Tens of thousands of travellers have descended on the city of Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis and the election of a new pontiff.
The region's had its' share of time in the spotlight over the last couple of weeks - but BloggerAtLarge's Megan Singleton says there's plenty to explore and experience no matter what.
She outlined her tips and recommendations here.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB Travel with Wendy Woo tours Where
the world is yours for now.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I don't know about you, but this week, as we
have been, you know, all eyes have been on Rome
and we've we've got our new pope and things. I've
been reminiscing about the first time that I went to
the Vatican and went to Rome. I was seventeen years old,
and I even got the photo album out, I know,
because and those days we took photos and developed them
and put them in albums and it was really lovely.
And I thought, I'm sure there's a lot of people
who maybe heading to Rome and thinking about visiting the
(00:41):
Vatican City. So we've got Megan Singleton, our travel correspondent
on the job, and of course Meghan has visited several
times and she joins me, now, hello.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Hello, I've been so curious about it this week as well.
But I bet you when you went at seventeen, you
took photos of the ceiling and you were allowed to.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I did.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah, Yeah, you're worried.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I took photos of everything.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Yeah, because you can. You can definitely. They take photos
of the Vatican museums and everywhere else, but you're not
allowed to take photos in the Sistine Chapel. And the
reason is not for what you think, because I thought, oh,
because the flash photography will damage the artwork, But it's
not about that. In the eighties a Japanese company paid
four million US dollars to fund the restoration work of
(01:27):
all the artwork in there, and in return they got
to own the copyright of all of the images. But
that has long expired, so you'll still get shouted at
if you're trying to take photos. But apparently the reason
now is because it's for crowd management.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, I don't know how old you think took photos.
I don't know how old you think I am. Again,
I wasn't actually allowed to take photos in the assisting chapel,
but I did take a lot of photos. They make
you buy the book when you leave. You know, you
go through the bookshop. On the way out, exit through
the bookshop, and you.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Have to do these days with your cell phone. You
just put it on selfie, you hold it down by
your hip and you just snap away. Quiet.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
No, the no, quite, the camera's been quite that sophisticated.
But it is an extraordinary place, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
No, it really is. And I've just gone down rabbit
holes just finding out. I've been so curious about it all.
So how do they make the colored smoke? Is it
open now? How long was it closed for? So it
was closed from about a week after the pope died
until after the conclave ended. It opened reopened straight away
to the public. And of course the artwork took about
(02:35):
four years to be painted, not just by Michaelangelo, but
there were other artists as well. But anyway, all about
the smoke. They so the ballot papers go into the fire,
and the chimney was installed, specially after being read aloud
by three scrutineers. And then they add chemicals to make
the smoke either go black or white.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
So they go there.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Actually satisfied me, thank you very much. And then they
were all locked in their lead seals were put on
eighty doors to stop people coming out going around the
whole area while they were in their conclave, and they
stayed in a guesthouse in the Vatican premises, all of
the cardinals. It's so fascinating. Apparently they ate food like
(03:19):
airline food. But yeah, do you want me to go
on because it's quite fascinating.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Oh well, look as any Yeah, anything else about the Vatican,
Like would you suggest booking tickets and things?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Yeah, for sure, because you'll go past and you'll see
people lined up for hours because they didn't book ahead.
If you book ahead, book a skip the line tour
and do a tour because then you'll have a guide
just whispering in your earpiece, but you can move on ahead.
But you learn so much when you're on a little
tour rather than just wandering through yourself, so it's worth
spending a little bit extra to do that. And then
(03:52):
of course you get a timed entry, so you just
rock up at whatever time your tickets are for and
you're not waiting forever. So I would definitely advise people
to do that. And there's tons of websites that you'll
find tickets for sale on.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah, brilliant, Thank you so much, Megan. Lots of areas
and places to explore when you're in there as well.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks at b from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio,
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB Travel with Wendy Woo tours Where
the world is yours for now.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I don't know about you, but this week, as we
have been, you know, all eyes have been on Rome
and we've we've got our new pope and things. I've
been reminiscing about the first time that I went to
the Vatican and went to Rome. I was seventeen years old,
and I even got the photo album out, I know,
because and those days we took photos and developed them
and put them in albums and it was really lovely.
And I thought, I'm sure there's a lot of people
who maybe heading to Rome and thinking about visiting the
(00:41):
Vatican City. So we've got Megan Singleton, our travel correspondent
on the job, and of course Meghan has visited several
times and she joins me, now, hello.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Hello, I've been so curious about it this week as well.
But I bet you when you went at seventeen, you
took photos of the ceiling and you were allowed to.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I did.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah, Yeah, you're worried.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I took photos of everything.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Yeah, because you can. You can definitely. They take photos
of the Vatican museums and everywhere else, but you're not
allowed to take photos in the Sistine Chapel. And the
reason is not for what you think, because I thought, oh,
because the flash photography will damage the artwork, But it's
not about that. In the eighties a Japanese company paid
four million US dollars to fund the restoration work of
(01:27):
all the artwork in there, and in return they got
to own the copyright of all of the images. But
that has long expired, so you'll still get shouted at
if you're trying to take photos. But apparently the reason
now is because it's for crowd management.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, I don't know how old you think took photos.
I don't know how old you think I am. Again,
I wasn't actually allowed to take photos in the assisting chapel,
but I did take a lot of photos. They make
you buy the book when you leave. You know, you
go through the bookshop. On the way out, exit through
the bookshop, and you.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Have to do these days with your cell phone. You
just put it on selfie, you hold it down by
your hip and you just snap away. Quiet.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
No, the no, quite, the camera's been quite that sophisticated.
But it is an extraordinary place, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
No, it really is. And I've just gone down rabbit
holes just finding out. I've been so curious about it all.
So how do they make the colored smoke? Is it
open now? How long was it closed for? So it
was closed from about a week after the pope died
until after the conclave ended. It opened reopened straight away
to the public. And of course the artwork took about
(02:35):
four years to be painted, not just by Michaelangelo, but
there were other artists as well. But anyway, all about
the smoke. They so the ballot papers go into the fire,
and the chimney was installed, specially after being read aloud
by three scrutineers. And then they add chemicals to make
the smoke either go black or white.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
So they go there.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Actually satisfied me, thank you very much. And then they
were all locked in their lead seals were put on
eighty doors to stop people coming out going around the
whole area while they were in their conclave, and they
stayed in a guesthouse in the Vatican premises, all of
the cardinals. It's so fascinating. Apparently they ate food like
(03:19):
airline food. But yeah, do you want me to go
on because it's quite fascinating.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Oh well, look as any Yeah, anything else about the Vatican,
Like would you suggest booking tickets and things?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Yeah, for sure, because you'll go past and you'll see
people lined up for hours because they didn't book ahead.
If you book ahead, book a skip the line tour
and do a tour because then you'll have a guide
just whispering in your earpiece, but you can move on ahead.
But you learn so much when you're on a little
tour rather than just wandering through yourself, so it's worth
spending a little bit extra to do that. And then
(03:52):
of course you get a timed entry, so you just
rock up at whatever time your tickets are for and
you're not waiting forever. So I would definitely advise people
to do that. And there's tons of websites that you'll
find tickets for sale on.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah, brilliant, Thank you so much, Megan. Lots of areas
and places to explore when you're in there as well.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks at b from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio,
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