Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Trapped in the Vatican (aka The Ceilings and A Church too)

So today E and I were on a mission to see the Sistine Chapel. Boy Wonder was pooped so he stayed in the room while we went.
Line to get in the Vatican Museum went very fast. Actually inside the museum is another matter entirely. You're herded like cattle on THEIR pathway. There is no express lane to the Chapel until you're right there. So we spent a lot of time looking at ceilings and being trapped in between tour groups. As we got into the Chapel we heard "no foto!" And of course no one was listening. E and I took our obligatory pics and got the heck out of there so we could browse the rest of the museum. This is when we found you can't get out until the end. Done browsing after a couple rooms? Too bad, visitors! Abandon all hope of an easy exit all ye who enter here! It takes you right back to the Chapel whether you like it or not.
Ok. So the Chapel IS pretty great. Its easy to see why most people think no one can top Michelangelo. I mean, the guy both paints AND sculpts, he even worked with bronze! I don't think we can deny the man was blessed with huge talent.
We saw some interesting classical pieces, 14th century tapestries and the Borgia Apartments. They do have a contemporary art collection (Blech) which I'm sure someone other than myself can have appreciation for. All in all we felt we got our €15 worth.
Back on the train we headed over to the Cavour stop on the Line B to go see San Pietro e Vincoli church. This church has the holy relic of the chains that bound St. Peter before he was martyred. They also have a beautiful though lesser known Michelangelo sculpture of Moses.
Tonight is our last night in Rome. I will sincerely miss this place. The food, the people, the crazy parking jobs. I definitely will be coming back someday!
So without further ado, the ceilings:


















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