Swiss Guards
The Swiss Guards guard the pope. It seems, one of the Popes was from Switzerland, and folks were trying to kill him, so he brought his guards in to protect him. They did a good job, and when the next pope replaced him, he thought they were doing better than the ones he was going to use, so he had the Swiss Guard be put on, and it has been that way for hundreds of years. I missed a picture of the middle guy leaning on his tiny car grabbing a smoke break in uniform. Looks so formal here, but leaning on his little Fiat, or Smart car, grabbing a smoke I thought was funny.
Italy Day 3 - And the Roman Empire continues...
October 11th 2014 So begin today with 5:15 wake up call, so you can make 6:30 breakfast, but perhaps with a moment to connect to wifi in the lobby as you pass through. Nope, big line of people waiting in line to get in for breakfast at 6:30, because tour buses are leaving hotel for Vatican City. Oh, I guess we aren't the only ones going huh?
Breakfast was good, enjoyable, and not rushed, since our bus didn't lea
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Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI establis... ... read more 
