28^th December 2000

We had already made arrangements to meet the Guide near Vatican at 9.30 AM. We had a train to catch for Pisa from Roma Termini at 13:30 hours. So, we had less than 3 hours in hand to roam around Vatican City. The Australian guide, a young lady of twenty, led us to Vatican Museum. The security check at the entrance of the Museum is in par with the checks at the airports. The tour is for most part a one-way route extending to a distance of 7 km.

In more than 2 hours we spent there, we saw that the museum had lots of statues, various sculptures and paintings of different ages. There were a trail of images drawn on the ceiling. It was paining in the neck to watch those paintings in the ceilings continuously. Imagine how it would have been for the painters to do the work. Though the guide explained a lot about the paintings and sculptures, my mind didn't stick to it since I didn't have much inclination to those. Unfortunately, I don't have much to explain here despite the importance of the place. Half way round there, there is one Sistine Chapel where we went in and afterwards lost track of the guide.   

Since time was running out, we shunned the idea of looking for the guide and ran towards St. Peter's square. It is this square which I described earlier while talking about our walking tour as having 2 semicircular colonnades. One site of the square is occupied by St. Peter's church. We learnt that the Italian Government under Mussolini recognised the sovereignty of the Pope (now, John Paul II) over the territory of the Vatican City with a total area of 0.44 sq. km. The territory of Vatican City, with the exception of certain permitted areas can be entered only with special permission. There was a lengthy queue of people trying to get in to St. Peter's church. We were already running late and we had no option but to leave the place after clicking some snaps.

On our way back to Pisa, the train went along the seashore. It was a beautiful sight to see the sea along our way as the travel lasted a little more than 4 hours. It was a neck to neck race against time. Our train was scheduled to reach Pisa at 1830 hours and we had to reach Pisa Airport by 1915 hours. Thankfully, everything worked out fine and we reached the airport in time only to find out that the flight is departing only after 5 hours.

29^th December 2000

After a long wait, the flight towards London Stansted took off and we reached London at local time 02:40 and waited for two more hours for getting the baggage cleared. As soon as we stepped out of the airport, London greeted us with white snow all over the place. I was thrilled on seeing the snow for the first time in my life.

Only other thing I wanted to see in Italy is Venice. Well, it can be seen some time later on. But with the sort of attitude displayed by the immigration officials at Pisa, I very much doubt whether I'd have the heart to go to Italy again! Altogether, we had a great trip to Italy. A Christmas holiday that we would cherish for a long time!!

(concludes)