Episode 555: Il Papa

Went into the Vatican today to see the Pope speak. Not exactly up-to-date on the latest developments in the Catholic church's sex abuse scandal, but I'm sure if I understood the Pope's speeches, there'd be no mention of that. The crowd was going crazy for him, even though to my mind, he's a lot less charismatic than his predecessor, John Paul II. The museum's huge, and practically labyrinthine in the effort it takes just to reach the exit. The art inside is stunning, but it was pretty funny how the guards inside the Sistine Chapel were stopping people from taking photographs and making everyone shut up, both futile tasks. Spent the afternoon walking through the Colosseum and the surrounding ruins. Pretty damn impressive stuff! I don't know why, but ancient history's just so much more interesting to me. I think it's partly because the line between myth, legend and fact is more blurred, and so part of the appeal's the creation of the most compelling story possible from the fragments available. Was going to see this church decorated with the bones of monks, but was thwarted in this endeavour by a technical fault on the metro. Ended up wandering the streets of Rome with people, in search of food. I had my carbonara, which was a lot drier than the variety that's usually served up back home, but was still tasty. On the whole though, I think I like the slightly more inauthentic Italian food in Singapore, where the portions are heartier and you get more bang for your buck, as it were.