The Vatican

“I’ll be right back,” I promised Erin. I began my wet jog to see what the line was for. I rounded the corner and stopped. “Jesus Christ,” I said aloud, unashamed since I wasn’t inside the Vatican’s walls just yet. The line stretched on and on. I started jogging again, ducking under umbrellas and into the street. “Umbrella?” an Indian man said as he held up his collection. I wove around him. Several minutes later, I rounded another corner. The line of tourists continued. ‘Unbelievable,’ I thought to myself. I kept going. Finally I reached the front of the line: Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel. ‘Good. Right line.’ I turned around and began walking back. The line for the Sistine chapel was nearly half a mile long—and it was only 8:50.

One hour later, Erin and I were inside. We were herded into the hall of tapestries, which was a dimly lit corridor adorned with ancient tapestries from around Europe. This opened to the hall of maps. Dozens of painted maps lined the walls, and the ceiling was elaborately carved in a Baroque fashion. This hall was seemingly endless, but I enjoyed it given my penchant for antique maps. We ambled along with the rest of the crowd, waiting to arrive at the Sistine Chapel.

The Sistine Chapel was painted beautifully, but I would not consider it awe inspiring. The lower half of the walls is panted to look like fabric. The upper half is covered in biblical scenes. The famous ceiling is, of course, Michelangelo’s masterpiece: scenes from the separation of light from darkness through Noah’s drunkenness. Oddly enough the ceiling was not the most impressive part of the chapel. One wall had been stripped of its original painted scenes to make way for a second Michelangelo work: a full-wall scene entitled “The Last Judgment.”

The rest of the Vatican Museum was comprised of Egyptian and Sumerian relics as well as hundreds and hundreds of roman sculptures.

The highlight of the Vatican was St. Peter’s Basilica. Unlike many basilicas and cathedrals, St. Peter’s had a unified feel to it. Nothing seemed out of place. Beautiful marble designs spread across the floors. Decorated pillars jutted from the ground to hold the monolithic arched ceiling. Statues by Bernini and Michelangelo beautified the basilica beyond all other places of worship.