All Saints Day???
Apr 15th, 2002, 12:30 PM
#1
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All Saints Day???
We will be in Rome on All Saints Day this November on our honeymooon. What can we expect? I did look at a few travel books and it appears to be a national holiday. Does that mean places like Vatican City will be terrible to see on that day??
Oct 21st, 2002, 07:18 PM
#5
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We were in Rome last year on the weekend closest to All Saints Day. When the taxi driver took us past the Vatican Museums on the way to our hotel, the line was huge and went around the block. He said it was best to arrive late in the morning - everyone thinks they should go very early to get in line, but in fact that 's what everyone does and the lines are very long. We waited until Monday to go about 11a and walked right in. Turned out that All Saints weekend is huge - everyone has All Saints Day off and they go to Rome on holiday. The city was filled with Italian tourists as a result and all the sites were packed, but most especially Vatican City. If you are there past the weekend, and want to avoid the long lines and crowds, my suggestion to go to the Vatican after everyone else goes home. By the way, it was fabulous!<BR><BR>Good luck!
Oct 21st, 2002, 07:51 PM
#7
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RE: English-speaking Masses. We have found that we prefer to attend a Mass which is offered in the language of the country we are visiting. If you are a Catholic, you KNOW almost everything that is part of the normal ritual. To hear it in another language certainly makes you feel the universality. Now, the sermon may be a bit boring in another language, but that's another story. Hearing various hymns in the local language is also interesting. I do hink, to, that there are ofen English-speaking churches and your hotel may know or you may find out from a tourist bureau. This above is only my opinion and others may have different ideas.
Oct 22nd, 2002, 03:43 AM
#9
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I have to explain a distinction to everyone who may not know: November 1st is All Saints Day in the Cathlolic Church (in France: Toussaint; in Italy: Ognissanti). It's a holy day of obligation on which all Catholics must go to mass. It's a holiday in Catholic European countries (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, parts of Germany like Bavaria, parts of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium). One celebrates all the saints of the Church. November 2nd is ALL SOULS DAY which, while not a Catholic holy day of obligation or a holiday, is a day in which Catholics remember the dead, pray for them and bring a rose or flowers to the grave of their beloved departed. That is the difference: Nov. 1: ALL SAINTS DAY. Nov. 2nd: ALL SOULS DAY. It's nice when you think the Church remembers all her saints on November 1st and all the dead on the following day of November 2nd. That being said, offices, stores and government offices, postal offices, etc. are closed on November 1st. Some may be open but not many. Restaurants should be open but you'll have to find out; some may be closed on November 1st. Public transportation will be runing but the service will be minimum. In Paris, the metro, buses and RER are open but the schedule is greatly reduced.
Oct 22nd, 2002, 11:35 AM
#10
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Hi I was in Rome on All Saints Day; a few years ago and it was filled with Italians parting till all hours of the night.<BR>I had to share a cab with a very nice Italian gentleman. My girlfriend and I decided to go out and join the crowd... when in Rome....<BR>We ended up seeing our cab buddy and did not get home till 2 a.m.<BR>Have fun; it's an adventure<BR>la dolce Italy<BR>Fluffy
