Vatican City, the… Vatican City

A Youth Backpacker in Europe

Part II Chapter VIII

Vatican City, the…Vatican City

It was a “holy” journey. It all started with the subway ride when everybody left the same  underground station. I wasn’t aware of the number of religious people surrounded me, but there were immense. I only started to realise that despite the unspoken conversation, we all shared the same destination – the Vatican City.

I didn’t even have to advise my map to get to the direction due to the swamp of tourists/worshippers/strollers that marched towards a single direction. I knew exactly where they were heading. I couldn’t be wrong.

No one spoke a single word and the atmosphere was somewhat intense in the early morning.

And then I was there, stood in the middle of the St. Peter’s Square, observing this vast area and tried to imagine the crowd during the speech of the Pope. I was, hmm, emotionless. Excuse me but I am not a Christian or a Catholic.

It was bewildered to witness a large horde of people rushed towards the “conference room” this  early in the morning to listen to what the Pope had got to say that day. Thousands and thousands of people were literally trying to test the capacity limit of the room.

It was confusing and I didn’t know where to go. The many entrances around the square seemed like a cobweb sprawling towards every possible direction and there were so many different queues and I had no idea which queue was for which purpose.

Therefore, I came out with the simplest solution – go for the shortest queue. And voila! I was in the building, walked pass aisle of aisle of “Popes” sleeping in serenity. And then I was in another level, observing some statues and paintings under the glittering and glamorous golden coated poles and rooftops decorations.

The entire environment was literally an imposition of the wealth and virility what a religion is capable of grasping and portraying.
And I saw the Pope, not quite literally but via the massive screen set up around St. Peter’s Square. What was his speech about? I had no clue at all. First of all, it wasn’t in a language I am familiar with. And more importantly, it wasn’t even a topic I could relate myself to.

There were so many travel guides that promise an entire day of visit in the Vatican City. But I deserted the place before midday. Whilst I was leaving the square at my back, I wondered, if it wasn’t because of the Pope, if it wasn’t because of the religion, will this place has any other major significance?

That was an unanswerable question. And I didn’t really care. All I cared about was where my next destination was in Rome, or simply started to study on my London trip.