Rome part II (Notice the Roman Numerals)

I now have the answer. Yes, the Pope is Catholic.

We were able to go to St Peters Square today and see Pope Benedict II. It was a spectacle to behold. On Wednesdays he appears and blesses the crowd. About an hour before the service starts, the announcer lets everyone know what "Pilgrims" have attended this service. It is just like a baseball game when the announcer says that "The following groups are in attendance at the game." When each group is named, they all cheer and wave their national flag. This goes on for about 30 minutes. Then a band plays and the Pope rides into the square in a white jeep, like the ones they have on MASH. It was cool to see the excitement in the eyes of the people, after they had gotten close to the Pope.

After seeing the Pope, we went to the Vatican Museum. We saw over a 100,000 works of art there. I was taking pictures left and right, and after the first 30 minutes, I almost ran out of memory on my camera. So we walked for an additional hour looking at priceless peaces of Art. Greg’s favorite was a tapestry that detailed Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem, The Last Supper and Christ’s Betrayal by Judas. Nicolle’s favorite was the Sistine Chapel. She came very close to marking her place in history… has anyone ever vomited in the Sistine Chapel? Do not worry, this was the only time Nicolle has felt like vomiting on the whole trip and it passed quickly.

Due to a medical issue that one of us is blessed to have, we were not able to stand in line for 3 hours in the midday sun to go inside St Peters Basilica. It is OK, though, because we got to go into St Marks in Venice, and I always like the Book of Mark better than 1 or 2 Peter.
We then got on a train and went to Florence, where our trip will continue on.