Maddie’s European Travel Diaries: Rome Day 2

Last day :( Today we woke up early again to eat breakfast and head over to Vatican City for the majority of our day. This was another day where I was grateful to have the group reservations to avoid the 1-2 hour lines to get in. We started with the Vatican Museum, where we had a tour guide explain the meaning behind Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel and some of the works in the museum. The museum had a room of statues, tapestries, and woven maps, all from ancient Rome. The tapestries were especially impressive and very fascinating, as I could not imagine someone sitting there and painstakingly creating that masterpiece thread by thread. Another interesting fact was that statues were initially carved with genitalia, then later covered up by fig leaves when the catholic clergy decided that nudity did not belong in the church. There was this same conflict with Michelangelo’s paintings, but he kept the integrity of the Sistine Chapel under the basis that people are born nude and that it is a natural thing.

After walking through the Vatican Museum, we went directly to the Sistine Chapel. We were not allowed to take pictures in here, but we heard about the lore of Michelangelo’s 4 year commission to paint the ceiling, regardless of the fact that he was a renowned sculptor at the time, not a painter. This makes the masterpiece that is the Sistine Chapel all that more impressive.

Through an exit of the Sistine Chapel, we were able to cut through to the Basilica de San Pietro, avoiding the long line to get it. The perks of being with a tour group. This is the largest church in the world in the smallest country in the world. It was gorgeous, very ornate and massive. We walked through the entire church, admiring the paintings on the walls and detail in the structure. As we were walking out, the 12pm mass started and we got to see a procession which was super cool.

Afterwards, we went to the gift shop and bought postcards to mail from Vatican City! They had their own little post office. Then, we ate lunch at this really good takeaway pasta place before meeting back up with the group at 2:30.

From there, we took the metro to the Colosseum! We met up with a local guide who took us on a tour inside the Colosseum and surrounding areas. This was a super long tour and we were very tired but it was very pretty! It was interesting learning about all of the Colosseum’s uses and the events they had there. The way it has been preserved so long and so well is amazing to me. We also saw the gardens and ruins of the city around the area which were also very pretty.

After the tour, we took the metro back to the hotel for a few minutes to chill and freshen up then took the metro again to dinner. This was at a family restaurant and it was a dinner with music! The food was amazing and the singers were so good! Overall a really fun experience! We got gelato for the last time in Rome then headed back to the hotel to pack for our travels the next day. Arrivederci, Italy!