The Vatican

When we arrived back in Rome at the end of our cruise we knew the main thing we still needed to do was see the Vatican. We got quite lost trying to find our air bnb place by bus, which made us really miss the relaxing pace of the cruise. We had heard that going to the Vatican can be frustrating because of the heavy crowds - our tour guide said 20,000 visitors can be there at any given time. Our bus mishap turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we didn't get to the Vatican until just a few minutes before the gates closed. We amazingly found a tour for a good price as soon as we got there and went right into the Vatican museum with no line at all. (If we did it again we would have booked an official tour ahead of time, but you have to do that two or three weeks ahead. It seems like better value, but ours was good too). The place was almost empty and we toured through the museum, Sistine chapel and St. Peter's Basilica with relative ease. (Julia: This is what we looked like throughout the tour.)

The art collection in the museum is the most extensive in the world. The statues, mosaic floors, tapestries and frescoes were endless and breathtaking. But the most amazing piece of artwork was by far Michelangelo's fresco, the Sistine chapel. It was incredible how much detail is in that ceiling. It was also interesting to hear how Michelangelo actually HATED doing that job. He was a sculptor and had to learn the art of fresco just for the Sistine chapel (pretty good for his first work of that kind). He apparently stayed up in the scaffolding painting, eating and sleeping for months at a time because he wanted to get it done and get back to sculpting. It sure doesn't look rushed to me! At one point Michelangelo wanted to quit but the Pope threatened to kill him if he didn't finish. They tried to re-do some damaged parts centuries later, but Michelangelo's images are so vivid the frescoes that were re-done look like they are in black and white compared them.

We also went up into the dome of St. Peter's basilica, which was very cool. It was incredible how much time, money and manpower were put into making the Vatican so huge, ornate and beautiful. Although it was an amazing place to visit, I think it's a shame that the church has not put their resources into projects that have more eternal value than huge churches, or beautiful artwork.

At the end of the tour we talked to some Swiss guards. I found it interesting that they would come to the Vatican to protect a Pope who is not even from the same country as them. The one guy we talked to said he wanted to get out of Switzerland for a couple of years. Switzerland has mandatory military service, and after that they have the option of staying in the army a couple more years to be in the Vatican guard. Seems like a decent gig to me.

- Andy