Monday we had tickets to see the Vatican museums. They force you to walk through the entire snooze-fest that is the museum (I'm so cultured) before you can see the Sistine Chapel. What a ploy! In my research I'd found that afternoons are a slower time to visit the sacred sites so we made plans to meet the girls there at 2:00 for our 2:30 tour.
That meant we had the whole morning to hang out. That's what we did. In the apartment. We hid from the heat and the masses of people. HA! It was great to have a slow morning. We generally book our days so full that we are going from morning to night. Since we had so many days in Rome, we did not have to spend every second outside exploring. It was a nice change!
We did eventually get dressed (women had to have their knees and down to their elbows covered to be admitted to the museums) and make our way to the smallest country in the world: the Vatican City State. At 110 acres with a population of 1,000, it is the smallest country in the world by both measures. See? I do pay a tiny bit of attention when I'm going on tours! HA!
Another visit to Jackson's favorite monument
Petefish.
We grabbed a quick brunch in a cafe that sold ICED COFFEE. I've never tasted anything better in my life. We bought 2 for it was 10 Euros but we did not care. It was so hot out and that iced coffee was just what we needed to power through a lame museum tour to get to the good stuff.
AN ICED COFFEE IN EUROPE
BE STILL MY HEART
As I have mentioned, Rome was exceptionally a little disappointing. The Vatican, however, finally made me stop and say "wow!" That was all I wanted, Rome!!
The first look at St. Peter's Basilica: STUNNING
Excited faces!!!!
Ok, the excitement did not last. The Vatican was just as strange as the rest of Rome in that there was no order anywhere. Lines would form for nothing at all. People were waiting in the heat, wrapped around the building waiting for...I have no idea. They certainly were not getting into the museum that day at that rate. We met up with the girls, passed by all the weirdos standing in line for the sake of standing in line, and went through security. I'd purchased our entry tickets online for a 4 Euro each premium (worth it) so we grabbed our tickets and went on in. I cannot imagine if we'd not gotten tickets in advance. We just would not have seen the place, honestly. If the afternoon is a quieter time, I cannot even imagine what mornings look like at this place.
The hall of sculptures
On occasion, while navigating through the museum, a window would be open and you'd get an awesome view of the city of Rome. I lived for those moments of fresh air.
City views
Proof that Kathy Griffin was not very original
The Romans love their domes. They're everywhere.
This was just a small dome in the museum.
We stuck with the girls for a bit during the museum audio tour, but it was not well-marked and I don't care about art history so we made a beeline for the Sistine Chapel. To get there, you had to go through this very ornate hallway. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what the hallway was all about, but it was sure fancy.
They like ceiling art in these parts
LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE
Listen, seeing the Sistine Chapel is kind of a must in any student's life. I mean you are forced to learn about it pretty much no matter where you are educated. It did not disappoint. The armed guards yelling at you to cover your shoulders, to move to the center of the room with the masses, SCREAMING "DO NOT TAKE PHOTOS" and "SHHHHHH" in one breath, they disappoint. Guess who didn't listen and snuck a photo. ME!
I expected the whole ceiling to be blue. Again, Art was my least favorite subject. I was a bit thrown at how it actually looked, but it was still magnificent. It was overwhelming. All of the people. The guards. The lack of blue. Ok, the lack of blue only impacted me. Whatever. That said, I'd love to spend more time there one day actually getting to soak it in.
The Sistine Chapel
as taken secretly by my trusty iPhone7
Interestingly enough, I didn't see the most popular painting (The "Creation of Adam" is the real name. We called it the "Hand of God" because we're not scholars. HA!) in person, but when I looked at my photo there it was. SO COOL. That Michelangelo was pretty talented.
I'd read in my tour books that there was a secret exit from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's Basilica, but that it was only to be used by tour groups. We can look like suckers on a tour so we snuck into a group and saved ourselves the 30+ minute walk to the famed Basilica. I'm telling you, it was like we wanted to see a Roman jail!
We had NO idea if the girls listened when I told them how to sneak out of the chapel so we knew we had a lot of time to kill before we'd see them again. This meant that we spent an inordinate amount of time (by Petefish standards) in St. Peter's soaking it all in. I'd always read about the size of the place but somehow with all the decor it didn't feel so massive. Built in 1506–1626, it defies all expectations. Jackson kept saying that he could not believe humans built it. I agreed. It seemed otherworldly.
Standing in the famed hall of St. Peter's
The famous dome of St. Peter's was designed by, who else, Michelangelo. That guy is just showing off now!
The dome was really something else!
Art.
Art.
The grand hall
The view from the Basilica onto the square
Art.
We'd found the girls by now and none of them wanted to experience this. Imagine that.As you should know by now, Jackson is never satisfied with staying in a safe place. No. NO. NEVER. He wants to go up higher. Climb more. See more. I always follow him. I usually hate it. HA! This was how we ended up going up in the dome. A short line and a few Euros got us to the top. We exited the elevator and walked onto the rim of the dome. The people below us in the Basilica looked like ants.
On the dome's catwalk
Looking up from the catwalk
See how far away that all seems?
Me: pressed against the wall for safety
Jackson: ohhh look how far up we are
The attention to detail all the way on the dome was amazing. It was like little tiny stones all pieced together to make the most beautiful art. From there, you could walk outside onto the roof. We did that, of course.
Looking down into Vatican City
Rome off in the distance
The Dome up close
Jackson decided to keep going. A mere 300 stairs stood between him and the very tiptop of the dome. Me? I stayed on the roof.
Jackson's climb
My roof view
Waiting on my daredevil
Jackson's view from the top
I'm standing by the row of statutes
"It was safe. There were bars."
A view down into one of the famed gardens
More tiptop views
Going down was dizzying
We took the elevator up to where I exited, but we both took the stairs all the way down. I've never been more dizzy! I didn't think they were going to end and then all of the sudden I was back in the church. Wild!
Swiss Guard
After strolling through St. Peter's Square for a bit, we decided to grab a taxi back to the apartment. It was my first ride in a Roman taxi. Praises to God alone, it was not my last ride ever. Holy cow do those folks drive like wild animals.
Our cabbie who had a death wish
4 people in the back. Seems safe.
I sat in the front because those people are all blood relatives and can share sweat. :) I got to see just how insane our driver was and I kept screaming which delighted him.
Gelato to celebrate living through the taxi ride
We all got cleaned up and went to dinner on the girls' last night in Italy.
Pasta, bread and wine was on the menu
Of course
Susan and Kathy
Quite the spread
My handsome date
A very official looking bill!
They like to end their meals with a shot of Limoncello which is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy. Based on their reviews it was not the best tasting stuff. HA! What a nice send off for the girls to remember Italy by! :)
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