I almost forgot!

Okay folks, I had forgotten to post this until now. About a month ago, during the Congress of Abbots, I was able to attend a private papal audience and saw the Papa himself, Pope Benedict XVI. I was sitting in the way back of the room and the Pope is a smaller man than I had anticipated, so I could just see the top of his little hat that he wears, but I snapped one picture. You can't really see much, but that is the Pope.

That's him in the white, I promise. Best pic I could get.


This all took place at his summer vacation home Castel Gandolfo, just outside of Rome. Not too shabby a place to have a vacanza...

And some Swiss Guards. I can't help it, but I always chuckle at the uniforms. Props to Michelangelo for the design.

In Italian, the Pope is called "Il Papa," but I kept referring to him as "La Papa" by accident. There are two definitive articles in Italian as opposed to just using "the" in English and depending on the article, the word's meaning can change dramatically to denote masculinity (il) and femininity (la). For instance, "La Papa" means something like "The Potato". Whoops, won't happen again. It's "Il Papa"...the Pope, not Potato. That's it for now. Have a good one.