Love, Vatican (January 2015)

The second leg of our Euro Trip was in Vatican City. The seat of the Catholic Church, it was one of the few places that I really wanted to visit.

Transportation

Based on TripAdvisor, we should first visit the Vatican Museums (where the Sistine Chapel is also housed) in the morning to avoid the crowd. Even though it was winter, there were still a lot of tourists visiting and lining up to get inside the museums. Luckily we were prepared for this. Since the Vatican museums were not included in the Roma Pass, we reserved tickets in advance via their website for a total of 36 euros each with 4 euros for reservation (trust me, 4 euros is worth it). We just need to pick the date and time of our visit.

From our hotel, we walked to Corso Rinascimento just a couple of minutes away and rode bus 81. This bus dropped us near the entrance of the museum. You can also ride bus 492 and 23, depending on which bus comes first. The bus ride was included in the Roma Pass mentioned in my previous post.

Vatican Museum Entrance

Attractions Visited

The museum accommodated a LOT of artifacts and art works from time immemorial - from the papyrus of Alexandria to statues of gods and goddesses of Greece. From the mummies of Ancient Egypt to the paintings of Raphael Santi. It was a huge place, you couldn't finish touring the place within a day. I would suggest that prior to visiting the museum, do a little research on what you want to see and visit so by the time you arrive there, you won't be a lost sheep.

Egyptian Mummy

Moving around the museum wasn't easy, we used Rick Steve's Vatican Museum tour to help us get around and understand the artworks that we see. It also helped us get to where we wanted easily - we were lucky enough that the things we wanted to see was part of the tour. I just downloaded his application to my smartphone and we were good to go.

Tiring. That was the word to describe our visit to the museum. But, when we arrived in the Sistine Chapel, we were left speechless and forgot all about our exhaustion. Based on reviews, once you are inside the chapel, you won't be able to see the floor due to the immense crowd visiting the place Luckily for us, we were able to secure a seat in the side of the chapel. We sat there for quite sometime to marvel at the incredible frescoes painted my Michelangelo. We were fortunate enough to have been blessed and prayed upon by a Vatican priest inside the chapel. We lined up and he prayed for us and for baby Kristoff who was then 6 months old inside the womb. The only sad thing about our visit to the Sistine Chapel is that we weren't able to take pictures since it was not allowed.

Krz outside the Vatican Wall

We then continued on to visit St. Peter's Basilica. The church was HUGE! Although there were lines going in, it didn't take us more than 10 minutes to get inside. Upon entering, you will be overwhelmed by the sheer size of the church. You can spend hours just wandering inside and still would not finish touring the place. There were a lot of things to see inside, but what really captivated us were Michaelangelo's Pieta and St. John Paul II's altar. Entrance to St. Peter's is free of charge. You just need to go through security check before entering the church.

Line to St. Peter's Basilica

Michelangelo's Pieta

Me in front of St. Peter's Basilica

Krz and Baby Kristoff (in her tummy)

While Krz was sitting inside the church and resting, I did not miss the chance to go up the dome of St. Peter's. For only 5 euros, you can go up a total of 300+ steps and for an additional 2 euros, you can take the elevator until the first level and climb a total of 165 steps to the dome to get breathtaking views of the city.

165 Steps to the top

Not for the Claustrophobic

Panoramic View from the dome

There were a lot of highlights for this trip, but the most unforgettable experience we had was seeing Pope Francis up close and personal -  I was even able to touch his hand! Free limited tickets for the Papal Audience could be requested from the Swiss guard at the side of the Vatican City. We were fortunate enough to be provided with the tickets even before the distribution time (every 3pm on Tuesdays is allotted for ticket distribution whiled Wednesdays are dedicated for the Papal Audience).

Pope Francis entering the hall

The following day, we got up early and prepared to go to the Vatican as early as 5am to fall in line. At first we thought it was too early as the Papal audience will not start until 10am. But when we arrived at around 5:30am, there were already a lot of people lining up in front of the security machines. Since it was winter time, the Papal audience was held inside a hall to shelter the Pope and the audience from the winter cold. The temperature recorded by the time we arrived was a staggering 3C, and we had to endure the cold temperature for at least 2 more hours since the gates will not open until 8am. 

When the gates were opened, everyone had to go through a security check before entering. This entailed that you remove your bags and coats when passing through the x-ray machine. The funny thing was, we had to run from the x-ray machine to the hall without our coats on as everyone was running in order to get great seats. Good enough, we were able to get seats by the aisle and I was able to take a selfie with the Pope.

While waiting for the Papal audience to start

Selfie with Pope Francis

The experience was one of a kind. If asked whether I would visit the Vatican again in winter than summer, the answer is yes. I would gladly choose less crowd and chill weather than warm weather with the risk of rubbing faces with fellow tourists.