Time to recap the big boy of our Europe trip- ROME! There’s no denying that Rome is one of the most significant cities in human history, so getting to spend a day there was such a treat! My only complaint is that we didn’t get to stay long! That and the swarms of tourists. Oh man, the tourists. So many! I guess we can’t complain since we were one of them!

Seeing as how we have never been to Rome and we only had one day to see it all, we went ahead and booked an excursion for the day. There’s no way we would have been able to see all that we did in that short period of time on our own. It’s hard to believe that we saw so many major historical and magnificent sites in just a few short hours! The Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica and Square AND the Colosseum! What a whirlwind of a day! We decided that Rome was the most grand stop on our European tour. It’s still hard to believe that we got to see and be inside some of the world’s greatest historical sites! 

We started our day at The Vatican Museum, along with pretty much every one else in Rome, apparently! haha! Shoulder to shoulder everywhere. It’s interesting to think about the fact that the Vatican Museum actually wasn’t built to be a public museum, so it’s narrow halls aren’t exactly crowd friendly. You could really get lost in this place!   After making it down one stretch of the museum, we entered the Sistine Chapel. No photos allowed in the chapel! Even though everyone else around us was taking pictures, I resisted the urge and just took it all in! Now onto St Peter’s Basilica! This is actually the Holy Year, so we got to enter the Basilica through the Holy Door which is only open once every 25 years! We didn’t even realize we had gone through it until our tour guide told us once we were inside!  This place. So massive. So beautiful. So powerful. Even if you’re not Catholic, there’s just something so special about being in this place.  This bronze canopy was built in the 1600s and is out-of-this-world impressive and stunning. Not to mention, it’s sits on top of St. Peter’s burial place. Holy cow.  And now, out to the square!   Back on the bus and heading to the Colosseum!   WOW!! 

Next up on our European tour is Pisa and Florence! Stay tuned! To see more from our trip, check out these posts:

Cruising on the Carnival Vista!

Athens, Greece

Ancient Ephesus in Turkey

Rhodes, Greece

Malta and Sicily, Italy