The Vatican by Daniele Somenzi

Vatican City By train in the very early morning, still dark, Federica and I set off from Massa station, destination Vatican City. Once in Rome, I take the opportunity to go to the Australian embassy to get a visa so I can go there, then on foot through the alleys of the capital to the great square of St Peter's, where we sit on the ground right at the edge of the big fountain and admire the imposing building in the sun. Wojtyla, we say to each other, is somewhere up there. We eat a sandwich and walk around a bit; this great square hosts a multitude of people every time the Pope appears at the window. I had already been here once before with my parents when I was little; we had even gone into the basilica, visited the tombs of the popes, and were even going up the narrow corridor with the stairs to go up, but then my mum gave up, she felt suffocated in that narrow space.

Right at the edge of Vatican City a friend of mine has a restaurant, Il Papalino; we say hello and then off to the station, passing alongside the Colosseum. bye