The Vatican City

Hey!

So on Friday I woke up at the ungodly hour of 7am (yuk) and headed out to see the Vatican City. I have to say I was really scared. Not because it's a deeply religious place and I'm not Christian in the slightest or because there were strict regulations to follow and I'm a bit of a clutz so I'd insult someone somehow BUT because of the hour long queues I'd been told to expect because I hadn't booked in advance.

Walking up to the Vatican you will come across hoards and hoards of tourist guides shouting about "skip the line" prices and how you'll be waiting for two hours in the queue just to enter the city so you better buy in. The prices ranged 40+ euros per person to for this "deal" they were trying to sell. My room mate Siobhan who I've befriended on this trip was almost tempted to take them up on the offer because she had to be on a coach for Vienna at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. It was, at this point, half 8 in the morning and we'd been told you'd be in the Vatican Museums and the world renowned Sistine Chapel for 2-3 hours, which would bring the total up to 4.5 hours just to enter and see the first half of the city. The second half of the city is the St. Peter's Basilica, which, again, we were told would be a 1-2 hour wait to get in and about an hour to look around. If we were to add all this up it would be an accumulation of 7.5 hours of queuing and picture taking. IT IS A LIE.

Granted I guess in the Summer when every other normal person is off on their holiday it might just be that long of a wait. However I refused to buy into what they were trying to sell because a) it was April and b) I'd read online that if you get their just before the ticket office opens the wait would be considerably less. Luckily Siobhan decided to have faith in me (don't know why cause normally none of my plans work out haha) because we only wanted 50 minutes in the line to get in, which went pretty quickly because we were chatting about our favourite Disney films (mine is Tangled FYI) and how the new Beauty and The Beast remake was pretty sh*t (yeah I said it!) Also to get in, it was only 16 euros, cheaper if you have a student card with you. So we'd saved ourselves over 20 euros because I refused to believe that paying 40 euros was the only chance we had to fit everything into our day. All this means nothing if you happened to pre-book your reservations online like one of the girls back in the hostel did (12 euros as she was a student), which obviously is your best bet!

Right, so once you clear the gates and enter the smallest International State in the world, you're greeted by a number of Ancient Roman statues, relics and paintings. The walls themselves are pieces of art because remember back in the day they didn’t have wallpaper, so everything was hand-painted. The end result is room after room after room of sheer breathtakingly stunning galleries. The longest example of this is the Gallery of Maps, words can’t

describe how long and picturesque this corridor is but here’s a picture to do just that! After all, they do say a picture is worth a thousand words! I also managed to glimpse a statute of Hercules (see in the gallery section of this site) he’s definitely not as handsome as the Disney version painted him to be haha but he is shiny! You also get to see hundreds of famous religious paintings plastered over many walls – I’ll load a few up for you to see in my online gallery too!

After all this you get to the Sistine Chapel, which for me was the only reason I wanted to come to the Vatican. As I said I’m not Christian but who wouldn’t want to see one of the most famous paintings of all time – Michelangelo’s The Hand of God! Walking up to the Chapel I begin to get really nervous, bouncing on my feet nervous, because it’s so religious and everyone around you is agitated too because for a lot of these people this is like pilgrimage for them. Also because there are strict regulations about dress code, photo-taking and silence (you’re forewarned about these a lot as you approach the chapel) you feel how special and holy this place is even if you aren’t a believer.

When I walked in I was shocked to see how dark it was in there. A holy place you imagine it, well perhaps it’s only me, to be full of light and open spaces and I don’t know why but I thought it was circular (I realise now that this preconception was influenced by the original Beauty and The Beast) but the chapel was rectangular. There was a lot of brown, which is the best way I can describe it visually and it all looked a little mundane if I’m completely honest (going to hell for saying that). However the look of the place doesn’t give the atmosphere any justice. Everyone is completely silent, you could hear a pin drop in the room. For the Christians in the room you know it was a genuinely sacred place of worship and many were signing the cross, kissing rosemary beads and some were even shedding a tear or two. That’s why I feel incredibly guilty for secretly snapping around 20 pictures of the place (definitely going to hell now!) so I can show you exactly what I mean and I can also show you exactly what the Hand of God looks like in the flesh – and hopefully God won’t shoot me down for this!

Overall, it was a wonderful experience going into the Vatican and seeing just how much faith means to people, even for a non-Christian. I’d say it’s something everyone should go and see because you’re transported back in time to see the Relics of another world but you also see another way of life and I’ve come to respect faith more even if it’s a religion I wouldn’t follow,

#rome #vaticancity #sistinechapel #handofgod