Vatican

Monday March 14, 2011 Day 257

We had an early breakfast this morning. We signed onto a hotel that has a free breakfast, and this one is getting boring. It has been the same every morning since we arrived - not bad, really, just boring.

We took a subway trip across the river to the Vatican. The train was strangely quite - I think everyone was in a Monday morning stupor.

We arrived at the Vatican about 8:40 and prepared to stand in line for quite a while. The doors open at 9:00 but we did not have advance tickets, so we were not sure how long our wait would be. I brought a book. Amazingly enough, at 9:00, our line began to move forward, and we were inside and purchasing our tickets before 9:15. This was totally unexpected.

We made our way first to the Sistine Chapel. We had no trouble finding it - we just followed everyone else. Actually, we did take a detour through some of the artwork, seeing a couple of Dali paintings and various other famous artists. When we finally arrived at the Chapel, we were surprised to see so much artwork on the ceiling. I suppose I expected to see Michelangelo’s famous painting of god giving life to Adam, and that it would be the only painting to grace the ceiling. If only this were true! The ceiling is an overwhelming collection of stupendous paintings, which also fill the walls. The chapel was full of visitors, although not packed. In the summer, it must be jammed with tourists, all staring up at the ceiling. A priest kept ringing a bell, asking the crowd to be quiet, to no avail. When we decided we had had enough of Michelangelo, we departed and went in search of other exhibits in the Vatican. We saw enough Etruscan pottery to last a lifetime - there were cases and cases and cases of it. We saw mostly the Etruscan and Egyptian exhibits. We did go into the Picture Gallery, but gave it rather short shrift. There was nothing particularly memorable for us there, in part, I think, because we are so sated with art right now it is hard to appreciate any more.

Mosaic in the Vatican

This mosaic was on the floor of the Vatican

Fascinating sculpture in the garden of the Vatican museum

Equally fascinating stairwell leading to the exit of the museum



Base of the handrail.

Much to our regret, Roger lost his hat in the Vatican. It’s not that it is a particularly grand hat - I probably paid $15 for it about five or six years ago. But he likes it and I like him in it, and it has really become a part of him. In fact, it helps me spot him in a crowd, because not so many men wear hats. We asked at the bag and coat check room if it had been turned in, and the clerk there made a call elsewhere, to no avail. Alas.


Check out this handbag we saw on the way to the Vatican

Down the street from our hotel there was always a jeep with two Italian military soldiers in it, or standing near it. We asked our hotel concierge why, and he said they are there to guard the Turkish embassy across the street.