Vatican City ● Italy

An early morning wake-up was the only way we’d make it to the Vatican without having to push through huge crowds. When we arrived with our tour guide, the line snaked all the way around the corner and down the street. Luckily, we bypassed the herds of people.

The Vatican is amazing for obvious reasons. But what is perhaps most amazing about the Vatican is that it's a small country inside of Italy. The Vatican has its own post office, and its storm drains are even marked with special symbols for the city.

For the first part of our tour, the guide took us through the museum, showing us the marble statues and tapestries that past popes had brought into the Vatican. After, we entered the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo painted both the ceiling and the sides of the chapel (from the ceiling to the top arches of the window). It took him over 30 years to complete all the details, and toward the end, he was nearly blind. Even though we weren’t allowed to take pictures, I doubt photos could even do it justice.

The tour ended at St. Peter’s Basilica, a structure I had only seen from a distance the last time I visited Rome. My favorite part was seeing the doors that are opened every 25 years, when the Holy Year returns. In between the Holy Years, the doors are cemented shut.

Our tour finished with enough time for us to return to our hotel and relax for an hour before our driver arrived to take us to the cruise port. Before we knew it, it was Bon Voyage time on Oceania Cruises’ Nautica ship. Next stop: Sorrento and Capri!