by Mark Silva

VATICAN CITY – Greeted by the archbishop of the Pontifical Household and a line of Technicolor-suited Swiss Guard on the cobblestone – and on this cloudless and warm, sun-splashed day -- San Damaso courtyard of the Vatican, President Bush arrived for an audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

Inside today, the pope gave the visiting president a 17th Century lithograph of St. Peter's Square and a gold medallion, and the president gave the pope a walking stick that a former homeless artist in Dallas had inscribed with the Ten Commandments. The pope also was heard to inquire about the president's recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which they had discussed a defensive missile shield for Europe.

"Sometimes I'm not poetic enough to describe what it's like to be in the presence of the Holy Father,'' Bush, who had visited Pope John Paul II during the president's re-election campaign in 2004, said during an interview with European press before departing for this weeklong tour of Europe.

"It is a moving experience. And I have not been in the presence of this particular Holy Father. Obviously, three visits with the last great man, and I'm looking forward to this,'' Bush said of Benedict XVI. "I'm looking forward to hearing him. He's a good thinker and a smart man. I'll be in a listening mode.''

Bush has been in a talking mode for much of an eight-day tour that started in Prague, continued in Germany for the three-day summit of the Group of Eight nations and carried him briefly through Poland – site of the missile battery that Bush proposes for a new European defense network -- before arriving in Rome.

He will close the tour, touting his "freedom agenda,'' with stops Sunday in Albania and Monday in Bulgaria before returning home. And this being Saturday, there is little recreation time for the moutain-biking president, still recovering from a stomach bug. "I have not heard that he is going to ride a bike here,'' said Dana Perino, deputy press secretary. "It's kind of hard here in Rome.''

The Swiss Guard inside the Vatican. All photos by Mark Silva

The San Damaso courtyard. We needed visas to come here.

In Rome, Bush held private meetings with Italian government leaders present and past before and after his long motorcade's trip to The Holy See, a city-state within but apart from Rome, for a private meeting with the pope. The president also met with the secretary of state for The Holy See.

The president spoke of the importance of a Europe that is "whole, free, at peace and strong'' in his meeting with the Italian president, according to Perino. Bush also spoke of the dangers of isolationism and the importance of strong "allies, friends and trading partners'' staying "engaged.'

At the Vatican, the Swiss Guard cleared the gates for the press, our arrival announced as the press corps with "Casa Bianca'' – though back at the main hotel in Rome, the lovely Excelsior, the signs read, 'press core.'

Swiss Guard at the gate.

My colleague with the Los Angeles Times, Jim Gerstenzang, recalled an earlier press trip to Rome in which the press had been seated alphabetically in the filing center: La Repubblica, La Stamp… L.A. Times.

I will forevermore think of my sister paper as "La Times.''

The president's limousine rolled up to a red carpet on the courtyard and line of dignitaries led by Archbishop James Harvey, prefect for the Pontifical Household.

After the meeting, one of the Swiss Guards awaiting a papal and presidential departure in a line outside on the courtyard fell victim to the sun's heat and was carried away by his comrades.

The pope departed in SCV-1 – a black Mercedes-Benz with plates, translated: Vatican City-State 1.

So the camera battery was dying, the Swiss Guard in front of me was standing in my way, and I had one leaning shot. Goes to figure my only picture of the pope boarding SCV-1 is blurried, but it's one of those I won't be discarding.

The president departed in his armored black Cadillac limousine fitted with truck tires – the veiled First Lady Laura Bush having left separately beforehand in another presidential limo.

The Swiss Guard were wilting in the heat here, and when one (not this one) fell out of line they helped him away and relieved him of his sword.

The president had met with Italian President Giorgi Napolitano at the palace, before departing for The Holy See and the Vatican, which derives its name from the hill on which Saint Peter was crucified in 64 AD. The first Christian church here was erected in 326.

The Basillica of St. Peter sits here today.

Later, Bush would have lunch and meet with Italian Prime Minister Romani Prodi at Chigi Palace, the seat of the Italian government, and then hold a joint press availability with the prime minister this afternoon. Bush will conduct two more joint press appearances in Albania and Bulgaria.

Even the hotels are pretty in Rome.

Didn't see a lot of action at this sidewalk McDonald's'

The president had spent the night at Villa Taverna, the home of the United States ambassador to Italy.

A story is told of President John F. Kennedy's first presidential visit to Rome. Staying at Villa Taverna, Kennedy came downstairs in the morning wearing a swimsuit and towel and asked in his Bostonian tongue: "Where's the pool?''

Not long afterward, a pool was built there.

Find the Swiss Guard in this picture by Silva, right.