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Adventures in Tourism: Rome, Day III

Landscape photo featuring the Colosseum,  three tall trees, and a cloudy sky. This was my favorite shot of the day.

Hello!

Out of the photo sets that I have been ruthlessly dumping on Facebook, the photo sets for my third day of Rome is the largest because, for some mysterious reason, I decided that it would be a good idea to visit Vatican City and the Colosseum on the same day.

We arrived at the Vatican an hour later than I had initially planned, which put a wrench in any hopes of getting in line early. There were many third-party sellers trying to sell us skip-the-line tickets. These sellers said that they were employees of the Vatican, but they tried to sell us tickets at several times the regular price. After choosing not to get skip-the-line tickets, the next choice in the tourists' Choose Your Own Adventure game is whether to get in line to see the inside of St. Peter's Basilica, or to get in line for the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. We chose the second route, and stopped to take pictures of St. Peter's Basilica before getting in line.

A glance at Saint Peter's Basilica

We waited in line for two and a half hours. About an hour in, it started raining torrentially, and we were absolutely drenched by the time we got to the entrance. My polyester jacket (which had otherwise held up to the rain) turned out to have a weak spot in the right elbow. I was very happy when we had finally gotten inside, gone through security, and paid for our tickets.
After such a long time in line, I victoriously took a picture of the Vatican entrance.

In the Vatican Museums, I enjoyed seeing relics from ancient Egypt. Despite being very hungry, wet, and rather exhausted, I tried my best to enjoy the experience. The Hercules Rotunda was a nice visual break from the gloomy and serious display of the Egyptian artifacts.




The Hercules Rotunda


After what felt like endless walking through the Vatican Museums, we reached the entrance corridor to the Sistine Chapel. I was impressed by the ornate elegance of the paintings and the small decorative details surrounding them. It is not permissible to take photos or talk within the Sistine Chapel, so this was the last opportunity to take photos before entering.



At last, we saw the interior of the Sistine Chapel. I was reminded of the documentary about Michelangelo that I watched in eighth grade art class. Michelangelo put an incredible amount of energy and effort into those paintings, and it was an honor to gaze admiringly at his work.

We rushed through a pizza lunch at the Vatican, and headed off to the Colosseum, where we had booked a 4 PM tour. The Colosseum, like the Pantheon, is marvelous due to its grandiose size, as well as its storied history. It was amazing to see it in person, after learning about its magnificence for so long.


After walking around the Colosseum for awhile, we went across the street to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. If you were also required to take Latin in middle school, you have probably had the importance of the Roman Forum drilled into you time and time again. I was impressed by its expansiveness, and the cloudy weather made for some dramatic photographs.




Overall, it was an exhausting but rewarding travel day. The theme of the day seemed to be "things are larger and more beautiful than you could have imagined", which was a nice way to end my last full day in Rome.

Best wishes,
Lydia 
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