Castel Sant' Angelo, now a museum, was constructed in 139 AD as Emperor Hadrian's mausoleum and later used by the popes as a fortress and castle ..,
Me and Deb Easter on a rainy Campo day at La Carbonara
We had our first guests yesterday (Friday, September 16), friends from Seattle who were flying through Rome on their way to a Sicilian vacation. We had appetizers at our place on Via di Sant'Onofrio (Brad made roasted peppers, eggplant, tomato, and zuchinni) and then took a taxi to Campo dei Fiori for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, La Carbonara. The food was great and it was great to catch up with Deb, a friend from my Jesuit Volunteers group, and meet her husband, Don. Buon Viaggio a Sicilia, friends!
The beautiful Campo dei Fiori (in spring)
I’ve been pretty homebound with the broken knee and the crutches—I can get around well enough, I just can’t go very far. I thought a wheelchair might help and one was finally delivered on Friday! (The website said we could get it within two hours but it actually took four days…) So, this morning, Brad and I went on an adventure—a walk to lunch on Borgo Pio and then to St. Peter’s Square and Basilica. Here's our (dash-line) route and trip in pictures!
A trip that normally takes 7 minutes took a bit longer ... the Borgo, just outside Vatican City (outlined in gray at left), became prosperous in connection with the current Basilica (built between 1506 and 1626!) and the Popes moving there . . .
Brad and my chariot outside the gates to our house on Via di Sant'Onofrio
The two sets of stairs and sloped street of cobblestones (slippery when wet!) to the main street (Brad bumped the chair down and I hobbled on my crutches) ...
The stairs going further up Via di Sant'Onofrio ... we're lucky the house is where it is ...
The main street just north of us
Castel Sant'Angelo and the Tiber ...
Gates of the Borgo
It's Vatican City after all ....
Can't stop taking pictures of the ubiquitous "fontane" ...
Borgo fountain
Fountain in St. Peter's Square
Borgo Pio for lunch
Artichoke in pastry for appetizer, pasta with seafood, and insalata mista ...
People lined up for the Basilica in what looked like Donald Trump hats ...
The hats actually said "Giubileo - Anno della Misericordia"
And the people were pilgrims waiting to go through the "holy door" of the Basilica, opened only for Jubilee Years like this one, 2016.
Jubilees currently happen every 25 years but this is a Special Jubilee Year of Mercy, announced last year by Pope Francis at the time he predicted his papacy would be short. It started in December 2015 and ends on November 20. It is the 30th Jubilee year of the Catholic Church since the practice started in the 1300s. I just signed up tonight and got email confirmation of my on-line "pilgrim registration" from the The Organizing Secretariat for the Jubilee of Mercy: Brad and I plan to walk through the door on November 2, All Souls Day! I'll leave you with a video of the procession ...
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