ROME - Sunday

Today we explored

 Rome!

We met up with Kelly in the foyer after breakfast, but our chat was brief as we were heading off for a tour of Rome and Kelly's group was departing to head further south.

The bus took us to the Vatican, where we began our trek through the streets of Rome. First stop was the Pantheon, an incredible example of ancient architecture  and engineering.

 

From there we conducted our own mini pilgrimage to the church of St Ignatius of Loyola. The exterior gives no indication of the splendor within.

Our adventure continued along the streets of Rome, to the Church of Gesu. As Mass was in progress, our exploration of the church was limited, but it brought back many memories of the visit in 2011.

From there, we made our way back to St Peter's, in time for the appearance of Pope Francis at a Vatican window at 12.00 noon. Although it was pouring rain, there were plenty of people in the Square to listen to the Pope's address and receive a Papal Blessing.

We were very excited to be blessed by the Pope, Pappa Francesca and also held up our rosary beads to receive the blessing! The picture shows the window in which Pope Francis appeared, although photos taken with the camera are much clearer.