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April 7, 1963 - Palm Sunday in Rome

4/7/2011

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It is Palm Sunday and we are in Rome. This morning we went to St. Peters. We had to wait a long time, got mobbed, rushed, pushed and shoved, but we saw Pope John. We wormed our way into a choice spot right on the railing for the Processionals, so we saw him twice walking in and out in his red robes and skull cap and twice more in, then out in Pontifical robes and high hat, carried in the papal chair. Each time we were closer than five feet, close enough to touch him with all the cardinals, bishops in ermine capes, monks, nuns, the colorful Swiss guards, etc. The whole thing was spectacular. Suffice it to saw that few people have ever had a better view (and closer) of the Pope.

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A daily diary of a journey in 1962. Please post comments about where you were then on the Background page.

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1962 was pivotal. This is the background:

It was a year colored by the Cuban Missile Crisis, an escalating involvement in Vietnam, the Berlin Wall and the Cold War with Russia, Civil Rights issues, a nascent space program, Nelson Mandela in prison, Betty Friedan's, The Feminist Mystique, the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the death of Marilyn Monroe.

In the face of all of this, Pat, Judy and I blithely took off for Europe with the intention of traveling through Europe and North Africa until our money ran out. We had a travel guide and a book titled Europe on $5.00 a Day. Since we had all read The Ugly American in preparation for the trip, we thought we were very smart to buy a used Volkswagen with Dutch license plates. We dubbed the car "Louie" since a cute guy from Switzerland named Louie had helped us acquire it.

There was no such thing as a cell phone, a computer, Twitter or Facebook. Our parents didn't hear from us for weeks on end. We wrote regularly, but letters took forever to deliver and we only vaguely knew where we would be next. It was a very cold winter and we followed the sun.

April 7, 1963 - Palm Sunday in Rome

1962 was pivotal. This is the background:

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