In Nana's Footsteps Again -- Sistine Chapel

Another treasured family heirloom is the Travel Diary written and annotated by Nana on her first visit to Europe in 1925. She traveled with her family and visited England, Scotland, France, Switzerland and Italy. The 80 pages contain her hand written account of each day's events as well as small sketches and drawings of sights along the way. 

One entry in the diary is of great significance to each of us in the extended Hough family. Appended to Nana's description of one of her days in Rome when she visited the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel is a casual reference to an unexpected meeting.  

Cass Hough was a student along with Nana at the University of Michigan at the time of this summer vacation.  And we imagine that sparks ignited in the Sistine Chapel that day. 

So off we went on a Monday afternoon as the temperature in Rome was well into the 90s to visit the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica.  In the Sistine Chapel we could easily imagine Nana and Cass gazing up at the magnificent ceiling and at the panels on the walls, oblivious to all the other visitors who must also have been doing the same thing. And then a bump and a surprise!

While we probably were not as lucky in locating the exact spot where this event took place as we were in Portofino, visiting the Chapel was the perfect ending to a wonderful visit together.