Vatican City

If you’re a Roman Catholic devotee or an art connoisseur, the Vatican is definitely on your list. A city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy, is home to the Pope and a trove of iconic art and architecture. Every corner is literally both an art and history.

St. Peter’s Basilica is already worth the visit but the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling and Raphael’s rooms should not be missed. If you’ve been listening to your history teacher or just casually browsing the internet, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of the Renaissance artists and this is the place.

For years, I only saw them on TV back home halfway around the globe when the local TV station covers the election of the new Pope or during Christmas. And now, I’m standing in that same place. It felt surreal.

However, the goosebumps went away and turned into a panic in a split second after we received a notification that our flight back the next day was canceled for no reason and all other flights were already booked. Our option was to stay for a few more days in Rome and miss work or go to another city and fly from there. Obviously, missing work was not a choice.

Our trip to Rome was supposedly cheap because of the gift card Iris received from her company but due to the canceled flight, it quickly became the most expensive trip. 😛