Budget Tip 1: Student discounts. Always ask for student discounts.
Budget Tip 2: Buy a single audio guide. Have one person listen to it and recite the tour to the second person. Warning: most names and places will be lost in translation, but the general idea will get across. Also be prepared to be laughed at by many spectators as you search for quiet corners and have one person operating two camera phones.
The museum(s?) were very confusing, but had some beautiful art and artifacts nonetheless. It is not like a regular museum with exhibits and one clear path, but is rather like a maze with art lining the passageways. Especially contemporary art--55 rooms to be exact. We cannot express how sick of modern art we are at this stage in the trip. The maze ends at the Sistine Chapel, which would have been breathtaking if the guards didn't have to yell every thirty seconds at people not to take photos and to be quiet. Also it would have helped to have better lighting. Still--it was impressive--just not how we pictured it.
Budget Tip 3: Find free public water fountains. They're just as clean as bottled water.
Next we walked through a minefield of street vendors along the Vatican Wall to reach St. Peter's Square. Rachel may have snapped at one of them that got too close; Colleen likely would have done the same if we hadn't reached the square shortly after. The square was covered in empty chairs from the papal address that morning, but we still got to see the obelisk in the center and the surrounding buildings. We got in line for the Basilica at around 1:45 (prime time for tourism apparently) and left 30 seconds later when our claustrophobia set in and we realized the line would take at least 3 hours to get to the doors. However, we walked in the direction of the doors and somehow ended up at the front of the line and were inside within half an hour. Alert: something lucky happened to us!!
St. Peter's Basilica made the trip to the Vatican worthwhile. It dwarfs all other cathedrals we have seen, including the one in Washington DC. We arrived just as a service was about to start, so we didn't get to touch St. Peter's foot or get a super close look at the altar, but we got to hear some amazing music! The tombs of past popes lined the basilica walls, as did some of the most beautiful chapels we have ever seen.
After walking around inside the Basilica, we made the 551 step climb to the top of the cupola to find the most breathtaking view of Rome--like the ones you see on postcards. About 2/3 of the way up we took a break and watched part of Mass with an aerial view. It seemed really nice, even though we had no idea what was going on because of course it was in Latin.
After a long day of sightseeing, we finally ate.
Budget Tip 4: Fasting. We spent the day in one of the holiest places in the world--it's only fitting to not eat all day--right..?
Since we still had a few hours left in our day, yet were too exhausted to explore anything else, we decided to head back to our BnB and watch Angels and Demons. It was only fitting!
Our next stop is Florence, where we will be staying on a medieval olive oil farm!
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