Dissed by Papa THREE Times

Yes, the title means exactly what you think, but more on that later.

So on Monday I explored a park that has been right under my nose (1 mile away) this whole time!

It is beautiful and relaxing and everything I needed on a Monday!

There was a lake!

 And a stream that fed the lake that had these cool rock structures you could go in and just relax!

Seriously this was the park of my dreams.

 And of course there were beautiful fountains!

Did I mention the cops riding horses?!

I spent almost my whole day there before heading to work!

 Where I was in charge of dessert! 

We made ricotta and chocolate chip handpies, with Italian "cookie dough"

They were quite delicious!

 We also made bruschetta with tons of different toppings!

My favorite was this zucchini, zucchini flower, and onion mixture that was creamed.

So. Good.

Okay, so now back to my cryptic title.

There's a tradition in the Catholic church that if you present the pope with a zucchetto, the white hat that he wears, and it fits him, he will switch with you so you can have his old one!

Well when I found this out, I ran to the shop he gets his vestments at and purchased his size!

This morning I got up early to get to the Vatican to attend the audience in hopes of meeting him.

 Spot Pope Frances below haha

Okay anyway, so here I am FRONT ROW waiting for Pope Frances to come by and trying not to bite my nails. It's really an awful habit.

And behold! Papa rolls on by in his Papa Mobile and makes eye contact with me and waves.

He's going a little faster than I remember and I attribute this to it just being his entrance and I knew he would come by again.

No sweat.

Diss number 1

 I could see him rounding the corner again and I start to get really excited.

He had been stopping for babies this whole time and there was a baby next to me so I thought, "This is perfect, he'll get a 2 for 1 deal on this stop!"

Well as he's passing, he sees me again, makes eye contact AGAIN, and blesses the zucchetto from his Papa Mobile.

So my heart was broken and I had chills down my spine because he looked me in the eye and blessed the zucchetto (and maybe me too??)! It was so cool

Diss number 2

 So now I knew he wasn't going to come back around and I just convinced myself I had plenty more Wednesdays to try again and this time, I would sit somewhere else.

He stopped for not one baby while driving past the front row, so I am convinced he isn't allowed to stop at the front row.

Silly, I know. We're the crazy ones who arrived there before dawn!

 So I knew that he would come back down after the audience and the handshakes were over (throwback to the Papa Mobile being right in front of me)

So I waited, and I waited, and I waited. 

And finally, here he comes! And he stops right in front of me and he makes eye contact. AGAIN!!!!

Well he waved... cool. 

My heart was broken yet again.

Diss 3

I was sad, but then he did the most incredible thing. A man was talking to him in Italian and Pope Frances motions for him to come here. And this man hopped over the barricade to be kissed and blessed by Pope Frances.

It was such an incredible moment for this man and for everyone witnessing it! 

But back to the zucchetto, I know I will have another chance to do the ole switcheroo soon, I'm not too worried about it anymore.

And I also had three very cool encounters with the Pope which I was able to skillfully catch on camera, pics or it didn't happen.

So I am very satisfied with the day.

And here's my cat friend that was waiting for me after Italian class today!!

Tomorrow morning I leave bright and early for Munich, Germany!

I'll be doing a day trip to Salzburg, Austria, to two castles with very German names, and a half day to  the Dachau Concentration Camp as well as having a couple days in Munich!

I hope y'all are having a wonderful week!

Ciao!