Mishap Sunday, I: At The Vatican

The Vatican Museums have free admission on the fourth Sunday of every month, so we had the bright idea of going in to see them, at least for a reconnaissance. It was the first act of a day-long comedy of errors.

The Museums open at 9 and we got there by 9:15, only to find there was a line...

Wrapping around the walls of Vatican City

And on, and on

And on, until its terminus, more than a kilometer later, just outside St. Peter's Square

None shall pass, quoth the Swiss Guard

In Bernini's colonnade, 4 massive columns deep all around, the 
grandest of all such structures, I think

So at this point, just about that far from the great church, we decide maybe we'll
 just visit St. Peter's instead of the Museums

Outside, by one of the fountains in St. Peter's Square, some younger persons 
practice transubstantiation with their brewskis

Inside, one of the most famous of all masterpieces, behind a 
glass wall and twenty feet away

We wandered about the great nave for a while, and then there was music and 
a procession; and mass began; "oh, right, it's Sunday"

One of the guards told us we could enter the basilica when mass was over, 
maybe 45 minutes, so we sat in the chapelof Pope John XXIII (that's him), 
contemplating relevant things and trying to look pious

This is about as close as we got; another guard, 45 minutes later, told us there 
would be masses and other religious events all the rest of the day, but that we 
could see the nave, the treasury, etc.

The great Michaelangelo dome

Operators are standing by...OK, by this point I was feeling more than my usual 
cynical self

Mine's bigger than yours department: the central aisle is paved in these markers 
showing where other major (big) cathedrals would fit; alas, there are probably  Baptist

montrosities in Texas that could swallow St. Peter's whole; sic transit, Gloria

One of my favorite images of St. Peter's; even a hardened cynic has to be awed 
by all the history, majesty, art, and architecture

So as we step out the door, we are astonished to see St. Peter's Square absolutely 
filled with people, banners and signs, cheering someone who is speaking to them; 
at first I figured it was a political rally, or they were watching futbol on the big 
screen, or maybe it was even Father Guido Sarducci...

But no, it was His Holiness, Himself, delivering His Sunday message; a bit of 
a thrill even for us, indeed redeeming all of the day's mishaps, so far...