Per Rick Steves’ advice, Josh and I temporarily suspended our protestantism and spent a day immersed in the glory that is Roman Catholicism. We reserved a ticket and a spot a few weeks in advance on a guided tour through the Vatican Museum, and wandered the halls of the historic grounds for hours. The tour was found from the Vatican website, and it allowed us to skip the insanely long line that had formed around the entire outer wall of the museum. All that planning really does pay off.
The tour was alright, but definitely worth the extra money spent to skip the line and have a few of the artifacts and significant artworks explained to us. Our tour ended in the Sistine Chapel where we ooed and awed over Michaelangelo’s interior-masterpiece.
From the Sistine, we went next door to St. Peter’s Basilica. If you’ve never been to St. Peter’s, I would suggest you go ahead and scratch a note onto the ole’ bucket list. I mean, this place completely blew us away. It took two jet lagged, sore-footed travelers and transformed us into children. We were giddy at the grandeur of that church. It is the richest, biggest, most visited church in the world, all built on top of what is said to be Saint Peter’s resting place. Like much of Europe, this destination exceeded our very high expectations.
Hall full of hand painted maps in the Vatican museum
Outside St. Peter’s Basilica
The size of this place is unreal.
Sun rays peaking through the dome in the Basilica
The baldacchino, designed by artist Bernino is said to be the largest piece of bronze in the world. It sits directly above the tomb of Peter.
It is safe to say we enjoyed our time at the Vatican. I’m happy we didn’t miss that important piece of Rome. It was mind-boggling to discover how Christianity evolved into the widespread religion it is today, starting with Roman Emperor Constantine’s conversion right here in Rome.
Some other places we visited in Rome that I haven’t mentioned include:
The Spanish Steps
Trevi Fountain
The Jewish Ghetto
A few incredible restaurants I will pass on if anyone requests it. Yelp was most helpful in this department.
Like I said previously, we could have spent many more days in Rome and still not seen all we wanted to see. We also wasted a few hours on Vatican day making a long trek to the airport to retrieve our bags (MIRACLE!!) which decided to show up. I loved this city and can’t wait to return one day. In my opinion, every human needs to visit Rome if they can. The history is just too important to miss.
Roma, you were magnificent.
Next stop…Florence!
Ordinary Awe 