A day in the world's smallest country

Something I can now say about myself is that I have been to both the largest and smallest countries in the world (Russia and the Vatican, respectively).

For a country so small, St. Peter's in the Vatican seems to be, by far, the largest church I have ever seen. I'm not sure if that is factually true, but it sure strikes me that way.  Our day began by walking through the Basilica and let me tell you, that was quite an experience.  It was absolutely massive.  The sculptures, the paintings, the alters - they were all huge.  I've seen my fair share of cathedrals, but I feel as if they all are dwarfed in comparission.  Its sheer size is something I just don't think I've ever seen before.  It was awesome, in the truest sense of the word.

Our next stop was to tour the necropolis under the Basilica. Only 250 people are allowed in daily and tickets are snatched up quickly, so we booked our spots back in March. 

On our tour, we learned that the Basilica is built on top of two layers. The bottom layer is full of elaborate ancient Roman family crypts, as well as St. Peter's tomb.  While we could only see a corner of the tomb as it is not open to the public, we did see what many believe to be his bones, which were packaged up in little boxes.   The second layer is the original St. Peter's, which began to crumble so they built the one you see today in the 1500s.

We decided to wrap up our Vatican filled day by touring the museum. Our main goal was to get into the Sistine Chapel, but seeing some of the other art along the way was nice too. I read that there is so much art in the collection there that it would be incredibly difficult to see it all.  Towards the end, we blew by a lot of stuff including one of my favorites, Matisse, but by that point I was so sick of the massive crowds and my feet were killing me.  Walking through the different rooms was fun at first, but when you're battling a throng of people just to turn a corner, love for your fellow humans starts to wear thin. 

Fighting the crowds was well worth it though as the Chapel was absolutely breathtaking. It was much bigger and higher than I thought it would be, which made the frescoes even more impressive. Unfortunately, guards kept yelling at people to be quiet and not take pictures every five minutes, so that took away from the experience.

By the time we left, we were hot, hungry, and tired. It was a long day in the world's smallest country, but it was well worth it to see so many historically important and holy sites.