Our host, Capt. Ed, continues his diligent undercover investigative journalist work into the nefarious activities of speculators driving up the international prices of Gorgonzola cheese this weekend. But in the interest of providing inspiration and enlightenment to the loyal army of Hot Air readers, he and his wife stopped off at the Vatican and allowed me to share some of the sights with you. Ed also asked me to share this brief personal note with you all.

A couple of observations from my first two days, then. First, this city is very involved in the beatification of JPII; they have kiosks with info on it all over. In one part of the city a few miles away from the Vatican, there was a large video display playing highlights from JPII’s papacy. Tomorrow we go to the Mass celebrating the beatification, and it will be packed. People will start arriving at 5 am. Not us … Other people.

Second: The Romans are even nicer and more hospitable than you might imagine. We are having a wonderful time.

First up we have the lovely First Mate, posing in front of a display which was put up in honor of Pope John Paul II to commemorate his beatification.

Next is a shot of one of the many beautiful arched halls inside the Vatican.

Ed took this picture at the approach to St. Peter’s Basilica. Simply amazing.

This one is of the Pieta and pretty much speaks for itself. Ed mentioned that this was as close as they were allowed to get for taking pictures.

The final picture today may look blurry, but it has an interesting story. It’s one of the many beautiful tapestries at the Vatican, very ancient, but woven in a way which Ed described as changing aspects depending upon which angle you looked at it from.

That’s all for today, but the happy couple are currently on their way to hit a number of other historic sites and we should have another update soon. Enjoy!