I was brought up catholic. I went to catholic schools for a large part of my education, and I used to pray every night as a child. Then for various reasons (that fall way outside the remit of this blog) I stopped believing. Despite the fact I'm now pretty much athiest, I still identify myself as being Catholic (much to the annoyance of certain friends, who protest I can't do this). As Dara O'Brien says, once you're catholic, you're always catholic. So I guess that added to the excitement of me going to the Vatican.
As soon as we arrived I was shocked at just how much there is in the Vatican. From the famous stuff like the Sistene Chapel and the Basilica through to some hidden treats. The place is huge.
The Sistene chapel is as awesome as you probably would expect. Paintings on all sides with the famous image up the top. Unfortunately cameras are banned in there, probably to stop me doing a comedy picture for this blog (a wise move). They keep it towards the end of the museum tour, and you get ushered in and told to be quiet in this cavernous hall. The experience was ruined slightly by the guards, who kept loudly shushing everyone and telling them to be quiet. They somehow managed to make the act of asking people to be quiet into the one thing stopping the room from being quiet.
Another highlight was a room we found with all the Popemobiles from down the centuries lined up in a room. It was kind of like something you'd expect to see in the batcave.
I sorted out a postcard for my nana (the catholic one) and headed back across the border to Italy. Well, I say border... Any hopes of a pope stamp on my passport were dashed when I realised there was no border check. The Daily Mail would be outraged.
[Update: I realised I'd said the I used to 'prey' every night as a child. I've corrected this, because I'm not really the hunting type]
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