Explore The Vatican In Retirement

We were lucky enough to explore the Vatican in retirement.  It was the highlight of our visit to Rome which, by itself, was incredible.  But the Vatican was amazing.  We had heard about it from many people who had visited this center of Catholicism.  They came back with so much praise that we were afraid that they had built our hopes up too high.  But the smallest nation in the world, which Vatican City is, exceeded our expectations on almost every level.  You don’t have to have any faith at all to appreciate the majesty of this shrine. It’s as good as any movie set you can imagine.  We found this out on our first day in Rome.

Our hotel was within walking distance of St. Peter’s Square.  We had no doubt about how to get there because we just followed the crowds.  You’ll notice in the above paragraph I said our experience exceeded our expectations on “almost” every level.  The crowd level was the one negative.  Yes, we expected enormous crowds even in the “slow” season when we visited, but the crowds were difficult to navigate even on this unseasonably cool and drizzly first day of our trip.  More than the number of people was troubling.  It was the way some of them acted with the endless selfie pictures and the disregard for what they were seeing.  More than one person was warned about climbing a wall.  But we were determined not to let that bother us or taint our experience of what we were seeing.  Clearly, we weren’t the only ones who wanted to explore the Vatican in retirement or even in their youth.

With the election of Pope Leo, everyone saw the scene that plays out every time the Papacy is vacated so the scenery is quite familiar.  But seeing it in person is another story.  The Basilica made the trip worthwhile to me because the way it dominates the enormous square is a memory you will never forget.  Taking note of the architecture and the row of the statues representing the apostles and saints, you cannot help but be impacted by what you are seeing.  Our first day in Rome was a Sunday so the weekly homily and blessing by the Pope from his window at noon helped explain the enormity of the crowd.  It was amazing to see Francis come out and watch the crowd of people respond to the leader of the Catholic Church.  Giant television screens provided a closeup of this smiling and humble man.  We knew we had gotten our memories for a lifetime but there was more to come.

Explore the Vatican in retirement and one of the greatest art collections in the world.

Keep in mind that you must get your tour tickets that are available to the public weeks in advance.  Even then, the line that you get on to enter is quite extensive although it moves fairly quickly.  Fortunately, we followed our own advice that we give throughout this website and hired a private guide.  It is one of the best things you can do to make your travel experience even better because you’re in the hands of professionals who know what they are doing and have access to things the public will never see.  We knew we had made the right decision immediately because, even before those lines were forming, we were inside the Vatican Museums starting our tour with a guide who had multiple degrees in what we were about to experience.  She answered every question and took the time to make sure what we were seeing was understood by my wife and me. She also showed us a picture of where were and how it would look in just ninety minutes.  It was wall to wall people, and we currently were in an almost empty corridor. If I can give you one piece of advice, please make sure you get a guided tour of this incredible place with a qualified guide.

Do you know what it’s like to have the Sistine Chapel almost to yourself?  We do because there were only about fifty other people in this sacred place when we were there and our guide made sure we knew what we were looking at.  Since there is no talking allowed inside the chapel, she prepared us with a map and pictures of what would see and the meaning behind every major work of art.  She went through the history of the chapel and then let us go in to experience if for ourselves.  When we left, and we were given a very generous half hour inside, she was there to answer any questions we had come up with before we continued our tour inside the Basilica and the tomb of St. Peter.

Were we impressed?  Believe me, we still talk about it and, the Conclave was meeting to elect the successor to Francis, we knew exactly where everything was taking place.  We became Vatican “junkies” and watched the movie The Conclave twice because it made us feel like we were there again.  Everyone should explore the Vatican in retirement at least once.  Travel is the best educator there is and when you enhance your experience with a guide, you will maximize the dollars you spend and gain a level of knowledge that you couldn’t on your own.  There are other places to see, of course, but wherever you go, a guide will make the difference.  Go out and explore the world!  It’s time to Enjoy Retired Life!

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