The Vatican City State is the smallest state in world based on size or population. It is located in Rome, Italy. I took a tour of the Vatican on my first full day in Rome.
I don't recall exactly how getting into the Vatican works. I think it's required to have a tour guide, but maybe that's only required to skip the line. I signed up for a tour group and everyone was given wireless headsets and led into the Vatican.
We were admitted through an entrance building and made our way through a museum area. After that we all gathered in a courtyard and our guide explained some things that I've since forgotten.
This sculpture seemed out of place, but cool.
There were also some planters outside that looked like they'd been placed as an afterthought. I thought they looked cool and ancient.
If I remember correctly, we had to stay outside for a little while as the tour groups were let inside. They were trying to space us out. Eventually we were admitted to one of the buildings.
The artworks that I chose to take photos of probably says more about me than I'd like said. This statue of a lady with a ton of breasts is... interesting.
I took a ton of photos of the ceilings. I couldn't get over how awesome they were. My entire life has been lived in buildings with empty, boring ceilings. These decorated ceilings really monopolized my attention.
This doorway seemed rather ornate.
This is another ceiling. Good lawd! I can't get over how cool this is.
Next up was a room called the map room. I'm pretty sure there were maps on the walls, but I was looking up the whole time. This ceiling was my absolute favorite part of the Vatican tour. Unfortunately, our stupid guide rushed us through here in order to see the Sistine Chapel. If you're ever on a Vatican tour, forget about the Sistine Chapel, it's boring and you've already seen a million photos of it. The best stuff is in the map room, if you ask me.
Oh yeah. You can see part of a map in this photo. That's why it's called the map room. I say forget the maps and point your camera upward. This ceiling is like nothing you've ever experienced before.
After the map room, we went to the Sistine Chapel. Some corporation bought the rights to it, so photos are forbidden. You can see what it looks like here. I guess it was cool, and I'm sure a lot of art types think it's incredible. For me, it was kind of boring. I just don't get what the big deal is. I left after a few minutes. The map room, on the other hand, I could have spent an hour in there.
I'm not sure exactly where this room was, but I liked how the ceiling had all these cupids carved into it.
We went to a different part of the Vatican and they did not skimp on the ceiling decorations there either.
If you're anything like me, you will leave the Vatican with a sore neck. I couldn't stop obsessing over the ceilings. I still can't.
The also have some cool doors at the Vatican.
I really loved the dragon in this archway. A dragon with a crown?
This is St. Peter's Basilica. Once we got here, the tour ended and we gave our headsets back to the guide. We were then free to explore at our own pace.
Even if you're not religious or belong to a different religion, this church was fantastic. Actually, all of the churches in Rome are fantastic. Visiting random churches is the cheapest and least crowded way to see a ton of art in Rome. St. Peter's is not cheap or uncrowded, but the other churches are true hidden gems.
I seem to recall a long line to get into somewhere in St. Peter's. I didn't want to wait in it so I went outside for some photos of the buildings.
The Swiss Guards were guarding some of the entrances. The uniform design makes me wonder if historically they fought a lot of wars in circuses or barber-shop pole factories. It seems an odd choice of camouflage.
It seems like every building in the Vatican has a bunch of statues on it. I think it's pretty cool.
From this outdoor area, you just walk through some turnstiles and suddenly you're back in Rome. I went on to take a ton of photos of Rome. I can't stress enough how amazing it is.
After my time in Rome, I went back to my apartment in Germany for a week or two. I still had a meeting with my mom in Portugal that I had to make. After that, I would leave Europe and head to Asia.
Stay tuned for my future posts where I'll tour Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. Then to South East Asia. My posting schedule is going to get a little weird in the upcoming days. I've been doing training at work and I've been able to make my blog posts during down-time in training. Soon I'll be working full time so I don't know if I'll be able to post at my regular time. I'm thinking I might make my posts at night and schedule them for the mornings. We'll see.