Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel

Nutella again.  I don’t care.  We’re walking a lot and it’s delicious.  One of life’s guilty pleasures!

We left the hotel early enough to plan for a couple of 64 buses to pass that we couldn’t get on on our way to Vatican City.  We jumped onto the 3^rd but Mom got on at the front and we got on in the middle.  The bus was so packed that we couldn’t see her for most of the journey and we were worried she’d get off at the wrong stop.  Fortunately the bus emptied further on and we re-grouped. 

As soon as we got off the bus the skies opened up.  Those hawkers are clever though and within moments umbrellas were for sale everywhere.  Mom got one for 5 Euros.  Not a bad deal.  Regardless, our feet got soaked while walking to find ‘Mark Anthony’ (our guide from the Forum the day before) at the Foot Locker of all places near the Vatican.

We paid 45 Eruos for our ~4hour tour to see the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica.  We were in the ‘fast lane’ and still waited for about 45mins in line.  Mondays are apparently the busiest day.  A Monday in October though seemed surprisingly busy.  Ah well.  Once in, we lined up for our headsets.  Technology is amazing and Mark Anthony had a headset with a microphone and we all had headsets set to channel 3 and we could hear him talk (most of the time).  This meant that I could wander a bit to take pictures and still listen.  Love it.  He said that there are more than 1100 rooms open to the public and if you stopped at each piece on display for 3 seconds you’d be in there for more than 7 years.  He shared the highlights with us which was just fine.

We got a nice story on Michaelangelo and the Sistine Chapel and information on many paintings, statues and tapestries.   The highlight was the Sistine Chapel despite it being packed with rude, rule breaking tourists.  Tisk tisk.  My favourite part of the ceiling was the Creation of Adam and the Garden of Eden.  Cool to see the before and after differences from the restoration work (about a 10 year effort in the 90’s).   They did a great job.

We all looked at each other with shock when we saw the line for St. Peter’s Basilica.  After 4 hours we didn’t have any desire to stand in THAT line!  Too bad but we were tired and hungry and wouldn’t have enjoyed it.  Best leave something to see next time! :o)

A tasty lunch (pizza for me again), another cappuccino and then nap at the hotel before dinner re-energized all of us.  Given that it was my last night, I suggested wandering in the direction of the Coliseum for dinner.  We had passed through a funky little neighbourhood on our way there Sunday morning and sure enough we found a fantastic and DELICIOUS restaurant where we had our ‘last supper’.  Pumpkin (zucca) ravioli for me and some wine made me happy.

After dinner we wandered down to the Coliseum.  It felt good to walk off the pasta-baby.  The Coliseum at night was eerie and beautiful and best of all – practically deserted.  I got some great night shots from several angles as we walked around the giant amphitheatre.  That’s the way to see Rome.  At night, when everyone is indoors eating!