The Vatty

September 13, 2012
Rome, Italy

Today we were up and at them early because we had tickets for the Vatican at 9am. Many times throughout our visit Ben mentioned that he feels Disney needs to take over and run the place. He has a valid point. Lines were fairly long, the flow of traffic was not clearly designated in many places and the guards are a bit angry (probably because they are bored out of their minds).



All of this being said, the Vatican is still an enchanting place. The highlight for me, like 99% of visitors, was seeing the Sistine Chapel. The 12,000 sq foot ceiling painted by Michelangelo from 1508 - 1512 is truly breathtaking. How one man could create a masterpiece of this size in four years, especially four years without the help of modern technology, boggles my mind. I don’t have any cool photos to share of this because photos aren’t allowed to be taken inside the Sistine Chapel.

After we concluded the Vatican’s Museum we set out around its walls to go to St. Peter’s Basilica. The lines to go through security were insane and Ben was tired. We decided it would be best to go back to the hotel so Ben could take a nap. While he slept I worked on my blog. Three hours later we went back to the Basilica where there were now no lines. It was pouring outside but we still wanted to venture to the top of the Dome, which closed an hour earlier than the rest of the church, so we hustled in and arrived just shortly before the last tourist tickets for the elevator up to the top were sold.

Even in the overcast and rainy skies the views were pretty incredible. I can only imagine what it would have looked like on a nicer day. Even neater than the view on the outside of the dome was the view on the inside. The murals were amazing. The view down into the open halls of the gargantuan basilica were equally cool. Just like the Sistine Chapel it blows my mind to picture this magnificent building being constructed in 1506.











Our next stop was dinner at a little corner place. Ben was hungry so we settled for an establishment that was less than excellent because it was close. After dinner we walked down to the Colosseum for our night tour. I had read online about these tours and since most of my favorite pictures I had seen of the Colosseum were taken at night, I thought it would be fun to experience it that way. The tour included a MUCH more knowledgable guide than the day tour that took us out on the newly built recreation of the “stage” (we couldn’t access this during the day), down in the tunnels and aqueducts below and all around the seating bowl. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. I would recommend it to any future tourists of Rome. In fact, I think this was my trip highlight thus far.







After dinner we took a three mile walk back to the hotel. On the way we picked up some gelato and took some more fantastic pictures. We also saw a kitty running around the ruins. I fear my Chippy may have run away from his grandparents in search of his momma.





We’re now back at the hotel and I’m beat. Tomorrow we have scheduled a little more touring in Rome and then we’re taking the train Florence.

Until tomorrow,
Katy