#HurnEuroVacay -- Day 8 - Rome and Vatican City

On our second day in Rome, we woke up early for our reservations at the Vatican Museum. Guess what? We were late. Thankfully, they are not stingy on reservation times, and they let us in.

One minor downside to Rome – the metro stinks. There are only 2 lines, so it is not easy to just hop on and off because there aren’t a lot of stops. The stops and trains were old and dirty and graffitied. Good news though, Rome is currently adding a third line. Maybe that will persuade them to clean up and modernize their other trains.

Anyways, back to the Vatican. To be honest, we were a little tired of museums at this point and weren’t super interested in the Vatican Museum. We quickly walked through and went straight to the Sistine Chapel. Thankfully, we found a seat on a bench, so we sat for about 25 minutes listening to our Rick Steves audio guide. We learned all about the different scenes and how Michaelangelo painted the chapel. It was absolutely amazing to see.

This photo is contraband. Sorry, but pics or it didn't happen, right?

We left the museum and walked ALL the way around to St. Peter’s Square (Piazza San Pietro). Once again, we got out our Rick Steves Europe App and listened to the podcast for St. Peter’s. It tells you all about the square and the exterior of the basilica - a perfect way to waste time while standing in line. I had read horror stories about the lines at St. Peter’s, but we only ended up waiting for 15-20 minutes. The line was not bad, but it sure was hot outside. Entrance to St. Peter’s is free, so the line is just for security. You also have to go through a dress code check stop. Women cannot wear shorts or have their shoulders exposed. There was a group of women standing outside the gate trying to wrap scarves, jackets, and sweaters around their shoulders and waists trying to improvise to meet the dress code. Jeff wore pants that day to meet the “no shorts” requirement, but it seemed that that rule only applied to women.

St. Peter’s Basilica is ENORMOUS! There are measurements on the floor in the basilica showing the length of other famous churches in the world, and none compare to the size of St. Peter’s. The basilica was built to be absolutely giant, but for everything inside to still appear close. The audio guide would tell us that the letters around the top of the wall were 7 feet tall, when they looked to be 3 or 4 feet tall.

The altar

The Throne of St. Peter & Dove of the Holy Spirit stained glass window

The basilica was built on the place where Peter was crucified upside down. His remains are buried under the basilica.

Burial place of Peter

Statue of Peter - guests rub his foot as a sign of respect, and it is now worn smooth.

Michelangelo’s Pietà is also in the basilica. This was Michelangelo’s first major sculpture, and he created it when he was just 23 years old. I had never heard the word pietà before, but it refers to a work of art depicting Mary holding the body of a crucified Jesus. (The word literally means “pity.”) The sculpture is beautiful. Mary is depicted as a young girl, and much larger than the body of Jesus showing her holding Jesus as a mother would hold a child.

The sculpture was damaged by a mentally disturbed man in the 1970s. Thankfully, it was able to be restored and is now kept behind glass.

Swiss guards at the Vatican

Peter - holding the key to the Church

One of the coolest things that we saw was the obelisk in the piazza. It was brought to Rome from Egypt after Egypt fell to the Romans. After it was brought to Rome, it stood at Nero’s Circus, the site of violent games and many executions of Christians. Now the obelisk stands at the Vatican, the most famous site of the Christian church. A cross has been placed on the top of the obelisk as well. Such a cool story, for such a historical monument.

After our visit to the Basilica, we took the metro over to the Spanish Steps. We got some gelato and just sat for a little while to rest. Later while walking around, we saw a large group of people waiting outside of a hotel. The rumor was that Bruce Springsteen was expected to return to the hotel at any minute. We waited for about ten minutes, and then decided that a Bruce Springsteen sighting was not worth standing outside of a hotel for who knows how long.

We took the metro over to St. Peter’s in Vincoli – a church near our apartment that our host recommended that we visit. When we arrived, there was a wedding going on. There were family and bridal party members rushing around the church in their formal dresses and tuxes. Thankfully, the church was not closed. There was a roped off area where tourists were allowed to come in and still view the church and the art. The church houses Michelangelo’s Moses.

Michelangelo's Moses

We walked home to change our clothes and rest for a while. Later, we walked around doing some shopping for souvenirs, and Jeff finally bought a spray paint painting.

Random fencing match happening right in the middle of the street near the Colossem.

We had dinner at Er Baretto, which was by far our best meal in Rome. Jeff had ravioli, and I had tortellini with cream sauce. It was also Saturday and around 2pm at home, so Jeff watch the Auburn football game on his phone while sitting in the nice restaurant in Rome. (We thought they were going to lose, but they came back and won. Sad day.)

We had to say goodbye to our little piazza - Piazza della Madonna dei Monti