The Road Report
Rome: A Room With A View
February12, 1999
The weather finally turned nice enough to show you where I live-- at least for the week. I'm right down the block from St. Peter's Basilica. I go there several times a day to pray, to think, to look at tourists, and just to be awed. The Church is being cleaned for the Jubilee in 2,000-- as is most of Rome!!! My pictures inside of the Church did not turn out well so here are some outside views so you can see what I see!!!

As I write this and edit the pictures I can hear the Bells of St. Peter's from outside my office window (I was graciously allowed an office in which to work and hook up to the internet while here).


Here is what I see outside my room in the Curia-- a brick wall! At least the room is quiet though. I had been hoping for a room with a view.


However, if you go to the roof of the Curia you are (at least I was) overwhelmed with this view of Michaelangelo's dome on St. Peter's.



Here is a close up of the dome.... we are looking West at about 7:30 AM and the light is striking the dome from behind me..... beautiful, di ba?



A view of the Curia gardens behind the buildings. It snowed while I was here and my nose is still running from the "cold" -- at least cold relative to Manila!



Another view of the garden.



I "grew up" with Pope John XXIII. My mother loved him so much and I remember his picture in everyone's house. Here is his grave under St. Peter's-- I come here often to pray for him and my own family. It's a very moving place-- the simplicity under the splendor.



A fountain outside Bernini's collonade... I see lots of people drinking out of it. Note the city walls which demarcate the Vatican from Rome.



Bernini's columns standing where they all "line up"-- note the scaffolding on the left-- each column is getting sand blasted-- they really look good!!! My mother would describe this as "Polish Clean".



The end of Bernini's columns....I really like the statues on top of the structure.



The facade of St. Peter's as it's cleaned and renovated.



Here's a statue on top of the columns.



Here is another. I think it's the nun that taught me in the third grade. She was a saint. She had to be to put up with me!



More saints hanging around a Papal Coat of Arms.



More saints, more arms.



Another shot of the columns.... I took these pictures around sunset after a long day of meetings-- it was a nice time to unwind with the rhythms of the architecture.... and to think through the camera about what I wanted my friends to see.



The top three windows on the left are the Pope's bedroom and office. My mother once went with my aunt (her sister) to see this current Pope in Philadelphia..... she was so excited that she saw him-- she would hold her thumb and index finger with about an inch of separation and say: "He looked THIS big." She had a banner with his picture on it which she kept in the television room.



In the center of St. Peter's Square is an obelisk... everyone has seen it... but here is the fancy bronze work that holds it up and keeps it from hitting someone over the head.
Look-- aluminium siding on the Vatican-- just like in my home town. I think this comes off for the jubilee. Two Swiss Guards stand at guard and cause Kodak stock to rise....



General Index of Travel Photographs



The Seal of Creighton University
This page is managed by
Rev. Raymond A. Bucko, S.J.
of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology
at Creighton University.

E-Mail: bucko@creighton.edu

Page Last Updated: July 3, 2002