Those river cruise commercials look cool. And Rick Steves makes Europe look nice on PBS. I know Europe is jacked up though.
I'd really like to go to mass at the Vatican.
If you go to Vatican City, you should go to the Vatican Museum. It's fantastic. I was there in 1998. I went with an older, very well connected Italian American couple, who were good friends of the single largest donor to the Catholic Church. We hired the same limo driver, who drove him and some of the Cardinals.
The driver got us into all of the sites we visited with no wait and no additional fees. He pulled up to the steps, of the Vatican Museum, waved at and yelled something at the guards. Two guards opened adjoining doors for me and I walked right in, past a line of tourists that went out of sight, that probably had a 2 1/2 hour wait.
The museum is immense. There are a great many signs directing you to the Cappella Sistina. It's a 2 plus hour walk, through incredible artwork to get there. When I finally entered the Sistine Chapel, the first thing I noticed different from the rest of the magnificence, was the immense crowd. Then I looked up and saw God and Adam reaching out to each other.
I wore a dark, Italian suit, similar to what some of the inside security staff wore. At one point I walked up on some kids bouncing a tennis ball. They saw me looking at them, came over, handed me the ball, gave a little bow, apologized in Italian and walked off. It was funny.
Keith
