Somehow he's the least likely person you expect to see when you show up at the Vatican, at least if it's not a regularly scheduled papal audience or blessing day. And yet there we were at the end of a long afternoon visiting the museums and St. Peter's Basilica, admiring Bernini's piazza, and wondering why the carabinieri were herding people away from the entire south side of it. The motorcycle cops lined up on the street just beyond the piazza cobblestones were the giveaway, although it still seemed pretty low-key - maybe it's just a bunch of cardinals, we thought.
Then the motorcade roared up - too fast for me to capture as anything but a blur, as you can see, but slow enough for us to recognize the distinct face of Benedict sitting in the back of the sedan with the two yellow Vatican City flags perched on the front fenders, and waving at the crowd. Turns out when he doesn't have to ride in the Mercedes-built Popemobile, the old German still prefers a Mercedes, with the same special Stato della Città del Vaticano license plate "SVC 1" affixed to the rear that adorns any car he rides in. No way to tell if the sedan is also adorned with the Popemobile's Natuzzi white leather seats.
An entertaining end to our multiple visits to the site, which were really about the art and the architecture and the history, of which more shortly ...
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