{ Adventure Is Out There! }: A Country in a Country

Vatican City. The capitol of Christianity (well, at least Catholicism). Surrounded entirely by Rome. At 100 acres, it's an eighth of the size of New York's Central Park. At some point, I was in two places at once as we crossed the unclear border between the secular and sacred cities. (I can mark that off of my bucket list now.)

We began our day at the Vatican very, very early. The Vatican Museum doesn't open until 9:00am, but St. Peter's Basilica opens at 7:00am, so we started there shortly after it opened. It was very easy to get in--no line at all--when we arrived, but in the afternoon, when we returned to attempt to see the basilica again, an employee of the Vatican informed us that the line to get in would take a few hours. My advice: it's worth it to loose a little sleep to not have to deal with the line and to not have to deal with crowds once inside.

Rick Steves' has a great app that has audio guides for major sites in European cities. (More information about that here.) As we walked around the enormous interior of St. Peter's we listened to his informative and entertaining guide.

Eric showing off his Rick Steves' app.

The holy doors are only opened every 25 years.

These cherubs are as tall as a grown adult.

The dome above the altar.

The altar is above what's believed to be Peter's tomb.

"Tu es Petrus." --> "You are Peter."

This is a famous statue of Peter. It's toe is
practically nonexistent from so many pilgrims
rubbing and touching it in respect.

What I looked forward to seeing most at St. Peter's was Michelangelo's "Pieta." (The pieta is a subject in Christianity depicting Mary cradling her Son, Jesus Christ, right after he was crucified. They're always heart-wrenching and sobering because they show the side of Christ's death we don't often think about, a mother losing her Child.) The art of the statue is as beautiful as it's subject, but unfortunately, the Vatican is pretty protective of this prized possession. It's behind glass, and viewers can only admired from a safe--a very safe--distance. Apparently, the statue was attacked once, and they don't want it to happen again.

A motif I noticed at St. Peter's and elsewhere in the Vatican was keys. These are symbolic of the keys the Catholic church believes it holds by leadership being passed down from apostle (Peter) to pope to pope. This was a huge deal when the Reformation was occurring and the Catholic church instituted the Counter-Reformation.

Unfortunately, because we went on a Saturday, the staff was already preparing for Sunday mass, so many of the areas of the basilica were roped off, but we were able to see all of the major things at least from a distance. One specific area, the left wing of the basilica that holds a painting of St. Peter's up-side-down crucifixion, was open only for prayer and meditation. Wanting to see the area and wanting to fully enjoy this place of worship, we opted to pray and meditate to enter. Without the major crowds that the basilica usually has, it was nice and quiet, especially in this area.

After some time at St. Peter's, we walked over to the Vatican Museum. My advice: Buy your tickets online, especially if you plan to enter once it opens. There's a separate line that moves much quicker for those who already have vouchers for tickets.

Once inside, we practically ran through the exhibits to the pinnacle of the museum, the Sistine Chapel. (Rick Steves' has a good audio guide tour for this too on his app.) This was Eric's favorite spot in Rome. In fact, after visiting the other exhibits, we returned for a second time. It's considered the greatest piece of artwork by a single artist. It truly is incredible. There's so much detail, so much going on, and so much to soak in that I could have stayed in there for a whole day.

You're not allowed to take pictures, so this is
the clearest sneaky picture I have. Ignore my
double chin.

My advice: Go to the museum once it opens and rush over to the Sistine chapel. The first time we were in there, we were able to enjoy it without feeling too squished and without getting annoyed by the guards yelling, "Shhh. Silencio!" and "No photos!" every thirty seconds at oblivious tourists. After visiting the chapel, you can always go back and see the rooms you missed and didn't pay attention to.

That's exactly what we did. The Vatican Museum has an incredibly impressive collection of ancient art, modern art, and every other kind of art in between.