St. Peter's from Gianicolo Hill

In Italy, we spent most of our time in Rome, taking side trips to Assisi and the ancient hilltown of Calcata in Tuscany. With our good friend, Geoff Walkiden, we strolled an entire Sunday afternoon through the wooded park that crowns Gianicolo Hill. Here we found monuments, fountains and balustraded terraces that overlook the whole of Rome to the east. It seemed that every significant monument in Rome was visible from the hill, except one: we could not find St. Peter's. It was just out of view around the north side of the hill, so we walked a long while in that direction in anticipation of a first glimpse. Just as we passed a small church, the Chiesa dell' Annunziata, the magnificent dome of the basilica quietly presented itself through a silhouette of slender trees.