Visiting the Vatican and Ancient Rome

Wow! This past weekend was trip I was looking forward to the most and it definitely didn’t disappoint.

Saturday morning we left Florence to head for Rome, which was only a little over an hour and a half away by train. We checked our bags into the hotel we were staying in then started a tour of the holy areas of the city.

Our first stop was to the Vatican museum where we saw priceless works of art collected by Popes over the past several hundreds of years. Seeing how much detail went into works like the ceiling in each section of the building shows just how important artwork is to the history of the Catholic religion.

After we stopped there we headed to St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the world. This is not only the site where the Pope holds mass each week, but also the center of the Vatican City.

The craftsmanship inside was by far one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Among the many relics and mosaics featured inside, the masterpiece was St. Peter’s Baldachin, which was created during the baroque period by Lorenzo Bernini to commemorate the tomb of St. Peter underneath the church. The remarkable detail structures like this demonstrate the appreciation Catholics have for their past and the reliance on preserving the religion’s foundation into the future for continued success as a group.

The next day we set out to explore the monuments from the ancient world. Starting with a walking tour in the morning, we saw the Pantheon and even the Trevi Fountain. Although the fountain was under construction, the Pantheon was incredible to see in person. Although the structure was rebuilt in the early part of the second century, the building looked flawless. We were even treated to a sort of “flash chorus” that came in and sang for the patrons. They sounded amazing inside this time-honored structure.

From there we headed to a guided tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Seeing the remnants of these monuments really showed the appreciation that these early people had for their leaders really shined through the considerable amount of work put into each structure.

I really don’t think there was any more of Rome that I wanted to see simply because we got to see every major landmark the city has to offer. I love Florence but this weekend was the best of the trip to this point!