Getting up at 5:45AM was really fun for me on Thursday, especially since I’ve been staying awake until 2 or 3AM every night for whatever reason. BUT, I had a 7:15AM check in with my tour for the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. I booked a tour through The Roman Guy and let me tell you: it was worth every cent. If I had attempted to go into these places
A. alone
B. at normal operating hours
C. a combination of the two above

I would have been overwhelmed as hell…no pun intended. Check out the tour here.

My tour guide’s name was Barbara and she was charming and entertaining while also educating our small group of 10 (this is another reason I booked through them — their tour groups are never over 13 guests per guide!). There was A LOT to learn in the 3.5 hours that we toured the two buildings and I think I walked almost 3 miles in that time. We first booked it to the Sistine Chapel after standing in the entry line for 25 minutes or so before they opened the gates to Vatican City. During our wait time, we were given explanations for all that we’d see in the chapel, as its consecrated and there is NO talking allowed within it. There were also no pictures or videos allowed.

The Sistine Chapel was very, very large. Larger than I imagined. The imagery painted by Michelangelo was also incredibly beautiful. The artwork had been restored just in time for the turn of the century and everything was vivid.  I know very little about art history, so I appreciated the backstory and small details given to us about Michelangelo himself and the painting of the chapel. I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures, so here’s one from google:

You get the gist.

Now, Michelangelo only painted the ceiling and that back wall; 8 other artists worked together to paint the panels along the side of the chapel. They were done to be cohesive and they shared the same paint palette, as well as the horizon line and scale of subjects within the panel.

After the chapel, we toured through several galleries and a few very well known rooms. Our guide said that if someone were to stop and look at every item in the Vatican, it would take them 7 years! We didn’t have that kind of time. We saw the following galleries and rooms: Gallery of the Candelabra, Gallery of Tapestries, Gallery of Maps, Raphael Rooms, and the Borgia Apartments before heading over to St. Peter’s Basilica.

The following are a few shots that I snapped as we walked. She had GREAT information for each gallery, but alas, that’s too much to remember and write down correctly. 🙂

 

This sculpture was notable because it had glass eyes, unlike the majority from the time period.

Fun fact: the tapestries had silver woven into them…silver! The brown part of Jesus’ attire is actually silver that is incredibly hard to polish when it’s, ya know, woven into a massive tapestry.

 

These maps took  years to make!

The Raphael Rooms were absolutely stunning.

Want to know another thing that was absolutely stunning? St. Peter’s Basilica. I wish I had the appropriate vocabulary to describe this church. I do not. It is the largest church in the world. It is one of the most important churches in Christianity. It is used by the Pope.  We walked by the Holy Door, the one that is only opened once after 25 years for 1 year. If you walk through that door, all of your worldly sins are washed away. We also learned that they build a literal brick and concrete wall behind the door during those 25 years. No one is getting through there until the Pope, along with some assistance, breaks down the wall after opening the door!

Our guide took us inside and showed us a few of the important works within the church; I was especially intrigued by the relics housed in it and their significance explained because holy wow. Literally.

I wish I could give you a perspective on just how tall this church is.

Wiki says: St. Peter’s Baldachin is a large Baroque sculpted bronze canopy over the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City. The baldachin is at the centre of the crossing and directly under the dome of the basilica. Designed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, it was intended to mark, in a monumental way, the place of Saint Peter‘s tomb underneath. Under its canopy is the high altar of the basilica.

 

 

The inside of this church humbled me (along with tens of thousands of others, that day). It was very special to walk and take in everything. There was one more thing that I needed to do before leaving, though.

The cupola. The dome. Climbing up to the top of the Basilica to see the best views of Rome.

It was 8 euros to walk the 551 steps to the top, or 10 euros to take an elevator to skip the first 320…I had already walked 4 hours that day, so you can bet that I paid for the lift. I still had to climb the remaining 231 stairs, and the stairwells got narrower and narrower, but the views were worth it.

 

I was shake-y while taking this picture of the last stairwell on the way to the top. A rope for your handrail!

 

This early bird was hella exhausted after this morning but still feeling lucky to have experienced it all.