Day 3: Rome

Well, today was a rough start. Kate has been dealing with hives, we think due to sun exposure, and they became unbearable in the middle of the night. This resulted in Kate and Dan going to urgent care/ER at about 2:30 in the morning and getting back to the hotel around 5:30. We have a 7am wakeup call to pack, check out of the hotel, and head to the Vatican for our 8am tour.

We missed our tour for the Vatican, but they gave us tickets to go through on our own, so that is what we did. It was probably for the best because we were beat. I hated missing out on all the guide information. We did rent the headsets, but it is not the same.

After we visited the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel (no pictures allowed), we entered St. Peter’s Square to visit St. Peter’s Basilica. Because this is a Jubilee year, we expected large crowds. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too long of a wait, just very crowded. Because it is a Jubilee year, the Holy Door is open to walk through. Jubilee years are every 25 years. Walking through the Holy Door represents passage from sin to grace. On our last trip to Rome in 2019, I took a picture of the closed Holy Door, sealed with concrete. After walking through the Holy Door, La Pieta was immediately on the right. The Basilica is absolutely breathtaking in magnitude and opulence. In the picture of the dome, there is writing around the edge. Each of those letters is 8′ tall to give you an idea of the size. We basically followed the path of people through.

After visiting St. Peter’s Basilica, we found the Vatican City Post Office to mail postcards. It was immediately on the right after exiting the building. This is a fun souvenir because Vatican City is a city-state and has its own postal service and stamp. The kids mailed their postcards. We took a few more pictures in St. Peter’s Square and then left to head to the port for our cruise. Also, just another public water station.