We decided to wake up early this morning and make our way to the Vatican: Home to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. Since it's famous for it's long lines and wait times, we wanted to make sure we got there super early. We planned on waking up around 7:30, getting ready, making some sandwiches, and riding the metro to the holy city. We managed to do all of that except wake up early. We woke up late, but we had read online that there was usually a lull around lunch time. So, we decided to hit up the Vatican shortly after 1.
The metro ride was the most crowded either of us had ever experienced. We've never been touching that many people at the same time. Like everyone on that train, we felt a little violated, but it was good training for the swarms of people we were about to have to deal with. We arrived at the outer wall of the Vatican and saw the line. It looked massive, but we weren't too disappointed. We had mentally prepared for the lines, and on the bright side, the line was in the shade. As we made our way to the back, people kept trying to sell us fast track tickets to skip the line. Despite their persistence, we managed to ignore all of them.
After standing for a long time, we started getting a little nervous. "Are we sure we're in the right line?" "How long does this line usually take?" We did some Googling and discovered that the line to get in could be 2 hours on a good day. We prepared for the long haul, but after about 45 minutes we rounded a corner and were right in front of the entrance. Apparently, our timing was perfect. After a quick security check, we were in. They made us check our bag which had all of our food and water and snacks for the day. (Well played Pope) After we were in, the concept of a line was gone. Now it was just a huge mass of people shuffling around in different directions. The crowd made it difficult to navigate. If you tried to stand still to figure out where you were going, you were in someone's way. We were kind of in someone's way regardless. It was just tons of people.
The first thing we did was waddle through a museum with a lot of Egyptian stuff, busts of heads, and statues. The Vatican had some of the most well preserved pieces we've seen on the trip. Honestly though, we had already seen a lot of that stuff in other museums. Our mission was the Sistine Chapel ceiling. After getting turned around by some signs and walking through several other parts of the museum, we still couldn't find it. By this time the need for food was becoming an increasing priority.
We managed to fight our way through the crowds to a large courtyard with a diner. We sat and begrudgingly ate some expensive sandwiches and drank some sparkling water. After roughly an hour we noticed some larger crowds starting to form so we decided to make another run for the Sistine Chapel ceiling. After walking in some big circles, making our way through a collection of Pope-mobiles, and walking up and down the same set of stairs a few times, Aaron decided to ask for directions. "Just up the stairs." We were finally on our way.
But it wasn't just up the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a long narrow hallway filled with tourists. All of these people were trying to get through a small doorway at the end of the hall. We started getting excited. The Sistine Chapel had to be through those doors. But it wasn't. It was just another long hallway filled with people. Sure, this hallway had some pretty massive tapestries depicting biblical stores, but that's not what we were here for. Alas, at the end of this hallway was a small doorway, and the chapel had to be on the other side. It wasn't. Through that doorway was another long hallway filled with stinky angry humans. This hallway had maps, and a small doorway at the end. By this time, we had caught on. Even though we were following the signs for the Sistine Chapel, we were going to be walking through lots of hallways with lots of people and lots of significant art.
The constant shuffling and bumping of people made it impossible to stop and enjoy the art in any meaningful way. We tried as best we could, but we had to be in the zone to make it to the chapel in a timely manner. We spent over an hour power walking, cutting in front of people, and vying for position to get to the next room. With no end in site, we had one singular goal, and after countless mobs of people, we finally arrived. Aaron started a video to capture the magic of entering the chapel, but as soon as we walked in a guard told Aaron to turn his phone off. No pictures allowed in the Sistine Chapel. Being the rebels that we are, we managed to sneak in a few photos anyway. It was much smaller than we expected, but we decided it was worth the wait and the crowds. But just barely.
It took much less time to make our way back to the entrance of the museum. Our next stop was St. Peter's Basilica. Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side, and we actually had to leave Vatican City in order to get there. We got to the other side around 4:30. There were tons of people, but we were outside, so it was nothing compared to the Chapel. There's a large circular plaza in front of the basilica, and people seemed to be lined up along the perimeter. It took us a while to realize that these people were standing in line to get into the building. After the previous few hours, we decided not to stand in line. The outside of St. Peter's was good enough for us. We made our way back to the hostel for some rest before dinner.
The first restaurant Aaron chose was closed, so we asked the hostel receptionist if he knew of a nice place nearby. The hostel had tried to suggest the same restaurant for coffee and a croissant for breakfast earlier. We were a bit suspect of his suggestion, but it ended up being the best meal of the trip. We had lobster spaghetti followed by chocolate cake. On a scale from 1 to even, words just can't begin to describe how great this meal was.
Once again, it's super late. We have another day of travel ahead of us, so we've got to get some sleep. Tomorrow we're off to Naples!
The metro ride was the most crowded either of us had ever experienced. We've never been touching that many people at the same time. Like everyone on that train, we felt a little violated, but it was good training for the swarms of people we were about to have to deal with. We arrived at the outer wall of the Vatican and saw the line. It looked massive, but we weren't too disappointed. We had mentally prepared for the lines, and on the bright side, the line was in the shade. As we made our way to the back, people kept trying to sell us fast track tickets to skip the line. Despite their persistence, we managed to ignore all of them.
After standing for a long time, we started getting a little nervous. "Are we sure we're in the right line?" "How long does this line usually take?" We did some Googling and discovered that the line to get in could be 2 hours on a good day. We prepared for the long haul, but after about 45 minutes we rounded a corner and were right in front of the entrance. Apparently, our timing was perfect. After a quick security check, we were in. They made us check our bag which had all of our food and water and snacks for the day. (Well played Pope) After we were in, the concept of a line was gone. Now it was just a huge mass of people shuffling around in different directions. The crowd made it difficult to navigate. If you tried to stand still to figure out where you were going, you were in someone's way. We were kind of in someone's way regardless. It was just tons of people.
The first thing we did was waddle through a museum with a lot of Egyptian stuff, busts of heads, and statues. The Vatican had some of the most well preserved pieces we've seen on the trip. Honestly though, we had already seen a lot of that stuff in other museums. Our mission was the Sistine Chapel ceiling. After getting turned around by some signs and walking through several other parts of the museum, we still couldn't find it. By this time the need for food was becoming an increasing priority.
We managed to fight our way through the crowds to a large courtyard with a diner. We sat and begrudgingly ate some expensive sandwiches and drank some sparkling water. After roughly an hour we noticed some larger crowds starting to form so we decided to make another run for the Sistine Chapel ceiling. After walking in some big circles, making our way through a collection of Pope-mobiles, and walking up and down the same set of stairs a few times, Aaron decided to ask for directions. "Just up the stairs." We were finally on our way.
But it wasn't just up the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a long narrow hallway filled with tourists. All of these people were trying to get through a small doorway at the end of the hall. We started getting excited. The Sistine Chapel had to be through those doors. But it wasn't. It was just another long hallway filled with people. Sure, this hallway had some pretty massive tapestries depicting biblical stores, but that's not what we were here for. Alas, at the end of this hallway was a small doorway, and the chapel had to be on the other side. It wasn't. Through that doorway was another long hallway filled with stinky angry humans. This hallway had maps, and a small doorway at the end. By this time, we had caught on. Even though we were following the signs for the Sistine Chapel, we were going to be walking through lots of hallways with lots of people and lots of significant art.
The constant shuffling and bumping of people made it impossible to stop and enjoy the art in any meaningful way. We tried as best we could, but we had to be in the zone to make it to the chapel in a timely manner. We spent over an hour power walking, cutting in front of people, and vying for position to get to the next room. With no end in site, we had one singular goal, and after countless mobs of people, we finally arrived. Aaron started a video to capture the magic of entering the chapel, but as soon as we walked in a guard told Aaron to turn his phone off. No pictures allowed in the Sistine Chapel. Being the rebels that we are, we managed to sneak in a few photos anyway. It was much smaller than we expected, but we decided it was worth the wait and the crowds. But just barely.
(Super Sneaky Sistine Selfie)
It took much less time to make our way back to the entrance of the museum. Our next stop was St. Peter's Basilica. Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side, and we actually had to leave Vatican City in order to get there. We got to the other side around 4:30. There were tons of people, but we were outside, so it was nothing compared to the Chapel. There's a large circular plaza in front of the basilica, and people seemed to be lined up along the perimeter. It took us a while to realize that these people were standing in line to get into the building. After the previous few hours, we decided not to stand in line. The outside of St. Peter's was good enough for us. We made our way back to the hostel for some rest before dinner.
The first restaurant Aaron chose was closed, so we asked the hostel receptionist if he knew of a nice place nearby. The hostel had tried to suggest the same restaurant for coffee and a croissant for breakfast earlier. We were a bit suspect of his suggestion, but it ended up being the best meal of the trip. We had lobster spaghetti followed by chocolate cake. On a scale from 1 to even, words just can't begin to describe how great this meal was.
Once again, it's super late. We have another day of travel ahead of us, so we've got to get some sleep. Tomorrow we're off to Naples!
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