Looking Pretty Isn’t Their Only Talent…

… There was this one time at the Vatican where I tried to get a Swiss Guardsman’s attention by hissing “Pssssst. Stripes! Over here!”. He was right to ignore me. I might have tried to hug him. Or something. I had it on very good authority they were warned notified beforehand of my arrival. Alert status was high.

Wait, this post isn’t about that restraining order. It’s about the Swiss Guard. Oh, I love them so. Did you know their main function wasn’t just standing around festooned in bright motley looking pretty? They have a musical corp and they play at official Vatican events.