Seeing the Vatican has been on my bucket list for many years. After studying Michaelangelo, Raphael and Bernini in school, it was a dream to see their most famous works in person.
Every corner of Vatican City was breathtaking. From the Vatican Museum to St. Peter’s Basilica, to the Sistine Chapel, I was so overwhelmed with how beautiful it was that I actually got a bit emotional. Mark and I are not religious people, but we both agreed that seeing this was a moving experience.
Did you know that Vatican City is a country? It’s true; when you visit Vatican City, you’re going to a new country. Vatican City became independent of Italy in 1929 and is the smallest country in the world, by both population and by area. They have their own government, military, schools, post office…everything you’d expect, with a population of about 764 people.
For this trip, we booked a tour through Airbnb, which I highly recommend. As I mentioned in my last post about The Colosseum, there really isn’t a low season in Rome. All of the tourist spots are busy, and Vatican City is no exception. Without a tour, we would have been waiting hours in line to get in. Our tour was 3 hours, skipped the line, and focused on the more notable places and pieces of art. Our tour guide, Sara, was fantastic! She was so knowledgeable and had answers to every question we asked her. She seemed to really enjoy her job and both Mark and I came out of the tour feeling like we learned so much.
You aren’t allowed to take pictures in The Sistine Chapel (although some people were, because people are awful) but pretty much everywhere else you’re allowed. The photos don’t do these works justice. Clearly, Mark and I aren’t professional photographers and at times, it was hard to get pictures because everyone wanted to see these beautiful works of art. Vatican City is the definition of a place you need to “see with your own eyes”. I’m so grateful that I was able to.
