The Vatican

During the summer of 1964, my dad had to go to Fort Lee in Petersburg, Virginia for six weeks of federal government training. Instead of going by himself, he cashed in his airplane ticket, borrowed a travel trailer from a friend, packed up my sister and I along our mom, and we were off in our station wagon for an adventure of a lifetime. Even though our parents are gone, my sister and I still have fond memories of this trip.

Once we got to Virginia, we set up "camp" and then traveled to different historical sites. This became a great education for my sister and I. Of course we traveled to Washington D.C. to see the sites there and then to New York City. While we were in New York City, we took a day to travel over to Flushing Meadows to visit the World's Fair of 1964-65.

There are many exhibits that I have great memories of like Ford (where you got to travel through their exhibit in a brand new Ford convertible), G.E.'s "Progressland, and Pepsi's "It's A Small World."

I recall with reverence being able to see the Vatican's exhibit. I'm sure it amounted to more than what I remember, but seeing Michelangelo's "Pieta" at a distance was a true treasure.

Today at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican I had the opportunity to see it again. This time I was able to see it at a closer distance than all those years ago in New York.

Michelangelo's Pieta inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

St. Peter's Square is enormous. This picture doesn't do it justice as I was attempting to show the front of the Basilica. Not sure who the guy in the red outfit is, but he wound up in all three pictures I took of the front of the Basilica!

England has it's royal guards and here are two of the Vatican Guards in their colorful outfits.

One last thing, one cannot go to the Vatican and not see the Sistine Chapel. I always thought that it was part of St. Peter's Basilica but it's part of the Vatican Museums. Seeing the Sistine Chapel is an amazing experience even if it was very crowded. No picture of Michelangelo's masterpiece can do it justice. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed to be taken in the Sistine Chapel so I can't post any here.

Here's the official website of the Vatican Museums where you'll find photos of the Sistine Chapel.