Vatican City

Today we were off to the Vatican City. Steve booked us tickets for a tour with "my Vatican tour", and it was well worth the price. We were in a small group of 15, our guide, Gabriella, was English speaking and we didn't have to wait in long lines for tickets. Certainly the way to go about it. Granted, we are here in the off season, but still, there were lots of people wanting to see the Vatican and its museums. Not the normal 35,000 a day that you will find during the peak times but still, a good number of people. Wandering around Rome the last few days you would see all these people wandering around with earphones and transmitters hanging from their necks. Now we have done so, and it makes so much sense! Your tour guide doesn't have to yell, you only hear your guides voice and you don't all have to tightly clustered around the guide to hear what they are saying. You can be wandering in the area looking at things as they fill you in. Anyway, after security, we entered an area where Gabriella spent about an hour telling us about the history of the Vatican, why it is a separate country, the hiring of Raphaele, and Michaelangelo, the process of painting the frescos, the meaning of the frescos and everything else we would need to know when looking at the Sistine Chapel. After officially entering the museum we spent an hour seeing various sections. To see all the art in the museum, it would take eight days, and we just don't have that kind of time, or interest. Then on to the Sistine Chapel for 15 minutes of alone time ( with hundreds of other tourists). The chapels were cleaned between 1970 with completion in 1992, funded by a Japanese TV network. No photos are allowed, although that didn't seems to stop people, and no talking is permitted. No matter how many times they would say "silencio" and "no talking," you just have to talk about what you are seeing, if nothing, let out a gasp or two at the emensity of the work. From the chapel, we moved on to the Basicila of St Peter. My two comments, it is VERY BAROQUE, and huge. Steve referred to it as the Grand Cayon of Catholic churches. Not to my taste, I prefer things a bit smaller in scale and simpler, but it does get its point across. Enjoy Steve's photos, no way do you get the detail or scale, even seeing the place in person it is hard to take in....