Back in Rome. It is 98 degrees here today. Everyone looks wilted. Trying to minimize time in the heat as much as possible.
We were supposed to tour the Vatican before our cruise, but the tour was canceled because of all the hoopla surrounding the new Pope and the Jubilee. So today is our make-up tour.
Vatican Dress Code
Covering your shoulders is a requirement at the Vatican, so we packed scarves specifically for this tour. However, Anna forgot her scarf at the hotel this am, so now we own this high-quality Chaneel street-scarf.
Dante wrote a book about touring the Vatican in June. It’s called, “Inferno”. And each level and corridor of the Vatican Museums represents a different level of Hell. There’s also a bonus circle of Hell: the Vatican gift shops (read on).
Today’s Vatican tour was one of the most miserable tourist experiences I have ever had. If you’ve known me for any amount of time, you know two things I absolutely hate are being hot and crowds.
I booked a “semi-private” Vatican tour that was supposed to skip the line. We got a 10 person group and the super fun (and relentlessly sunny) experience of standing in a “skip the line” line that stretched around the Vatican walls.
We haven’t even gotten inside and this experience is on my last good nerve.
Sweltering Heat and Humanity
You might think (as I did) that museums housing priceless pieces of art would be climate controlled. But you would be wrong. No A/C. Each section of the museum was hotter than the last. A Finnish sauna would have been cooler.
Then: I’m not sure I can find the words to describe how many fucken people were in that space today. Just wall to wall humanity. You cannot stop to look at anything (they yell at you to keep moving). You are herded through like cattle. It was awful.
I honestly have no idea what I saw today. Our guide was saying words, but I cannot process words at temperatures above 85 degrees. We walked through the Sistene Chapel, surfing a sea of humanity while being yelled at by guards to BE SILENT AND NO PHOTOS!!
I’m sweating. I’m nauseous. Strangers are touching me. I can’t see a path out of the horde. There are smells. Hot smells. Hot body smells. And bad European cologne. And someone who really needs a bathroom.
Trying to get OUT of the Vatican was almost impossible. I counted seven gift shops before we got to the exit. Seven. We do not need a Vatican keychain.
What we need is a beer. And a shower.
Saluti!
Travel date: June 23, 2025
Yep. We had a similar experience, although fortunately it wasn’t AS hot.
Aha so you’ve performed one of Europe’s famed cultural dances – the Vatican Shuffle. Even if it’s not hit and sweaty, walking at that pace makes my back ache. And then they tell me to look at the ceiling 😂.
Hot, I meant, not “hit”!
The Vatican Shuffle – 😂. Good grief, it was miserable. While I’d love to revisit Rome in the off-off season, I don’t need to see the Vatican again.
Sounds like fun…..smelly fun.
Have you been? If you haven’t, I hope I’ve saved you the misery. (Hope you’re having a great trip to Africa.)
Am laughing (unfair -I know!). Have been twice, both times April/May. Actually have one of my most delightful travel stories from there. Took our daughters, 6 and 8 at the time, with a very logical younger daughter> they both lay flat on the ground ‘how else can we see the ceiling, Mom?’. Lot of other kids around already also > so, guess what, they all suddenly got the same idea – well, the elderly guards were not fast enough to stop, and the whole Hall was laughing in a multitude of languages 🙂 ! It was so funny, we did not even get ‘that mad’ at them!!!
That’s so perfect, Eha! I can’t imagine having the space to la on the floor to admire the ceiling! If you tried that today, you’d get trampled by the hoards!!
Precious moment
It sounds like hell. This was never on my places I thought I’d like to visit and never will be now 🙂
HELL. Glad I could save you the agony. A better experience would be to look at pictures in a book while sipping a glass of wine in the shade. Cheers!
What a nightmare! Those crowds wouldn’t be fun at any time and especially not in a heatwave. I was fortunate to tour the Vatican back in the late 1980s when we took my mother in law to Rome. It was busy but not like that, although like you we were banned from taking any photos in the Sistine Chapel. In fact I don’t recall taking any photos at all – possibly they were banned throughout back then or maybe I wasn’t inspired enough to waste precious film in that pre-digital era!
I wonder if there is a time to visit the Vatican when you’d have it to yourself?? Maybe the perfect time to visit was in the late 80s. 😂
The pre-digital era seems forever ago now, doesn’t it? I used to be really good at making albums with the pictures I developed (remember how you only kept like half of the 24 pics that came back?!?), but I rarely do that anymore with digital. I keep my photography portfolio, but albums? Almost extinct for me anymore.
My wife and I had the Vatican experience last year (2024) The “skip the line” booking just means you skip the really, really long line that wraps around the building and stand in a less long line. We were there early in the morning, and I don’t recall the spaces being very hot, but the Sistine chapel was disappointing, they shuttle you through like cattle, no time for contemplating. Still glad for the experience. No getting around it, this is 21st century tourism.
Exactly. And I fear you are correct about 21st century tourism. We’re trying our best to travel off-off season, but even then, things can still be crowded. Thanks so much for stopping by. Cheers!
[…] Sidebar: Remembered my head scarf for the mosques, so didn’t have to buy another Chaneel masterpiece. […]