Rome Wasn't Built In A Day...or was it? I Met THE POPE!

Traveling to Italy in 2004 was my favorite trip because it was my first international trip to see my first Wonder of The World - The Leaning Tower of Pisa. I found a great deal on Expedia and got my dates mixed up so I wound up sleeping in the airport in Germany because I didn't see the +1day on the itinerary - I can laugh now but you should've seen the look on my face when I landed in Germany and realized that my flight to Rome wasn't until the next day! LOL :)

I always plan a free day during my trips and decided to go back to visit the Vatican my last day because I enjoyed it so much the first time. 

They were having a special mass service and the Pope was presiding. There were only about 50 people in attendance so Pope John Paul II was only an arm's length away.  To this day I still can't believe that I met the Pope. The unexpected/organic events like this are one of my favorite things about travelling!

I could tell the Pope John Paul II was sick but the mass was great. I'm not Catholic - just blessed to have witnessed such an event. These pictures were taken on November 13, 2004, just months before he died on April 2, 2005.

 





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Of course my main reason for going to Italy was to see my first Wonder of The World and the Leaning Tower of Pisa didn't disappoint. I didn't have a digital camera - this was taken with a disposable camera - lol :) . As you can see I'm horrible at taking pictures (that's me in the far bottom left of the Pisa trying to get the 'pushing the Tower' tourist shot - I look like an ant on a mountain). LOL!






Of course you can't go to Italy without doing a little shopping. So of course I had to buy my first Louis Vuitton bags - I still have them! Funny thing is I overpaid with the euro/dollar exchange rate. Oh well, ya live and learn.


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