A week ago Friday, my friend Nick and I finally went and explored Vatican City. We had been to Saint Peter's Square on more than one occasion, but had yet to venture inside the basilica or the Vatican Museum. So, after Tuscany, we decided it was time to set aside an entire day and get it done. I had been wanting to go to the Vatican before the parentals came anyway, as it will be a good thing for them to do while I am in class all day. As Nick said, there is so much to see and do there, it's like Catholic Disneyland.
I will admit that we did a bit of a power tour of the museum, but we still spent about 3 hours inside and saw a lot of incredible art. It was huge and incredibly awe inspiring. However, without having been there, it is difficult to put into words, so I'm going to leave you with pictures, which, of course, don't really do any of it justice, but are better than my inadequate attempts to describe it.
Next, we moved on to Saint Peter's Basilica.
A slight, side note: we had to wait in line in Saint Peter's Square for probably about 10 minutes in order to get in. While we were waiting, it started to rain, a little at first and pretty quickly it was coming down fairly significantly. As I stood there in the warm, almost still summer, rain, I could feel my Washington blood come out as I laughed watching the hundreds of tourists scatter as if they were afraid they would melt at the slightest sign of rain. But, I digress.
We made it inside the basilica and it was amazing. If nothing else, the Catholic Church definitely knows how to get things done. Saint Peter's in an incredibly massive, marble basilica with more altars, confessionals, and statues than a person could possibly imagine. I'd say we spent at least a good hour or two exploring the basilica, including the crypt - hard to find something quite so surreal as being surrounded by numerous Popes.
Finally, we decided to do the dome climb. I'd heard that the view from the top of the cupola is one of the best views of Rome. The rain had subsided, although it was still rather windy, so we hiked our way (no elevator, thank you) to the top. First stop, the inside of the cupola. Absolutely incredible.
After getting plenty of pictures we trudged on ahead towards the top. Despite the less than stellar weather, the trek was definitly worth it once we finally reached the dome. An unobstructed view of the city and Saint Peter's Square that can be found no where else.
All in all it was a very long, successful day. I'd been looking forward to Vatican City for a long time, so I was very happy to be able to finally explore it a little. A great day of incredible art and history, all lined with intense reflection and gratitude for such an opportunity.
Peace be with you.
Ciao, Ciao!!
No comments:
Post a Comment