The Vatican

Though as I mentioned before, nearly all admissions were free in Rome, we opted not to do the free tour of the Sistine Chapel. The last Sunday of the month, that the Pope was speaking, we decided that it would be far too chaotic to attempted. Thus the Vatican was our first stop, Friday morning. Though we arrived early, an hour before they opened, we waited in line for nearly two hours in the rain to gain entrance to the Chapel. We made some friends, mainly those trying to sell us umbrellas despite the fact that we were each appropriately attired with them.

The Chapel was overwhelming. There was too much to see. You could spend hours in every room, just admiring all the art work that was put into every column, window, wall and painting. One of the most impressive rooms was done entirely in mosaics, floor included. It was spectacular. I was previously unaware of the Egyptian architecture influence that many of the rooms. I fancied the statues and actual framework to the paintings and tapestries, but everything was impressive.

We we arrived in the actual chapel, we were rather amazed. For two reasons: it was incredible, and nothing like we expected. The ceiling was not domed, as we all had envisioned, and the main piece was not what we had previously envisioned. We are still on a hunt to find what room we all had expected the Sistine Chapel to look like, as we all had similar images in mind.

After the Chapel we headed off to the St. Peter´s Basilica which was a masterpiece as well. The Center Square where we waited in line gave us a great view of the Roman columns and fountains that surround the Basilica. The best aspect of the Basilica was the Copula (the outer top of the dome, with a panoramic view of the city). None of us actually knew what Copula meant, but saw a long line, which we translated to mean that this was a site worth seeing. All we knew is that we had to climb 525 stairs. So we did. I felt however, that we were climbing a castle to the towers and the staircases were very narrow, titled, and spiralling. Without the center rope, we would have fallen--especially on the way back down. The hike was well worth it however, as it was gorgeous view, not just of the Vatican, but of the whole city.

We spent the whole day at those two attractions, and it was a day well spent. Religious or not, everyone who entered the Vatican was impressed.