Day 13: Citta del Vaticano

OK, so many people that I have talked to (catholic or not) have said that The Vatican is not worth it. “It’s too hot.” “It takes forever.”  Blahh blah Blah… FALSE! The Vatican is beautiful and very much worth seeing! Being catholic myself, it was very cool to see and something that is apart of my religion and has so much art and history, but I had friends with me that were not catholic and really enjoyed it too. I would definatley recommend that you buy your tickets online before you go. It is only 12 euro (because you get a student discount) and you get to skip the massive line that wraps around the walls of The Vatican. You go straight to security and you’re good to go!

Side note: To all the ladies out there… cover your knees and shoulders when visiting The Vatican. Yes, its hot. But you will not be let in to the Sistine Chapel or St. Peter’s in your short shorts and tank top. I would suggest wearing a dress and carrying a scarf with you to cover your shoulders when you need to. Don’t make the mistake I did and wear pants, it is way too hot for that.

That being said, I actually went through The Vatican twice during my 4 weeks in Rome and I’m pretty sure I still didn’t see everything. My first time at The Vatican, I went through the main parts of the museum as well as St. Peter’s Basilica and climbed the dome of St. Peters; all which took a grand total of 8 hours. Yes, you read that right, 8 hours. I had some people in my group that were readers. They stopped and read almost everything in every room, which was informative but it took a while. My second time going through only took about 3 hours and I actually saw more of The Vatican than I did the first time. So don’t worry, it doesn’t actually take 8 hours to get through the museum.

All in all, The Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica are a MUST SEE in Rome (Catholic or not). They are two of the most beautiful and intricate pieces of art and architecture I have ever seen. (I was actually convinced that St. Peter’s wasn’t real until I actually went inside.) It is that beautiful. Rome is that beautiful. No picture does anything justice and if you look at something too long it ends up looking like a 2D painting. But don’t forget your cameras at home because you’ll defiantly want to at least try to capture the beauty to show your friends and family. Be my guest and check out my pictures of St. Peter’s and The Vatican museum 🙂 Enjoy!