Day 3: The Vatican and Walking Around Rome

Saturday morning was a SUPER early morning for us—we had a tour at the Vatican Museum beginning at 7:30 am, about an hour and a half before the Museum opens to the public. When the alarm clock went off around 6:00 and we were struggling to get ready and eat breakfast on time, we weren’t very appreciative of how important it was to get there before it opens to the public—but we sure did find out later on!

The entrance to the Vatican Museum

We went on an official tour through a company called Walks of Italy (we absolutely would recommend them by the way if anyone is going to Italy and wants a tour of any major site in Rome, Florence or Venice—they were awesome and worth every penny!). When we first got into the museum our tour guide, Guido (yes, that really was his name), told us we were going to have to move fast and we were going directly to the Sistine Chapel. Other private tour groups would be coming in behind us and we wanted to spend as much time there as possible before it got crowded. Guido was NOT KIDDING about moving fast through the museum. The little old man ran faster through the Vatican Museum than Devin and I did in the marathon. When we got to the Sistine Chapel, he told us about the various paintings inside and what to look for because once we were inside, the church is very particular about their two rules: NO taking pictures and NO TALKING IN THE SISTINE CHAPEL. At this point I would like to remind all of you what chatterboxes Devin and I turn into when we are excited about something. So put us in the Sistine Chapel and tell us we can’t talk to each other about it?!? Luckily we are pretty good whisperers J We walked into the chapel and the had maybe 30 other people there with us. It was completely silent and we were able to take it all in. We got to sit down on the benches and stare up at the beautiful ceiling painted by Michelangelo. We were able to walk around easily and look at each of the paintings along the walls. All in all, we spent about 25 minutes in the Sistine Chapel and we loved Every. Single. Minute. Then we began to walk around the rest of the Vatican Museum. We got to walk back through the places we had already gone through and talk about the art we had missed. We walked around looking at the various pieces of art for 4 hours and honestly could've kept going had it not been for the fact that we were nearing starvation. Art is a lot less fascinating when you're hungry, even when it is really impressive art.

A view of St. Peter's Basilica from the halls of the museum.A nice little garden view to the side too :) I loved how big the Vatican Gardens are considering you are surrounded by a major city.

Us with St. Peter's in the background.The teenager who took our picture had a little trouble with the autofocus.. sorry its a little blurry!

When we were nearing the end of our museum tour we began noticing how crowded the halls were getting. All of a sudden the Vatican Museum went from basically empty with just a few tour groups to feeling like Disney World on a summer day. I don't know how in the world anyone could've enjoyed themselves in the museum when it was that crowded, and we were SO GRATEFUL that we were able to enter before it opened to the public. 

As we were walking out of the museum and headed towards St. Peter's, we had to cross back through the Sistine Chapel as a cut through. The peaceful, quiet, serene Sistine Chapel from earlier now  had so many people in it you could hardly squeeze through to walk from one end to the other. You would not have been able to walk from picture to picture, you would not have been able to sit on the bench and stare up at Michelangelo's ceiling without being squished or having to sit on someone's lap. Again, so happy we got there when we did and got to spend some time basically alone in there. 

Here we are in front of St. Peter's Basilica. They were setting up for Easter Mass with thousands of chairs and beautiful floral bouquets. 

The inside of St. Peter's Basilica. Everything was so massive and elaborate and had historical significance. We could've spent at least an hour just in here, but it was getting crowded too and we were both getting hungrier and hungrier...

More St. Peter's. 

After our day at the Vatican we stopped for lunch at a random sidewalk cafe and had delicious pizza and pasta and then went back to the hotel to freshen up. We headed back out to dinner at a little place Devin found on  TripAdvisor called Piccolo Buca and it was AMAZING!! Our favorite meal of the trip so far. The best part of Piccolo Buca? It was right around the corner from the Trevi Fountain, so we stopped by for one more look and to toss some coins into the fountain. Legend has it if you toss coins from your right hand over your left shoulder into the fountain, you will return to Rome again one day. Here's to hoping that legend is true!!

Love you all and miss you!!