On a Roman holiday, Megan Singleton gets to the Sistine Chapel in time.
We only had one day in Rome on our Royal Caribbean Cruise itinerary. So much to see, so little time.
1. Colosseum
Thank goodness we booked because even though we arrived at 9am on a rainy Wednesday the lines were long. The Colosseum is amazing, but well worth seeing with a guide. How else would you learn that the gates were called vomitoria, vomiting fans into the stadium, or that 80 per cent of the gladiator battles were fixed?
2. Vatican Museums
The line was wrapped around the Vatican walls by the time we arrived just after lunch, but with group tickets we walked past them all. It was a whistle-stop visit with no loitering. However, hundreds outside were not going to get in. Tip: book online or if you just rock up, see if you can join a guided tour to skip ahead.
3. Sistine Chapel
The last time I was in Rome I chose to go shopping over the Sistine Chapel. Figuring the chapel painted by Michelangelo wasn't going anywhere, but those leather shoes were, I added it on to our Vatican Museums tour. It took the great artist four years to complete the incredible ceiling paintings and 20 years later he returned to paint the Last Judgment. By the time he finished he was almost blind from years of paint powder falling into his eyes.
