Day 32 - Pope Francis and Rome Departure

Since it will be Thursday by the time we land in Hanoi, I figured I would do a short day entry for today...

Every Wednesday, Pope Francis does a free public mass in St. Peter's Square. Yesterday, we were able to get tickets from a guard in the Square (although it seems those were just souvenirs and we didn't really need them). After we showered and packed, we walked the couple of blocks into Vatican City, went through security, and entered the Square. We thought we were early - the mass was supposed to start at 10:00 and we got in around 9:15 - but when we saw thousands of cheering people, we were happy we got there when we did! We walked up to the crowd and noticed that the Pope was doing his rounds through the crowd, riding on the back of a truck, standing and smiling and waving and kissing babies. Within 5 minutes, he started coming down the empty lane right next to where we were standing. We got within a foot or two of Pope Francis. It was really cool!! We stuck around for the mass and then left to get to the airport.

Now, we are sitting at the airport, eating ramen, and ready for the long flight to Vietnam!!Read more