On Saturday we braved the long lines to enter Vatican City. We were bombarded by tour groups trying to get us to skip the lines and pay nearly double the price to get in. They kept telling us the line was 3 hours long. I should have told them that we've waited in lines that long for 30 second roller coasters. No problem. It ended up only being 1 1/2 hours and thankfully we were in the shade most of that time.
Once inside we toured the museum and saw lots of art - sculptures, paintings, tapestries, artifacts. All impressive and pretty cool. What we didn't realize was that once we went up into the museum, we pretty much had to go through the entire thing, along with hundreds of closest (NOT!) friends. It almost felt as though we were cattle. There were lots of tour groups which actually slowed things down. The intricately painted ceilings were probably our favorite. We finally ended up in the Sistine Chapel! WOW! Again - so intricately painted and cool to say that we've been there, where Michelangelo painted his masterpiece(s). You aren't allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel though.
Inside Vatican City
View of Rome from the Vatican Museum
There were huge map tapestries
After the Museum we walked around the Vatican City walls until we reached St. Peter's Basilica. Now this was a highlight for sure. It was incredible - just the size of the place is impressive. We went inside the church, which to us felt pretty similar to any other cathedral, but still it was cool.
In front of St. Peter's Basilica
It was HOT but you're supposed to cover your shoulders and supposedly your knees in order to go inside.
After that we got in line to climb to the top of the dome. We took an elevator up half way and then had to hike up 320 narrow, slanted stairs to reach the very top. This is definitely a highlight of our trip so far. The view was incredible! At one point on the way up we also got to stop inside the dome and look down into the cathedral.
We were up by the bottom, outer ring of the dome before going all the way up
Looking down into the cathedral
Gorgeous view down to the rest of the Basilica
We ended our day back near our hotel, eating dinner at a nearby restaurant. Justin had chicken and I had the best lasagna I've ever eaten! Pictures will come at the end in an all-inclusive food post. Justin LOVES to take pictures of our meals. :)
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