A Visit to Vatican City

After two weeks in France, I headed to Italy to meet up with my friend Charissa. She's from the US as well—in fact, we went to high school together and we literally live five minutes apart. But, since she was studying in Italy, and I in France, naturally we made plans to meet in Rome for a weekend. I took an overnight train from Dijon to Rome. It was the second time I'd been on an overnight train, but this time I had a bed instead of a reclining seat. It was an experience that I would recommend everyone have at least once. There's nothing quite like sharing a tiny train compartment with two to five other people, sleeping on a little cot where you can't even sit upright without hitting you head.

I shared my compartment with two other women, and since I was the youngest person in the compartment, I figured it'd be best if I just took the top cot. Just to be safe though, I asked, in French, if there was one for me, and one of the women said, in French, that it didn't matter, I could have whichever I wanted. Then she switched to Italian with the other woman in the compartment. When the conductor came by to take our passports, he spoke to me in English, and the same woman asked, in perfect English, if I preferred to speak French or English. I was a little jealous that she slipped so easily between three languages while I was struggling just to learn a second!

So I took the top bunk and slept very, very well. It was such an easy ride—more comfortable than I would have expected. It was a bit of a challenge to get ready the next morning, given the confines of the space, but I managed it alright. And then, finally, we arrived at Roma Termini. I grabbed my bag and hurried off the train, eager ot meet up with Charissa and start visiting this famous city. Thankfully, Charissa had arrived at the train station earlier than I had, so she was waiting for me at the end of my platform. I don't know if we ever would have found each other otherwise!

The first thing we did was buy a map so we could figure out where to go. The hostel wasn't far from

St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica!!

the train station, but I didn't have the hostel information for it. I'd tried to download the information to my nook the night before, but my host mother disconnected the wifi before I was able too, so I didn't even have the name of the place. Thankfully, Charissa had the address, so we were able to find the right street. We found where the hostel should have been, but no hostel. A man who worked in a laundromat asked what we were looking for, and when we showed him the address, he directed us to another laundromat around the corner.

More than a little confused, Charissa and I followed this man's instructions to the other laundromat. There, we found the man in charge of our hostel. We checked in, paid for the room, and left our bags in the luggage room (and by that I mean we left them in a room in the basement of the laundromat. I was so glad Charissa was with me—I'd never stayed at a hostel run out of a laundromat and I was half expecting the worst scenario to play out that day in Rome.

With our bags left at the hostel, Charissa and I started our tour of the city. Thankfully for me, Charissa had visited Rome with her school group, so she already knew her way around, which meant that I didn't have to try to figure out how on earth the metro system worked. I almost always get lost when I first get to a new city (even an English-speaking city like London)! Our first stop of the day was Vatican City to see St. Peter's Square and the Basilica. If I'd had more time in Rome, we could have visited the museum and seen the Sistine Chapel as well, but with only two days to spend in Rome, I wanted to see as much as I possibly could.

La Pieta, which is now behind glass because apparently
someone tried to shoot it earlier this year.

On our way to St. Peter's Square, we stopped so that Charissa could buy a skirt and shawl to cover her legs and shoulders. I never knew it, but apparently a lot of the churches in Rome have a dress code—legs should be covered to below the knee and shoulders had to be covered. Once Charissa had her new clothes, we continued down the road towards the square. When we emerged into the square, I was a little stunned. It was one of those moments where, had someone told me years ago that I would be in Vatican City, with a friend from high school, I would have just laughed at them. And yet here I stood, admiring St. Peter's Basilica, listening to Charissa tell me about the architecture behind the building, as well as what she'd learned about the history of it from her visit with her school group.

St. Peter's Baldachin--hopefully no real lizards!

I took a few pictures in the square, and then we joined the line to get into the Basilica. They are serious about the dress code—there were actually people standing at a few points in line, looking everyone over to make sure that they were dressed appropriately enough to enter the Basilica. Charissa and both passed through without any problem, and then we were free to wander through the Basilica. The inside of the Basilica was absolutely incredible. I could honestly stay and admire the art and the architecture for hours. There's so much to see, I didn't even know where to look. The first thing I went to see inside the Basilica was La Pieta. It's just as stunning and realistic in person as it seems in all the pictures I've seen.

The whole time I was walking around the Basilica, I couldn't stop thinking how crazy it was that I was there, in Vatican City, actually walking through St. Peter's Basilica. Charissa explained more about the architectural history behind the building as we walked through—how difficult it was to find an architect that agreed with the Church's vision, and vice versa; how at the Baldachin at the front of the church, there was a myth that the architect had used real lizards and poured bronze over them, rather than carving them himself. The entire tour was fascinating, and I was so grateful that Charissa knew so much about the building that she could share. The only thing in the entire Basilica that I really did not enjoy was the bodies of the two popes that were preserved and kept on display. I understand why some people would want to visit the bodies of these famed religious leaders, but for me, it was just far too creepy.

One of the guards at St. Peter's Basilica.

We didn't stay in the Basilica for too long; there was so much that I still wanted to see and do before I had to leave the next day. After we left the Basilica, I saw the Vatican guards for the first time. They have the most ridiculous outfits I've ever seen, but somehow it doesn't look completely laughable! They have red, blue, and yellow striped suits reminiscent of the stereotypical joker's outfits. The more redeeming factors of their outfits would be the swords that hang from their belts, which are just a simple brown, and their hats—black berets. It was still one of the funniest outfits I've ever seen, especially for such official positions.

After visiting Vatican City, Charissa and I went to find lunch. I don't know if we ate inside Vatican City or if the restaurant we ended up at was back in Italy; there aren't really any signs to show where one country ends and another begins. But we found a little place that had decently priced pizza, and I figured I had to have pizza at least once while I was in Italy! Charissa also told me about the fountains that you can find all over Rome. There's a bunch of fountains scattered throughout the city and you can fill up your water bottles or just drink straight from the fountain itself. I filled up my water bottle, but I refrained from drinking straight from the fountain—for the time being.