We woke up bright & early so we could walk from our hotel apartment to the Vatican museums. It took us about 15 minutes to get to St. Peter's Basilica & another 10-15 minutes to make our way around to the Vatican Museums. We had to meet our tour guide at 8:45 so we had to leave by 8am. I think at this point in our trip, half the family was just exhausted. Only some of us were able to get up & going this morning so our group was a little bit smaller than normal.
My kids were tired, but they got up & were very excited to see the Sistine Chapel. Our tour guide wasn't an actual tour guide, they just walked us into the Vatican museums so we could skip the long line outside. Once inside, we could explore at our own pace & see what we wanted to see.
In all reality, I think the museum itself is far more beautiful than the Sistine Chapel alone. I think the whole thing is absolutely gorgeous. The walls, ceilings, & paintings in every hallway leading to the Sistine Chapel are works of art.
We also got to see some of the robes the popes wore the day they were made popes.
And gold & silver encrusted bibles. They were gorgeous.
There was even a Van Gogh painting of the Virgin Mary & Jesus inside the museum.
I will say, the whole Vatican museum was like a line at Disneyland (or a trip to IKEA). Just when you think you're getting close to the Sistine Chapel, there's another room. It's a never ending maze of art which isn't a bad thing, but I know the kids were ready to be out of there after about an hour. It took us about 1.5 hours to reach the Sistine Chapel.
No cameras are allowed inside the Sistine Chapel, but it was beautiful. The ceiling was definitely one of Michaelangelo's most famous works for a reason. It was gorgeous. I'm SO glad we took the time to go see it.
After visiting the chapel, we visited the beautiful Vatican Gardens & enjoyed the plants & sunshine for a time.
Then we headed back through the maze of the museum to exit the building. We all loved this gorgeous staircase near the entrance to the museum. It was one of my favorite things about the Vatican.
At about 11, we met up with the rest of the family & tried to decide what to do before our 1:00 tour to St. Peter's Basilica. Everybody had different things they wanted to do, so we all split up & decided to meet at St. Peter's at 1:00.
Opa, Oma, & Tuhk went shopping for authentic Italian Suits. Tylee, Olive, Carolyn, & the kids went out for a fun Italian lunch. Trek & I took our kids to see the things I knew we wouldn't get to see unless we went there during that time.
So we booked it across the bridge to see the Castle Sant'Angelo.
The angel statues that guard the castle & the castle bridge are beautiful.
We also went to visit the fountain from the book/movie "Angels & Demons." We watched it with the teens the night before & they all wanted to see it in person. It's fun to see locations from movies in person. It makes the movies come alive.
And then of course we speed walked BACK to the Pantheon one last time hoping that the 3rd time was a charm. It was 2 miles away so we really really hoped we could go in.
YAYAYAYAY! It was open!!!
I absolutely LOVE the Pantheon. The architecture of the angular front, but circular inside has always fascinated me. I absolutely LOVE the oculus inside & how it lets in just enough sun to see the beautiful carvings & artwork inside.
The artist Raphael is also buried here in the Pantheon. It was fun showing the kids his tomb. This was also a location from "Angels & Demons," so they enjoyed seeing it all in person.
After a successful walk through the Pantheon, we stopped for a quick bite of pizza at a cute pizza shop across the street.
And then we grabbed some yummy gelato from our favorite gelato shop just up the road from the Pantheon.
Then we rushed the 2 miles back to St. Peter's Basilica to meet the family. We made it back at 12:30 so we had 30 minutes to spare. I was amazed at how much we were able to see in just an hour & a half.
Opa found a real Italian suit & he was SO excited about it.
Everybody got their lunches & other fun things done, & then we met up again in front of St. Peter's Basilica.
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