Rome – Day 3

Vatican Statue

This post is a continuation of Rome-Day 1 and Rome-Day 2 Itinerary

-DAY THREE IN ROME-

Vatican City

After a very full day in Rome -Day 2 we slept in and didn’t head out for our last day until almost noon. When ready to go, we hopped on the Metro and made our way to…

Vatican Museums

A UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our first visit was to the Vatican Museums. You really must buy your tickets before you visit. I was almost dumbfounded at the long lines of people waiting to come in. The line stretched along the city walls for almost a half mile!

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This picture does not do the line length justice

The museums of the Vatican were wonderful. Each Pope contributed something new to conserve the history of Christianity through different artists of the time and different mediums. The art and history were just overwhelming, it is a must do experience!

I could have easily spent all my time looking at the long ceiling or the room of tapestries. We lucked out and came when the Vatican had a collection of works by Raphael so I geeked out over the School of Athens work.

 

See the Sistine Chapel

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Photo Credit: Vatican Museum

Walking through the Vatican Museums allows you access to the Sistine Chapel. I have no photos that I took personally because they are not allowed. Do not even try. Please respect the space and just enjoy it. Take it all in.

I cannot recommend seeing the Sistine Chapel in person enough. The art is truly one of a kind that just mesmerizes you. It is a chapel, so the staff asks everyone to be quiet.

Find your way to a seat and stay for awhile. We must have stayed, staring at the walls and ceiling for almost an hour. There is so much to look at and so much to appreciate.

St. Peter’s Basilica

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After viewing the museums, walk around the walls of the city and step in to view St. Peter’s Basilica.

Exhausted from the museums, we only stayed in the piazza. The chapel was closed anyways as it was St. Patrick’s Day and they were preparing for a special Mass with Pope Francis that evening. We thought about staying and seeing the Pope, but we still wanted to explore Vatican City.

Get Lost in Vatican City

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That is actually hard to do since the city is so small! We walked down the streets, did some shopping, and had a late lunch. We walked along the river and watched people touring and kayaking through the city.

Finally, we were tired so we hopped on a bus and headed back to the hotel for a nap.

Sit on the Spanish Steps

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Another one of our night adventures. We couldn’t leave Rome without seeing the Spanish Steps. You can sit and people watch from the steps before grabbing taking a walk down Via dei Condotti to do a little window shopping. We came and sat on the steps for a bit, then went to have some dinner.

Things to Know: You are not allowed to eat on the Spanish steps. They shooed me off as I was finishing my tiramisu dessert after dinner.

View all the places we stayed and visited on our European Tour. 

 

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