Vatican City, Vatican City

On our third day we decided to drop by the Vatican and see what all the fuss was about. This time we took a tour because it would be a lot easier to get in, the only catch was we were going to be picked up at 6:45am. That is not optimal Schaller time. I think the only reason we had a chance is because breakfast opens at 6:30 and I was not about to miss my daily morning Nutella croissant. So we made it.

Ta da!

Super cool headsets so we could hear our tour guide inside. 

Not gonna lie, the Vatican museum was kind of a bust.  Literally. About half the artwork was just stone heads. Or bodies. I seriously wonder if they just cut off the heads of every statue to double the collection in size. 

They call this one "the torso." Creative.

They put his foot over here.

Still, it was cool to know we were inside one of the most famous places in the world. Then we hit up the Sistine Chapel, which was pretty legit. It was very dimly lit and cool inside, I assume to preserve the paintings. The ceiling was a lot bigger than I had imagined because in all the history books they only show one scene of Michelangelo's paintings, when really it is a whole series plus a giant wall mural. Apparently he completed the ceiling when he was about 30 years old. I hope I am that successful ten years from now. You're not allowed to take pictures in there, but of course that didn't stop me, so I snapped a few on the reverse camera while pretending to text on my iPhone. Clever eh? Hopefully the ceiling doesn't start peeling as a result of my illicit photography.

Contraband photo.. Don't say I never did anything for you guys.

St. Peter's Basilica. Now that schniz is ornate. There's a million different facades, shining lights, towering mosaics, embalmed bodies of popes (a little creepy...), statues of giant babies, and lots and lots of gold. Looked more like a palace than a place of worship. Nonetheless, I must give them credit it was magnificent. Also, if you're wondering why it was built, the Basilica rests over the grave site of St. Peter, the first pope, in his memory. Hence the name.

Some might call it a little over the top. But it was pretty amazing to look at.

In front of the altar. It was so bright you almost needed sunglasses.

Then we peaced out on that joint to look out on St. Peter's Square with all of our newfound Vatican knowledge. You can see the Basilica on the left, the building that Pope famously leans out of on the right, and in the center is the obelisk that signifies where Peter was supposedly killed. What a cool visual.

It was only 11am and the place was already packed. And we overachievers had already seen the whole thing.

Our tour ended in the Vatican gift shop, naturally, so from that point on we were on our own. We had passed a huge castle on the way in, and Bob being the war enthusiast that he is, insisted that we check out all its turrets and artillery. Castel Sant'Angelo was actually a fortress for the Pope during wartime before it was eventually made into a museum, as everything eventually is it seems. The cannons and giant moats were really cool, but the absolute best part was the breathtaking views of the entire city from the upper terrace.

A picture's worth a thousand words.

I'm ginormous!

I can forever say that I've been to the Vatican now. And even though I'm not Catholic it is still incredible. Yesterday the Vatican, today Il Colosseo. The most quintessential site in Rome: the Colosseum. And not that dumb replica USC built.