Vatican tour

We were advised by many that the only intelligent way to visit the Vatican was to purchase tour tickets well in advance with “skip the line” privileges. For this tip, we will be forever grateful!

The morning began with a long walk across Rome to a meeting point across the Tiber river at a cafe just outside the Vatican gates. There we connected with our guide, Elisabetha, who was very knowledgeable and an archaeologist by trade. Her expertise would have made her the perfect tour guide if not for the fact that she was so height challenged that we often could not find her flag above the heads of the teeming herds of humanity.

Entering the Vatican, like so many places we’ve visited on this holiday, we went through security much like what we encounter at airports. We then embarked on a 3 1/2 hour tour that included the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. Thank heavens for our guide. She provided so much insight and history that we would have missed totally if we were attempting a self guided tour. Frankly, as just two of the roughly 25,000 daily visitors, I think we might just have given up and gone home if we weren’t on a tour. We felt very sorry for the thousands of people who were lined up trying to buy same-day tickets.

I won’t try to convey here all that we learned, but there was one story that fascinated us. It revolved around Pope Julius II commissioning Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Apparently, at the time, Michelangelo had achieved his reputation as a sculptor and had, in fact, not painted anything at all to date. Not surprisingly, he turned down the Pope’s request to take on this project. The Pope, not one to take “No” as answer easily, summoned Michelangelo to a meeting. He then proceeded to punch Michelangelo in the beak and then threatened to destroy Michelangelo’s home city of Florence if he did not cooperate. Michelangelo agreed to take on the project under extreme duress, and had to learn a new skill to do it.

You will find attached pictures of the Vatican museum and of St. Peter’s Basilica, but none of the Sistine Chapel. Apparently a Japanese television station bankrolled a major restoration project back in the 80’s and 90’s, and they now hold the copyright until 2025, so we were not allowed to take pictures. It’s just as well. The guy next to us in the tour was the taller brother of Lurch, so we couldn’t see the whole ceiling anyway. Luckily, he made it easy to stay with the tour. The Sistine Chapel was indeed awe-inspiring but St. Peter's Basilica was breathtaking. Michelangelo's Pieta (pictured later in this post) was stunningly beautiful and it was hard to look away from it.

We ended with a solemn walk through the Vatican Grottoes which includes the papal tombs and necropolis below St. Peter's. Amazing history in these sacred walls.