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Italian Reflections (Cont.): The Platypus Travels Part XIII


It's really a laser designed to combat Rosicrucian vampires from the renewed Byzatine Empire.  Shhh...


Conspiracy theories aside, it is rather hard to know what to do with the Vatican.  The crowds are so enormous that it's difficult to get any good pictures, let alone see the marvelous things that literally cover the walls, ceilings, and floors.  The above tapestry, for instance, was done by Raphael with real thread-of-gold that glistens when you shine a light on it.  There's a long hallway full of these.  You're on a time-crunch and swimming amidst a vast human sea; which ones do you look at?  Which ones can you look at.  Then there's this thing called a "camera" strapped to your wrist.  You know that you're supposed to be photo-recording this trip, but that takes time and effort away from actually looking at the art, let alone keeping the students corralled.  See what I mean?

On the other hand, YOU'RE IN THE VATICAN.  A few brief glimpses of this and that and a minute to stare at the Pieta is more than most people ever get.  The crowds as well are part of the experience, part of seeing the vast cultural-religious-political entity that is the Vatican.  After all, what did you go out to Italy to see, a reed swayed by the wind?

In the end, I was quite content with my trip to the Vatican -I just don't have much of it to show to you.

These fragments have I shored against my ruins

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