Pilgrimage: Part 7

Wednesday, March 31
This morning we woke up at 4:00am. We quickly got ready and caught the 5:00am shuttle to the airport. We enjoyed our last, delicious French breakfast in the airport as we waited to check in. Unfortunately the computers were down at the airport, so it took us awhile to check-in. They actually had to give us a hand-written boarding pass!

Our flight ended up being delayed because of the computer problem in the Toulouse airport and apparently there were also some weather problems in Frankfurt (we had a connection there.) As we landed in Frankfurt we realized that we were going to be VERY close to missing our flight to Rome.

Long story short, we ended up JUST missing our flight. But it was one of those moments where I felt like we were in a movie... we literally ran as fast as we could through the airport, and it seemed like we ran through the entire thing. We had to go up flights of stairs, down a long hallway, then back down a bunch of stairs. We ran on the moving walkway, past a ton of other people, and when we got to our gate the lady was closing the door. I pleaded with her to please let us on. At first she said no. Then another couple came up behind us (also breathless from running) and the lady changed her mind. She asked us all for our boarding passes - but we didn't have any because of the Toulouse computer problem! The other couple got on, but we didn't. :( I was so upset! I had no idea when we would be re-booked and worried that it would screw up our plans in Rome.

My husband laughs when I tell this story because we ended up catching a flight less than 2 hours later. (I think Frankfurt is the busiest airport in the world, so it's not surprising that we could catch a flight to Rome!) But in that moment I didn't know how long we would be delayed. And I had thinking that if only we had our boarding passes she would have let us on.

Finally we arrived in Rome! We took the train from the airport to the main terminal and then took the metro to our hotel. But first we had to walk past this:
Our hotel was very close to St. Peter's Basilica and it was so wonderful to walk past it every morning and evening!

We took in the view and then went to our charming hotel to check-in.

After we got into our room our first order of business was to pick-up our tickets for the Papal Masses since the Chrism Mass was the next morning. After making a phone call we realized that the office was already closed. Bummer! We figured that we would have to miss the Chrism Mass, but we had plenty of other Masses to attend.

I decided to call Fr. Charlie (an American priest living in Rome that my friend Fr. Rob had put me in touch with.) He is from our diocese and we had exchanged emails before I left for our trip. It turns out that he had two extra tickets for the Chrism Mass! We made plans to meet at the fountain in front of St. Peter's the next morning.

We were pretty tired from our day of traveling, but we decided to make a quick visit into St. Peter's and then look for some dinner.

My husband standing outside St. Peter's Basilica. You can see all the chairs set-up for Easter Sunday Mass in the square.

Famous Bernini fountain in St. Peter's Square

These columns are huge!

The foyer before you walk into St. Peter's.

Ornate altar inside St. Peter's

Famous St. Peter's statue (people generally rub his foot because it's hanging off the side, but it was blocked off because of the chairs set-up for the Triduum Masses)

The floor of St. Peter's marks the other large churches throughout the world. This shows where the Shrine in DC would fit if it were inside St.Peter's.

Michelanglo's famous Pieta

List of all the Popes

The seal of Pope John Paul II on the floor of St. Peter's

Leaving the Basilica - you can see the Papal apartments in the background

In the columnade

After enjoying a quick tour of St. Peter's we found some delicious Italian seafood for dinner!
My hubby's seafood pasta

We strolled past St. Peter's at night and then collapsed into bed at our hotel... ready for an amazing couple of days in Rome!
Bernini's fountain at night