In the fall of 1980 Lee and I decided to take a trip to Rome, Italy. We had visited Venice in 1979, and it is beautiful. The boat ride to Venice was a little hairy because even though the boat has a plaque that states the maximum number of passengers, they just keep piling more and more people in the boat. Pretty soon there was only a couple inches of boat visible. Thankfully, it was only a short ride, and we all survived. We walked all around Venice with its narrow passageways and magnificent architecture. Saint Mark's Square which is the undisputed symbol of Venice, and of course Doge's Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. The Bridge of Sighs that houses two overlapping corridors was built at the beginning of the 17th century and used to serve as a link between the Old Prison, in the Doge's Palace, and the New Prison's situated beyond the Palazzo River. Legend has it that one could hear the sighs of the condemned as they were being lead to prison.
When we had decided to go to Rome, I had casually mentioned our plans in a letter to a close friend of ours who lives in New York. Florence wrote back and informed me that she has relatives still living in Rome. Fortuitously, for our family, one of her cousins was Pope John Paul ll personal secretary . Florence proceeded to write a letter for us which enabled us entrance into the Vatican. As you might imagine the instructions were very specific. There is a cadre of Swiss Guards in front of the Vatican who guard the entrance, they are the guards who wear the "Pie man Hats" which are purple and gold colored. I approached the guards and showed them the letter which Florence had sent us. It was incredible, within seconds we were escorted into the halls of the Vatican, and within a few moments a diminutive elderly Monseigneur appeared and greeted us.....in Italian! For an instant I was disappointed that we may not gain entrance into the Vatican. However, there was no need to worry because the situation was quickly rectified, a middle age Irish priest was summoned to give us a tour of the Vatican. He took us through the archives which are located in the recesses of the basement of the Vatican. There were several scholarly looking young men scattered around the Archives engrossed in research. Then Father Flanigan took us to some rarely used, sort of "secret or concealed" stairways up to the top floor of the Papal Residence. There was a window at the top of the stairs which when opened revealed a breathtaking view of the private, beautiful, and serene Vatican Gardens. The gardens are lovely and completely devoid of any electrical wires or other encumbrances. Father Flanigan invited us to take as many photos as we wished. Ironically, the best picture I have retained all of these years is the imprint on my brain of these lovely private gardens. (I will explain after I discuss the absolutely wonderful experience of being touched by Pope John Paul ll)
Our tour of the Vatican culminated with a blessing from Father Flanigan with all of us joining hands. His final word to us was "take care of each other and love one another." It was a special moment, I shall never forget. We exited the Vatican with our feet not quite touching the ground, with the knowledge that we had experienced and witnessed something special, and unique, something that few people get the opportunity to experience
Next on the agenda was the Papal appearance in St. Peter's Square at 1300 that same afternoon. Another friend of ours had suggested that we visit the USO which was not far from The Square. The USO was originally a place for the American soldiers to go to on their time off. Sometimes there would be some sort of entertainment there, cigarettes, stationery, and conversation were available as well as the camaraderie of other young men who were also displaced from their families and their country. The lady who ran the USO was an elderly woman who had a tale to tell, she was actually in her mid 80's. She really seemed to enjoy our daughters, who at the time, were ages 11 & 13 yr. old. She proceeded to tell us that she had lived in Italy during the fascist dictatorship of Mussolini. The woman explained how she and her family had escaped from Italy and the brutality of Mussolini to Switzerland, unfortunately not before they witnessed many atrocities, and acts of cruelty to their fellow countrymen.
The woman asked us if we were going to St. Peter's square to see the pope, and we of course answered in the affirmative. She said "I will tell you exactly where to stand, and you can pretty much be assured to see Him up close." We got there early and stood precisely where she suggested. There were very few people in St. Peter's Square at the time. As the time for the Pope's appearance grew closer, the people appeared in throngs and the Square filled up to the point that I became anxious, and somewhat fearful. Lee and I and the girls were in the front row and the crowds behind us started to press against us. This indeed was scary. Just about the time when I felt like I was going to be pushed to the ground the Vatican police commenced to using their "Billie clubs" on the people who were shoving from behind us. These police were forceful and hit hard, they meant business, there was no doubt about it. Therefore, it did not take much time at all for the crowds to be under control. I for one was very grateful. It was not long afterwards and the Pope appeared in his Pope mobile, they drove slowly up and down between the various rows of the people. Lee and I were taking pictures like professional shutter bugs. I took 2 rolls of the Pope myself. My hands were trembling in anticipation of seeing the Pope, especially so physically close, it was an exciting, wonderful experience in my life. As the Pope mobile approached us, for some reason they decided to stop directly in front of us. The Pope asked us where we were from, and of course we stated we were Americans. He took our hands in His and cupped our hands together, and blessed us before He continued on through St. Peter's Square. My eyes filled with tears, to have been touched by the Holy Father, this "little ole Catholic girl" felt truly blessed. The lady in the USO was spot on with her directions and I will be forever grateful. For me it was the thrill of a lifetime, one I shall always savor. After we returned to Heidelberg, we packed up all of our film in a large envelope and sent it to the processing company which we had used for the entire 2 years we had been in Germany. About 10 days later we received a letter from the photo processing company stating that our film never arrived there. According to the company they only received a torn envelope and the check which we had enclosed intact inside the envelope. You can draw your own conclusions of what you think happened. Every time afterwards when I saw a closeup picture of the Pope, I'd say to Lee "There is one of our photos." I will always believe that someone saw an opportunity and took advantage of it.
Luckily, I do have a few pictures of Pope John Paul ll which were on the end of another roll which I did not send in for developing. The beautiful Vatican Gardens are but a memory though since those pictures were among the ones which were sent in the mail. I will always have the vivid memories of that beautiful blessed day, they belong to me alone.
While in the Rome area we decided to take a bus tour of Sorrento, Pompeii and Naples. Sorrento is beautiful with its lovely houses built into the cliffs along the Mediterrean. It seems that no matter where we traveled in Europe we were always surprised and charmed at the beauty and quaintness we found.
We continued along on our bus tour ate a delicious lunch of fried calamari and salad, and of course Lee and I enjoyed a lovely glass of Italian wine.
As an aside, the people of Italy, especially the male gender, were very fascinated by our two daughters, both who are very fair skinned, one with very blonde hair, the other a strawberry blonde. A man sat next to our almost 14 yr old daughter on the subway, he proceeded to tell her several times, how beautiful she was, etc. Unbeknownst to him, Lee and I were sitting directly across from him. When the subway stopped at the next station, Lee and I stood up, and our daughter took a hold of her dad's hand as we disembarked.
Ciao,
Carol
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