Our second day in Roma included the necessary trip to the Vatican City (“Vaticano”).  Since it was Holy Week, we expected it to be thronged with tourists, and it was.  You couldn’t walk five steps without a street vendor trying to hawk you a selfie stick.  Lines were long to go into St. Peter’s Basilica (“Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano”), but we survived all the waiting and pushing for a chance to go inside the world’s largest and most famous church.  After clearing the ticket booth and two sets of metal detectors, the line of people began filing up a winding staircase inside the Duomo. The church is one of the most famous work’s of Renaissance architecture, designed in large part by Michelangelo.  It wasn’t until we made it to the first balcony that we got to view the magnificent ceiling and cupola.  Believe it or not, this entire ceiling is not paint, but a mosaic!

After getting up close and personal with the amazing mosaic interior, we continued upwards.  The stairs got steeper and narrower, with the outside walls even tilting in on us.  I’m not normally a claustrophobic person, but the tight spaces and the slowly plodding line made this trek a little nerve-wracking!  I was really glad when we finally got outside at the top!

The view over the rest of the Vatican and out into Rome was stunning!

After taking pictures and buying some postcards from the rooftop gift shop, we headed back down 500+ stairs to go inside the cathedral.  So much ornate sculpture and artwork it was overwhelming!

One could easily spend hours navigating the interior of St. Peter’s but by this time our crowd tolerance was wearing thin.  We headed outside, past the Swiss Guards, and off to a well-deserved lunch!