Holy Smokes - September 17, Vatican City

We woke up very early on Saturday by vacation standards. We were dressed, breakfasted and in the cab by 7:30 a.m. But you’ll understand that we had somewhere very important to be. 

That’s right. The world’s smallest sovereign state is also one of the most important to Catholicism. But even if you’re not Catholic—really, even if you pray to the Easter Bunny—Vatican City was an experience not to be missed.

Enjoying the rare solitude of St. Peter's Square.

It was a mouth-hanging-open type of place.

We arrived at St. Peters’ Square around 7:45 a.m. and were surprised by how quiet the area was. We knew in a couple hours it would be swarming with bus loads of tourists, so we took a few sweet moments to enjoy the emptiness. It was almost like the square was just for St. Peter and us.

But we had a mission. We were going to the highest place in Rome—the top of St. Peter’s Basilica's dome. Because we were literally among the first people in line, we were able to head straight to the lift, which allowed us to bypass the first couple hundred stairs.

We may be young and fit, but we ain’t crazy.

The lift took us to the first viewpoint, a ledge (with a fence, calm down, moms) on the inside of the dome. 

We're halfway there. This is the viewpoint after the lift, looking down into St. Peter's Basilica.

Then the real fun began. We started climbing in earnest, as we still had many, many stairs to go. We joked with the couple in front of us as we climbed. And we thanked our lucky stars we weren’t doing this in the afternoon heat and with claustrophobic crowds.

Very, very narrow stairs at the tip top of the climb to the outside of the dome.

But the views at the top of the mostly empty dome were worth the climb. 

View of St. Peter's Square from the top of the dome.

On the way down, we posed for photos on the outside mid-way viewpoint.

After posing for photos and trying to soak in the view, we started heading down the stairs. After about 10 minutes (no lift for the way down), we found ourselves in the middle of St. Peters' Bascilica. Home of Michealangelo's Pieta and St. Peter himself. 

Yes, there were a lot of stairs.

I think these photos speak for themselves. It was nothing less than awe-inspiring. 

To the inside...

We enjoyed another Rick Steves' podcast in the Vatican and in St. Peters' Square, and then picked up an early lunch from a street vendor. Then it was on to the Vatican Museums. 

We had booked another tour through TickItaly.com for the Vatican Museums, and it ended up being one of the best decisions of the trip. 

We had some time to kill before our tour, so we found a bench to rest. 

Seeing priceless sights is hard work!

Then the tour began. We were lucky to have the most adorable Roman woman for a guide-- a 5-foot-tall ball of art history fire. She'd say things like "STAND HERE! Look where I am looking!" and "Michelangelo was a superman!" and "And then what happened?! I'll tell you!" 

In courtyard of Vatican Museums.

Vatican Museums.

Don't be fooled- This is a painting, NOT a relief.

Our firecracker tour guide who made sense of the madness while wearing cute shoes.

We weren't allowed to take photos of the Sistine Chapel, but try to imagine hundreds of people of that many nationalities and languages, whispering to each other with their heads tilted skywards, all in awe of the exact. same. beautiful. thing. 

Yeah, it was something like that. 

Vatican City, you did not disappoint.