to get out into the city. I went out with a group of students from the JFRC. We were trying to get to a neighbor hood on the side of the river opposite the Vatican so we all got on a bus which be believed would take us there. After a while we realized the bus was not going to take us where we thought it was and got off at the next available stop. We decided just to explore the area where we were. We found the river and a street festival/market on the river and walked around a bit. When we came out on the other side of the market we noticed a castle. Yes, a castle!
We walked all the way around the
Castle Sant Angelo and found a honking set of doors that was extremely impressive. After circling the building and realizing the entrance was were we started we went back to get inside, but stopped to get a view from the bridge leading into the castle. I saw a big dome and asked Matt (the most knowledgeable in Italian language and culture) what it was. "That's the Vatican!" was his reply. So of course we headed off to the Vatican.
As we drew closer to St. Peter's Square it hit me: I am in Rome! The square was blocked for the night but I stood at the edge in total awe of St. Peter's Basilica. It was even better than I imagined, glowing against the night sky in all its majesty. After taking our time to soak in the fact that we were at the Vatican we decided to walk around the wall to see if there was a place to get a drink (later we got some granitas which are kind of like snow cones only way better).
On the way we found a water fountain coming out of the Vatican wall. Since we were hot and thirsty we decided to drink from the fountain that we figured must be holy water since it was pouring out of the side of the Vatican. It was cool and refreshing and from the Vatican Wall! I am so glad that we got on the wrong bus and happened to see the Vatican. It was absolutely amazing!
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