Musei Vaticani | Basilica di San Pietro | Piazza San Pietro

Today we're tackling the motherload. The vatican museum, St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's square. St. Peter's Basilica is the "homebase" of Catholicism and St. Peter's square is where the Pope gives his weekly blessings.

The vatican museum holds treasures from every era and is by no means solely a religious museum. The Egyptian sections were fascinating, if not a bit interesting how/why the church would acquire such pieces. Nothing can compare to the grand frescoes adorning the walls and ceilings, the massive tapestries and of course the grand finale, the Sistine Chapel -- which isn't part of the museums but you need to go through the museums to reach the Sistine Chapel. Each room is equally as impressive as the treasures it holds. The frescoed ceiling is said to be more than an entire football field worth of painting, almost all completed by Michelangelo himself. This is where the conclave occurs (when they need to select a new pope). Tip: book your tickets online in advance, around 1pm, which provides lots of time and less crowds. Also use the free Rick Steve's podcast.

The basilica holds more than 60,000 standing visitors and it's grandeur can only be appreciated by walking it's vast corridors. You don't need to have any religious affiliation to appreciate the scale and monumental task of building such a structure. We wandered about listening to the Rick Steve's audio guide on our iPods (great money saver and probably less boring) and even sat in on a mass in Italiano. This church differs greatly from the gothic style we saw in Paris/Barcelona and the extensive use of marble, of every colour, and goldleaf is amazing. Quick tip on avoiding the queues for St. Peter's. There's no entrance fee but a long security line. We visited the museum at 1pm on Friday then went to the basilica after. The lines were half what they were when we passed by at noon going to the museum. Later in the day is definitely best, unless it's a special occasion at the basilica.

St. Peter's square is massive in size and impossible to capture on 'film', at least from the ground. Most people have seen this square, at least in Tom Hanks recent film, and to see it filled with pilgrims would be quite the sight. Luckily it wasn't and our lines at the sights within Vatican city were reasonable.