the vatican

The highlight of my brief trip to Rome was visiting the Vatican. The Vatican is located just outside central Rome in Vatican City, which I learned is actually considered a different country! I really wanted to visit in Saint Peter’s Basilica but the line was crazy so we just admired it from the outside. We did do the Vatican museum, which we had already bought tickets for, which I highly recommend doing if you are planning on visiting. The museum was wonderful and there were so many pieces of art I’ve studied in my art history courses that were fun to see in person. The Sistine Chapel was by far the highlight of my Vatican experience. It was so beautiful and awe-inspiring but the part I liked the most was people watching. There are no photos allowed in the Chapel so a docent, who looked a little like Santa Claus, would yell as loud and as sternly as possible “no photo” to unsuspecting people taking pictures. Seeing their reactions was priceless and after every person he scared, the docent would chuckle a little then be off to find his next victim. Here’s a few sneaky photos of the Sistine Chapel I got away with, as well as some other pictures from the Vatican Museum.

// SISTINE CHAPEL //