A first glimpse

It was a week ago today that we first set sights on Saint Peter's Square.  A day before the great celebration, preparations had already begun, but although there were some people milling about (there are always people in the square, unless of course the caribinieri are standing guard and have put up all the baricades) things were still relatively quiet.

Tourists scurried around the piazza between Bernini's columns, ducking for cover as the intermitent showers left first one drop, then another as evidence that we mere mortals are not in charge.

The two ends of the colonade are presently shrouded and scafolded, but the shrouds also bear the images of an icon of the Blessed Virgin and the personal coats of arms of John Paul II and of Benedict XVI - simple but very elegantly done.

As the day turned into night, the square would be flooded with humanity, waiting there for the liturgy to begin the next day, but in the late hours of Saturday morning, there was lots of room to move around.