In The Sistine Chapel

"Have we seen enough?" asked a middle-aged woman with a strong Scottish accent. Her companion, a stout woman with a similar accent, decided that they had seen enough and that they should leave. They then began, with some difficulty, working their way through the tightly-packed crowds and out of The Sistine Chapel.

For the information and correction of those of us who remained in the chapel an attendant standing before, and somewhat below, Michelangelo's depiction of flayed flesh called out, "Silenzio!". Most of the visitors chose to ignore this instruction. They continued to look up at the ceiling or the wall and to discuss the paintings amongst themselves. This prompted the authorities to play a recording in a number of languages asking us to be respectful and to maintain silence whilst in the chapel. The voices on the recording were all those of women. I was struck by how pleasant and attractive the English voice was. In the first place, it really was an English voice (ok, maybe I am Xenophobic), and not the American one which I have come to expect in Continental Europe; and, in the second place, it did have hints of the BBC's Radio 4 about it. Were the other voices I wondered: Madrid Spanish, Left-Bank French, Operatic Italian, and Honda-Corporation Japanese? But these speculations only left me with the further thought: why couldn't I think of some way of describing the admirable and bell-clear German on the recording? Could this be yet another example of my Xenophobia?

After grappling unsuccessfully with this thought for several minutes I found myself in agreement with the Scottish ladies and left.