Vatican: Tips and a Trip Report

December 18, 2017

It's a country within a country, measured in acres, not miles, with less than 1000 residents, and according to Wikipedia, more than 5 million annual visitors. It requires a careful plan to visit!

The first thing to decide is if your plan is to see the Vatican as a tourist or a pilgrim.

The Swiss Guard, the "army" of the Vatican

Tips for Tourists:

The big sights to see in the Vatican are St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums (where the Sistine Chapel is located, and St Peter's Dome, which affords a panoramic view of the Bernini designed St Peter's Square.

Buy advance tickets, to avoid long lines to buy tickets. Pope's Museums There are also long lines for security.
Dress modestly, shoulders and knees covered.
If you'd like skip the line access, hire a good guide or go on a guided tour
Consult the Popes website to check for times when the Vatican is essentially closed for holidays and special events. Avoid visiting on Sunday when many places are closed to tourists for worship.
If you hope to see the Pope during his usual Sunday noon greeting and prayer with Pilgrims in St Peter's Square, it's worth checking the Pope's travel schedule to insure he will be in town.
Be respectful of areas limited to the faithful for prayer, and respectful of photographing faithful during their worship.

Vatican Museums

The sheer amount of artwork in the Vatican Museums simply boggles the mind. Most interestingly, is the curation...unlike traditional art museums which might organize art by period, or subject or even medium...the Vatican museums are organized like a warehouse of art pieces. So there is a room full of animal sculptures, a roomful of candelabra, a room full of busts, a room full of maps, etc.

A river of humanity pours through the long corridors of the mansion, with small groups of guides and guests stopping to delve into an art work, creating eddies in the human flow around them. With little by way of explanation near the artwork, it's probably a good idea to tackle the museums with an excellent private guide or use an audio guide such as Rick Steve's audio guide to the Vatican Museum. While an audio guide would help make sense of the art work, it was our private guide who knew where to stand and wait (while being faux engaged in a piece of art work, because no one is supposed to pause too long) until a "short cut" to the Sistine Chapel opened up. Without that knowledge and expertise, we would have been pie eyed, snaking another 45 minutes through the galleries before arriving at the chapel! And did I mention that this wasn't even the "high" season!

My reaction to the crowds at the Vatican Museums! The courtyard is full of Greek and Greek revival statues at the Vatican Museum, including the Apollo Belvedere on the right.

We started with the Ancient works collected during various crusades.

A collection of statues in the "room of animals"

Mosaic of Athena in Round Room of the Vatican Museum, the bronze Hercules in the back ground above. Below, details of the Belvedere Torso, (believed to inspire Michelangelo's work in the chapel) bronze Hercules and detail of the mosaic floor below. (click any image to expand)

Next we passed through the room of tapestries

A detail from a tapestry depicts the massacre of the innocents from the Gospel of Matthew.

We followed the crowd through the incredible map gallery, with the incredible ceiling depicting historic scenes in Italy.

Map gallery has detailed maps of each Italian region, since we had just visited several of them recently, it was fun to spend some time looking at how little the maps have changed!

Sistine Chapel

After the map gallery, we entered some of the rooms with Renaissance paintings...where we waited a bit until we could take a short cut into the corridors leading to the Sistine Chapel. No photography is allowed in the Sistine Chapel. Guides are not allowed to "guide" or discuss the artwork in the Chapel, so she took time in the courtyard before we entered the museum, using photographs, to interpret what we would see at the end of tour and to point out things to look for. once we were in the scrum, er, i mean Chapel.

People are loud despite the ominous "shush" sound broadcast every 2 to 3 minutes, depending on how cooperative the crowd is being, it will settle for a minute or two before the roar rises and the "shush" comes again. People stand shoulder to shoulder (hang on to your valuables!) looking up, while guards, keep ushering the flow towards the exit. If you'd like more time, swim your way to the middle of the room where the currents are slower and you'll have more tome to explore the amazing Michelangelo ceiling and Last Judgment altar piece. Photography is not allowed, and our guide explained that being a soverign country, the guards are welcome to arrest and even detain you for a while if you don't follow their rules. We didn't see any heavy handed tactics, despite seeing some disrespectful folks not adhering to the rules.

After examining the Sistine Chapel for a while, we met back up with our guide who led us out of the Vatican Museum, giving us an opportunity to "peek" at the Simonetti Staircase.

St Peter's Basillca, with the baroque canopy by Bernini

Tips for Pilgrims:

To make a trip, you can choose to go with a religious group you are affiliated with or on your own.

On your own, you can request an audience or to attend Mass with the Pope by visiting the Pope's website here.
If you choose to go with a travel agent to plan your trip, be sure to explain that you are faithful and would like a tour that includes opportunities to pray and attend Mass. A good TA can even arrange fro you to have a faithful tour guide and pray or visit places that are meaningful to your faith journey.
With a group, often the tour company arranging the tour will also arrange for daily Mass in a variety of Chapels or Churches, and possibly other special events or access (such as private visits to the Sistine Chapel, or a choir being able to sing at Mass)
The Pope greets and prays with pilgrims gathered in St Peter's Square at noon on Sundays, if you can't secure an audience, you can join the crowds on Sunday, if the Pope is in town and doesn't have other special events planned. Angelus Blessing
If you have connections to people who can enhance your experience in the Vatican, don't hesitate to reach out before you leave. One young couple I know had a private audience and lunch with an official in the Vatican Apartments because of a connection they had, and described it as one of the most incredible experiences during their honeymoon!

St Peter's Basilica

The Basilica more carefully controls the crowds allowed in, but also, it's huge and people can spread out a bit more. Photos are allowed in other areas, including flash photography, because all of the painted frescoes that could be damaged by flash, have been removed and replaced with mosaics!

There are several chapels and areas where the Blessed Sacrament is kept, as signified by the lit tabernacle lamp. These areas prohibit photography and are clearly marked as reserved for prayers by the faithful. There are several chapels where a small offering for the upkeep of the basilica can be made and candles lit to offer a short prayer.

The ceiling at St Peter's Basilica Below, details of art work and sculpture in St Peter's (click on any image to expand.)

Whether a trip to the Vatican is as a tourist or as a faithful pilgrim, or BOTH, there is a lot to see and learn in just a few acres. Spending time well before you visit, to prepare, and plan will make the trip more meaningful and manageable! For more on Rome see our trip reports here

Rome: A Trip Report

December 15, 2017

With less than 2 days to visit, we had a whirlwind visit to Rome. This part of our trip report focuses on Ancient Rome and the other popular sights in Rome.

To see OUR 28 HOUR ROME Itinerary, click our post Rome Wasn't Built in a Day here.

This itinerary was ONLY possible by having a great travel agent (in our case Matteo at Fuoritinerario) manage the logistics, providing private guides with skip the line access and drivers who dropped us door to door, eliminating travel time on foot or public transit. When not with our drivers or guides, we were maximizing our time on our own using Rick Steve's Pocket Rome guide book.

Campo di Fiore Market

We hit Campo di Fiore market right around the corner, for snacks and souvenirs, and enjoyed the fact that in early October, we were able to find a few locals among the tourists! Although, it really has become a "tourist" market, there are still a few butchers, veggie stands and and cheese mongers that look like they serve locals. The pre packed spice packs, cheap leather handbags and other geegaws look like they are targeted to the tourists. We particularly enjoyed the "entertainment"...this fellow held the attention of a huge crowd, and sold more than a few of these including one to yours truly!

After refueling we met our guide in our hotel lobby for a private tour of the Vatican, including the Vatican Museum (Sistine Chapel) and St Peter's Basilica. See our post about the Vatican here)

After the Vatican tour we returned to hotel for pizza lunch at the shop around the corner and rest at the hotel.

Borghese Gallery

We had arranged for tickets to the Borghese Gallery for a timed entrance from 5-7 PM. This scheduling allows for relaxed and statue safe touring of the galleries. Visitors are strictly limited, so get timed tickets well ahead of time during the busy seasons. Although cameras are allowed, absolutely all bags, strollers, and selfies sticks must be checked at the basement (level -1) bag check station before heading into the gallery (levels 0 and 1).

We followed Rick Steve's Pocket Rome excellent Borghese Gallery Tour to maximize our time there. As we shuffled along quietly with other guests, we found ourselves chuckling out loud at his humorous descriptions of the art.

Bernini statue of Cardinal Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V

The galleries are in the former villa of the Cardinal Borghese filled with art commissioned and collected during a time when the religious heads of the Church were known as the "princes" of the Church and were the political power brokers in the early 17th century. Today, the the complex is a huge public garden and the villa has been re-purposed as a museum to showcase some of the best baroque art of the period, much of it paintings by Michelangelo Caravaggio and sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The sculpture is truly magnificent. It's hard to fathom someone creating such life like forms from a block of stone...but there it is, looking so real, that you can feel the emotion and see the movement of the people and their very skimpy "Greek revival" clothing. (Jeff chose to process these sculptures as black and white images in order to better communicate the sculptures without the distraction of color.

Click on any image below to expand, detail from Bernini- Rape of Proserpine, David. and Raphael Desposition

Heart of Rome Rick Steve's walk

We did the reverse of Rick Steve's 1 mile "Heart of Rome" Walk. We had just enough time to do this walk as an evening walk, which Rick recommends this and it was beautiful to see Rome beautifully lit at night. We walked from the Borghese Gallery through the beautiful park that surrounds the villa, to the Spanish Steps.

138 (give or take) Spanish Steps lead to Piazza di Spagna. From the top of the steps, a selfie ("When in Rome", as the saying goes, except we did not require a stick, thanks to Jeff's long limbs! and the Bernini (father and son) "sinking boat" fountain from the early 17th Century.

We were certainly not alone enjoying the "romantic" Spanish Steps. One couple was there for their wedding photos and selfie stick toting visitors were nearly knocking them in the head as they tried to find a clean background for photos on the steps with the iconic church towers. Here's is how you make everyone disappear:

TA DA!! A tiny bit of patience and get low, low, low, and you too can make your picture of the Spanish Steps look like no one else was there!

We continued along the streets of Rome to the Trevi Fountain.

Trevi Fountain, another Baroque Bernini masterpiece...was more crowded than the Spanish Steps, but now you know how we got this photo!

We tossed in our penny, thus assuring our return to Rome and headed towards the Piazza Colonna, seeking the Giolitti's, the gelato shop detour mentioned in Steve's book.

Back on Rick Steve's tour after our "gelato dinner" we entered the Piazzo Rotunda to get a view of the Pantheon, which was closed, but beautifully lit.

A building across from the Pantheon features a spotlight, that perfectly illuminates someone standing in front of the Pantheon, that's kathy in the spotlight!

After exploring the piazza and the Pantheon, we made our way towards the Piazza Navona. Where we found another Bernini fountain, the 4 Rivers Fountain.

Rick's walk begins (or in our case, ENDS) in Campo di Fiore, which has a lively nightclub scene in the evening, by this hour, the market was cleared out and people were enjoying the outdoor cafes and area nightclubs.

Ancient Rome Walking Tour

We started our day, meeting our guide and driver at our hotel for a ride to the Colesseum. Our guide arranged for skip the line entry to the Colesseum, and she took us through the ancient structure, providing context for this huge entertainment complex that was the center of ancient Rome.

After touring the Colosseum, we walked through the rest of the preserved ancient Roman ruins.

Arch of Constantine

Palatine Hill

Roman Forum

View of Rome from Capotoline Hill

With a very short time to visit Rome, we maximized our time in Ancient Rome by depending on a great travel agent to plan our itinerary, and who engage good guides who could skip the lines and put what we were seeing in context. But we also went with the budget plan using Rick Steve's tour. We were able to have an enjoyable, humorously narrated visit to the Borghese gallery and enjoy the art and architecture in the "Heart of Rome" . What we learned is that there are options for every budget, but the most important part is careful planning for a short visit!

For more on Rome, see our Vatican Trip Report

There's no time to lounge when you are only in Rome for a Day!

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, But We Only Had a Day to See It!

December 12, 2017

It's taken me 2 months to organize the information and photos and probably will take 3 posts to cover a 24 hour trip to Rome! It's one of the "monsters" of tourism, a huge European capital loaded with history and art, food and architecture. And tourists, lots and lots of fellow visitors! It's hard to know where to start, but we knew we had to be strategic with an 10 AM Saturday arrival in Rome from the cruise port of Civitavecchia, and a flight out of Rome at 7:30 PM on Sunday. That left us with 28 hours to experience Rome. We made choices about what we hoped to do and see, and we left the job of organizing our itinerary to Matteo at Fuoritinerario,who had planned our Italian shore excursions during our Azamara Quest Cruise of the Adriatic, Sicily and Amalfi Coast. He did a masterful job, because, incredibly, we were able to hit all the highlights. Drivers and guides were there to whisk us past the lines and drop us at the door. While we weren't all alone and had to navigate the crowds, we felt like VIPs during our 24 hours in Rome. (We paid for our own trip and all the components of our tours)

What We Hoped To See

Vatican City

While we are Catholic, we didn't have enough time to plan a pilgrimage to Vatican City...we would need to treat Vatican City as tourists. See our post about the Vatican coming here soon.

Ancient Rome

We also wanted to leave time to see the interesting sites that make Rome famous, the world of "ancient Rome" (See our post about Rome click here)

Art and Architecture

And we also wanted to see some of the amazing art and architecture that makes Rome one of the top tourist destinations in the world! (See our post about Rome, coming soon)

What we gave up...

There was no time to eat...no really, we didn't eat! We did not sit down to eat during our 28 hours in Rome. Some of the best restaurants in the world are in Italy, and Matteo left us an itinerary listing dozens of the best. We had included breakfast at our hotel each morning and enjoyed Roman pizza at a small take out shop just around the corner from our hotel for lunch. We had gelato for dinner, albeit at one of the most famous gelato shops in Rome! I know it's probably a special crime to not sit and eat in Italy, but we decided with such a short visit we wanted to maximize our time covering the city on foot and not sitting in a restaurant.

By having a gelato dinner at the famous Giolitti and eating Roman Pizza for lunch, we were able to see quite a bit of Rome!

We also did not get to do a deep dive into ANYTHING. The Vatican Museum alone could take years to catalog, It would be interesting to take specialty tours in ancient Rome, or enjoy some of the fabulous restaurants and we did not get inside the Pantheon, only seeing it beautifully lit from the outside. Our visit was about surveying the major sites and getting a feel for a city where we will return one day!

We did have to sleep, and for this visit, Matteo booked the historic Hotel Lunetta near the Campo De Fiori. Ruins of the Pompey Theater (Teatro di Pompeo 61-55 BC) have been restored into a spa in the basement of the hotel. A roof deck bar overlooks the neighborhood and provided a quiet place for a nightcap. Hotel Lunetta was centrally located, within walking distance of many of Romes popular sites, in a neighborhood with plenty of restaurants and shops. The service was excellent, and our room in the 4 star hotel was comfortable and well appointed. (below; our room at Hotel Lunetta, detail of the original stone walls of Teatro di Pompeo, spa in the restored ruins of the Teatro di Pompeo at Hotel Lunetta.)

So what did we do?

We took our own advice about how to maximize a short visit to a busy place (see post here)

OUR 28 HOUR ROME Itinerary

This itinerary was ONLY possible by having a great travel agent manage the logistics, providing private guides with skip the line access and drivers who dropped us door to door, eliminating travel time on foot or public transit. When not with our drivers or guides, we were maximizing our time on our own using Rick Steve's Pocket Rome guide book.

10 AM: Arrive in Rome, check into the hotel and visit the Campo di Fiore market right around the corner, for snacks and souvenirs.
11 AM: Meet our guide in our hotel lobby for a private tour of the Vatican, including the Vatican Museum (Sistine Chapel) and St Peter's Basilica.
2:30 PM: Return to hotel for pizza lunch at the shop around the corner and rest at the hotel.
5:00 PM: Travel by taxi to Borghese Gallery for a pre booked timed tour from 5-7 PM (we followed Rick Steve's excellent Borghese Gallery Tour to maximize our time there)
7-10 PM: We did the reverse of Rick Steve's 1 mile "Heart of Rome" Walk, from the Borghese Gallery to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Colonna, Pantheon (just to see, not to tour, it's not open at that time) and Piazza Navona. Rick's walk begins (or for us ENDS) in Campo di Fiore, which has a lively nightclub scene in the evening, but the market was cleared out by the time we got back to the hotel, and enjoyed a nightcap at the roof top bar at Hotel Lunetta.
9:00 AM- 11:00 AM: We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and packed for our flight and checked out of the hotel, storing our luggage.
11:00 AM: We met our driver and guide for our private Ancient Rome Walking Tour; including the Colesseum, the Roman Forum (including the Arches of Titus and Constantine) a view of the Forum from Pallatine Hill, and Capitoline Hill.
2:30 PM: We were returned to our hotel where we enjoyed another pizza lunch at the local pizza take out, and met the driver to take us to the airport.
Where we waited for 6 hours before our London flight left because of major delays due to a hurricane in ireland. But that's a whole 'nother story!

This is not the end of our ROME story! Please see our posts with more photos Rome click here and Vatican Trip Reports

Tips for Tourists:

Vatican Museums

Tips for Pilgrims:

St Peter's Basilica

Campo di Fiore Market

Borghese Gallery

Heart of Rome Rick Steve's walk

Ancient Rome Walking Tour

What We Hoped To See

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