Rome city centre is separated from the Vatican City by the Tiber River. There are several bridges you can choose to cross to 'the other side' but the landscape at every bridge is equally beautiful.
Finally we arrived! Perhaps we were quite early, plus January is kinda low-peak season for Italy, so the queues were practically non-existent. The only long queue was the one getting into St. Peter's Basilica - but that was because of security checks. Entrance to St. Peter's is free.
Before we went to Rome, we were actually thinking a lot about whether we should book Vatican tours online - there are tons. After going, I'd say if you're not really interested to hear the stories behind the architecture/works and are satisfied just walking around at your own pace and admiring works which stand out for you - tours are not necessary especially in low-peak season.
We decided to go straight for the dome at St. Peter's so we could get a bird's eye view of Rome. It costs 5 Euros to go up by stairs alone (500+ steps). You can also choose to pay 2 Euros extra per person to take an elevator up halfway (and climb 300+ steps). Of course we chose the latter LOL.
It was a leisurely but tiring climb as the passageways were so small and narrow! I really cannot imagine climbing up in summer time with hoards of people in front and behind you!
Finally we made it!
Pity about the graffiti everywhere.
Of course the next stop is inside St. Peter's Basilica. Majestic, grand, ohmygod how did they do this hundreds of years ago - I guess these are thoughts that will pop up in your mind. When we got back to Singapore we actually re-watched Angels and Demons hehe, and we were like Hey we were there! We ate there! We saw that!
To round off the day, of course we had to stop by the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. We had actually bought fast pass tickets for 25 Euros each, but quickly found out it was an unnecessary step as there were no queues at all -_- Normal tickets cost 16 Euros for entrance to the museum. However I can imagine in summer when the tourists are out, getting a fast pass or "cut-the-queue" tickets would really be useful.
The museum itself (not including all the art pieces) I think is a work of art. Every single detail from the windows to the floors to the ceilings are decked out by the classical masters. I'm the first to profess I'm not exactly an arts buff, but you really wonder at the extremities of human creativity when you step into this sacred space.
No photos allowed in the Sistine Chapel, but of course we were looking out for the Creation of Adam the moment we stepped in haha (photo from wikipedia).
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