Watching Pope Francis’ funeral services yesterday morning brought back some memories of the three times that I have visited the Vatican.
I made those 3 previous visits with different people and under different circumstances but have some very nice memories of having done so. Rome itself is a great place to visit, but the Vatican is well, the Vatican. It is tough explaining just how awesome a place it is.
For example, the first time I went to Rome was with Buzzy on a Perillo Tour. As part of that escorted tour, we not only got to visit St. Peter’s Basillica, but also the Vatican Museums which were completely overwhelming what with all the art and sculptures within their walls. Our tour ended in the Sistine Chapel where we spent an hour or so just checking things out. (Note that this is where the Conclave to select a new Pope will commence in a week or two.)
However, even with all these great memories that I have of my 3 previous visits, it is the one visit to the Vatican that I did not make that tends to stay on my mind. Call it a case of Catholic guilt or whatever, but I really do regret not having attended Mother Katherine Drexel’s canonization back in 2000 when Buzzy wanted to do so. (I have discussed this in a previous Buzzyblog post (click here) so I won’t rehash it here.) Suffice to say though, I wish that I could now note that I have made 4 visits to the Vatican.
But to punch out on a high note, since I started by talking about a Frank, lets conclude with another one singing a tune about traveling somewhere else out of this world:
