Today was the day. You see, Kevin and I had different attractions we were the most excited to see in Rome. Yesterday, for Kevin, it was the colosseum. Today, for me, it was the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.
We woke up bright and early for Day two in Rome. We got ready and headed over to the Vatican museum. Word of advice for anyone visiting the Vatican, buy your tickets / reservations ahead of time. I imagine, it must be a similar experience for the Eiffel tower. But we did reserve ahead of time, and we walked past a line probably a half a mile long and went right to the front and in we went.
The experience was amazing. We opted to begin heading toward the Sistine Chapel since it was what I really wanted to see. Leading the way was a maze of rooms full of some of the most beautiful art I had ever seen. Each room was themed and told a story. There was one in particular that really swept Kevin off his feet. So much so, that when we went to the next room, he actually went back to the previous room to just take it all in again. And it really was amazing. It was so overwhelming and beautiful that at times my heart was racing and I felt tears creep into my eyes. I have never felt this reaction when looking at art before today.
Finally, we arrived at the Sistine chapel, and it did not disappoint. I wish I could have laid down on the ground and just stared at the ceiling for several hours. You are not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine chapel, but I managed to sneak a few.
Once we finally pulled ourselves out of the Sistine Chapel, we walked around some of the other exhibits. The rest was fun and interesting to see, but the other room that really caught my eye (and Kev really got a kick out of) was the room with all the Pope-mobiles going back to carriages in the early 1800s (man, it's good to be the pope!)
After spending over three hours in the Vatican, our rumbling stomachs told us it was time for lunch. While the Vatican had a pizzeria, we wanted something a little less touristy. We found a small sandwich shop that blew yesterday's pizza out of the water.
Next, it was time to make our way to St. Peters square and brave the line to get into St. Peter's Basilica. It was long, but it kept moving, so we ended up only waiting 15 minutes or so. We walked around the basilica, and wow is it gorgeous! Domed ceilings, painted murals, intricate carvings, and more. Kevin decided that he wanted to go up in the main dome to see the view of Rome. And so we did.
After waiting in line for another 15 to 20 minutes, we were riding the lift up to the third floor. What came next was pure hell: climbing 230 steps. Now, climbing the steps was not hard for me. What was hard for me was my claustrophobia and the incredibly small hallways with no windows to look out of while climbing these steps and it seemed to never end. I think I started having a panic attack because my knees and hands were shaking and I couldn't breath and my heart was racing... And then finally, we were there. The top of the dome. It was worth the looming panic attack, even though it took me a while to recover. The climb down was no different than the climb up, except that there were windows going down, so that helped some.
After St. Peter's we made our way over to the Spanish steps and took in the view of Rome from there. We followed that with a visit to the Trevi fountain. We even got some gelato on our way over.
After the Trevi fountain, we walked around a bit more, but by this time my feet were telling me it was time to sit and relax while drinking a beer. We stopped at a little cafe before making our way back to our b&b to relax and Freshen up for dinner.
For our last night in Rome, we are going for some pasta!
It's time to get ready for dinner, so for now I say ciao!