26 August 2013, post 2.
Since we had purchased tickets the night before from the Internet, we did not have to wait in a long line. After exchanging our Internet tickets for real tickets, we entered the Vatican museum. The museum has ancient Egyptian art, including mummies, ancient Roman art, lots of sculptures, and of course Christian art. It is a bit overwhelming and the crowds were large. Plus, many of the galleries were not air conditioned (the windows were open) so the rooms were hot and humid. It was enough to make one a bit sick. There was so much art and artifacts, it was hard to not take 100s of pictures. Heck, I probably did take 100s of pictures. Here are some samples of the art in the museum.
Chuck providing a sense of the scale of the statutes. Herod's wife holding the head of John the Baptist after.
The ceiling in one of the hallways. The Ceiling in one of the small galleries.
To get to the Sistine Chapel we walked through several hallways and galleries. Every time we saw a sign with an arrow point to it we thought this must be it. That happened multiple times. Finally we came to a stairway where we were funneled into 2 abreast and walked down a flight of stairs. (Can you imagine doing this with hundreds of people all at the same time) We entered the chapel via a small side door onto what would have been the altar area. There were a series of attendants moving us forward and telling us no pictures. So, there will be no pictures of the Sistine Chapel. <post link here> It is not a large chapel, and there was a mass of humanity all looking up to the ceiling and marveling at the incredible beauty of Michelangelo's frescos. After seeing it in person you understand why it is considered so important in the world of art. They were serious about the "no pictures" dictum. We saw an attendant ensuring that a miscreant photographer deleted the pictures he had taken. You do have to wander about people who willfully disobey. It was quite clear that pictures were not allowed (we were told when we entered and every couple or minutes someone was chastised for taking pictures). Language was not an excuse for this guy. He spoke English and announcements were made in English as well as other languages. After 15 minutes or so, we were beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic and headed for the exit. The exit, by the way, is one small ordinary door.
After another long walk though multiple hallways and galleries and down a long spiral staircase we finally got to the exit. We found a restaurant where we had lunch. It was actually Chuck's birthday lunch. To go with the beer, we had a pizza and some bruschetta. It felt good to sit in a cooler place and relax for a while.
After lunch, we took a stroll back to out hotel along a couple of shopping streets. The level of activity was much higher than on Sunday when most of the stores were closed. Since Italian schools don't start until Monday, there were still people on vacation and some of the stores were closed. That is quite different than in the US where stores rarely close for a vacation.
When we got back to the hotel we had a quick game of SkipBo with Gene and Mary.
The bus took us back to the boat where we had a nice evening. After dinner we heard the DiGi sisters and then Pat Donohue and Butch Thompson. The DiGi's as everyone calls them have so much fun and sing so well. Pat Donohue is an incredible guitarist.
