The Delight of Being a Tourist in Rome During the Conclave
Hello, Sarah Rappaport from Pursuits here! I'm originally from Chicago, and when I travel, that fact has historically prompted responses such as 'Oh, like Michael Jordan?' Or 'Like Barack Obama?' But last week, when I was in Rome, I got a new one. 'Chicago! Like our new pope,' a bartender said to me, stunned that for the first time an American— Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV —had become the head of the Catholic Church.
I was visiting the Eternal City ahead of a voyage on the new La Dolce Vita Orient Express, an ultra-luxury train (more on that soon), but my trip had coincided with the start of the conclave, the process by which the Catholic Church's cardinals elect a new pope. Luckily, this was my fifth trip to Rome, so I wasn't in a rush to see all the sights; instead I could just take in the city during such a historic moment.
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