We learned that the metro was the quickest and most reliable way to get to the Vatican from our hotel. We departed a little after 7 a.m. and had a quick (typical) Italian breakfast—cappuccino and cornetto—at a café across from the hotel. We then took the metro and arrived at the Vatican around 7:50 a.m. We were in line for about 30 minutes. Before the security checkpoint, they checked our bags and asked us to leave any metal water bottles aside. I didn’t mind losing mine, but my son had a Hydro Flask with multiple stickers that were meaningful to him. Since we were both using metal bottles, we lost our entire water supply—and it was hot!
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| Line to enter Papal Audience |
When you reach the seating area, we recommend sitting next to one of the wooden barriers if you want to see the Pope up close. We were seated in direct sunlight for about 1.5 hours. Fortunately, we were near a water fountain at the back, so we were able to cool off periodically. I recommend bringing small rags or towels that you can dampen at the fountain. It also seemed that plastic bottles were allowed, so definitely bring disposable bottles that you can refill. And bring some wipes—many of the chairs had bird droppings.
Pope Leo XIV came out on the Popemobile around 9:50 a.m. He circled through all the wooden barriers before starting the Papal Audience, which lasted about an hour and concluded with a blessing.
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| Pope Leo XIV |
We then made our way back to the metro station, taking our time to avoid the crowds. By the time we got there, the metro wasn’t crowded. We returned to our hotel, picked up our luggage from storage, and then took a train back to Milan.
<< Day 9 (Rome & The Vatican) | Trip Itinerary | Day 11 (General Tips) >>
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