Monday morning we had a tour scheduled for 9:30 at The Vatican. Despite Jay and Ty getting less sleep than normal because of the Super Bowl, we made it to our meeting point just in time. We met our guide (another one from The Tour Guy whose name I don’t recall) and immediately skipped the massive lines and got right inside. (Worth the cost, for sure). We started outside and saw a bit of the gardens and talked about what we were doing to see inside. Then we toured the museum, making our way through the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel, ending at St Peter’s Basilica. Here is our day, in photos.

Er-mer-gerd breakfast was magnifico!!
Let’s go to the Vatican today
The unassuming building that I am pointing at is the Sistine Chapel.
St Peter’s Basilica is behind us. Looks big, but not massive. To be continued….
Vatican Gardens
I told Jay that I think my coffin should be as fancy as this one
A bathtub fit for a queen
Let’s go inside the museum.
Inside the Vatican Museum. For centuries this building and the artwork inside was only for the enjoyment of the Pope. In 1972 it was opened to the public. Everywhere you look, and everywhere you step, is a work of art.
A papal coat of arms. On the floor.
The Gallery of Tapestries
This is a tapestry called The Resurrection of Christ. While walking down the hallway, Jesus’s eyes follow you. The entire time we were walking through the museum there were giant crowds of people. But the moment we stepped into the corridor where this piece was hanging, we were literally the only people there. I had a bit of a moment. If I had to choose my favorite piece of art today, this would be it.
I mean, seriously. The ceiling in the Map Room was incredible.
Pope Julius II hired Raphael to paint his living quarters in 1508. A.Maz.Ing. He included many famous people at the time, and each wall represented something different but important for the Pope to keep in mind. One wall, above, was all about religion. Another wall was about math, science, literature, astronomy, etc. And another wall was about music and the arts.
Ceiling painted by Raphael
A self portrait of Raphael is tucked in the corner. He is wearing the black beret.

From the Raphael rooms we went into the Sistine Chapel. No photography was allowed in the room that was painted by Michelangelo – first the ceiling when he was in his 30’s, and then The Last Judgment when he was in his 60’s. Michelangelo didn’t want to paint it. He said he was “a sculptor, not a painter”. It took him 4 years to finish the ceiling. I like art, but I’m not an artist, not an art history expert, not one that can look at a piece of art and critique it. I can’t tell if something is worth nothing or millions. I like art that makes me feel something. We have seen a lot of art on the ceilings of churches in the past few days. But the Sistine Chapel….wow. Despite being herded like cattle through the room, surrounded by hundreds of people, I just kept thinking wow wow wow. For not being a painter, I think he did a pretty good job. A+ for effort, M.

Here we are at the entrance to St Peter’s Basilica. Again, looks like a big building, yes.
Whoa. This place is GINORMOUS!!! Stay tuned for some fun facts.
The Madonna della Pietà is one of the first things you see, sculpted by Michelangelo in 1498. This is Mary, holding her son, Jesus, after his death.
The High Altar (“high” is an understatement) sits directly above the tomb of Saint Peter. THE Saint Peter, as in Peter, Paul….
This is St Peter’s tomb. Take a minute and process that. St Peter was crucified upside down by the Roman Emperor Nero in the year 64 AD. And this is where he was laid to rest.
Your eyes probably won’t immediately notice the little men in colorful uniforms standing at the bottom of the archway. Swiss Guards provide security for The Vatican. They are trained by the Swiss military and must be Catholic, unmarried, and between the ages of 19-30. And they cannot be vertically challenged – must be at least 5’8” tall (probably so the uniform doesn’t look silly).

Jay and I have had a couple conversations about the extravagance of what we saw today, which seems to contradict what Jesus stood for. For centuries the leaders of the Catholic Church spent incredible sums of money on material items. I do not want to get into a religious debate so I won’t go there in this blog, but I’d be happy to have an actual conversation in person about it with you.

We wandered back to the hotel and ate a late lunch at a lively little sidewalk cafe. A musician sang some songs in Italian and lots of people were joining in. It was a cool vibe. We ate a lot, so we decided to bail on dinner reservations and the kids just ordered a little room service. We were all pretty worn out so a night in was appreciated by all.

Tomorrow afternoon we take the train to Florence. We could probably spend more time in Rome, but I think we are happy with the highlights that we were able to see.