Vatican City, Italy

As I have mentioned in a previous post, last month I spent two days in Rome, Italy.  The first day – covered in the previous post, was spent exploring Rome on foot.  The second day, was spent in Vatican City, seeing the Sistine Chapel and visiting the Vatican.

Tips:  Hold on tight/ watch personal belongings 
Student ID for Cheaper Tickets
Attempt to bring your own Food
Purchase Tickets Ahead of Time

A month before our trip I discovered that if you go on the Vatican Website and look at dates, then fax in a sheet of information, you can receive free tickets to attend mass that is held outside of the Vatican by the pope.  Unfortunately, the fax never went thru to the Vatican so I was not able to see the pope.  But, the first night I was in Rome I did purchase tickets to visit the Vatican Building.

The following morning, we awoke early and dressed for the Vatican – covered shoulders and knees for women!  We took the underground train there (Red line) then followed the crowd to the entrance to the Vatican.  Do not be distracted by all of the expensive tour guides trying to lure you to join their group!  Once inside the Vatican you will learn that there are hundreds of tour groups and you will hear more than enough information just standing nearby.  Unless you are a HUGE history buff and even in that case I would suggest purchasing your own information booklet than joining a tour.

Once inside the Vatican we grabbed an espresso and ate salami sandwiches that we had brought in my purse – they appeared much more appetizing than the food provided in the food court (sorry!).  I do not think you are allowed to bring outside food in, yet the security guard did not say anything to me.

After eating we explored the inside and outside of the Vatican – it took a lot of time and I am not going to bore you by describing the entire experience.  The Sistine Chapel was breathtaking – partially for its beauty but also because the room is so jam packed with tourists.  Do not let this take away from the experience though – and No Photographs Please!

Afterwards, around one o’clock we ventured over to St. Peter’s Square to see the Basilica.  The line to enter the Basilica (which is free) however, was about a three hour wait.  I am going to be back in Rome in less than a year so i figured I would save this for my next trip.  We then decided to grab some gelato and headed over to Castel Sant’Angelo.  A museum where eventually you end up at the very top.  From there you receive a beautiful view of the city, it is very high – make sure to wear good shoes!

From there we decided to walk and try to see the rest of the main attraction in Rome that we had missed the previous day.  We ended up seeing the Piazza del Popolo, our feet were in so much pain by the time we reached it we sat on a bench for probably an hour.  We then started walking some more and ended up in the Piazza di Spagna where we ended up seeing the Spanish Steps (accidentally).  From there we hopped on the train back to our bed and breakfast to grab dinner and enjoy a hard earned glass (read: bottle:) of wine.