Mon, 22 Sep 2003

author Tim	location Firenze, Tuscany, Italia
posted 21:56 CEST 25/09/2003	section Europe2002/Europe/Italia ( all photos )

Roma III - Vatican Dome and Musems ( 53 photos )
Not to upset the trend too much, we jumped on bus number 64 on this morning, heading for our old friend the Vatican City. By now we dreaded getting on it for the packed, sweaty journey across the city. However, in the thrity degree heat it was preferable to an hour or more's walk.
Being a Monday, things were once again open a bit more for us to explore around - first on the list being the dome of San Petro Basilica. Once again we had to dress 'conservatively' to be allowed access, and once again we were approached by several people offering free tours. Very kind, but been there, done that.
This time, we had the quickest of looks around the impressive building on our way down through the crypt and out the other side to the queue for the trip up the dome. It is actually quite interesting - you can either pay four euro and walk the whole way, or pay five euro, get the lift part of the way, but still have over three hundered steps to walk! Call me strange, but on a hot day like this one was, my body really isn't going to understand the difference between three and four hundered steps, plus getting to skip the half an hour queue for the lift and save a euro each in the process was more of a bonus.
However, by the time we had walked up to where the lift ended, we had a nice rest, consoling ourselves that if we had have paid up for the lift we would still be standing down the bottom somewhere. This level was on top of the main part of the building, right behind the facade of the building itself. The statues comprising this impressive facade looked far more massive from this level, and it was a good shock for the system considering how small they look from the ground.
Jolting our bodies into action, we had more climbing to do. A hundered steps later, we were puffed, but had an amazing view down inside the dome at the tiny little people below, where we had been a couple of days earlier. It was amazing to be so close to the mosaics which had looked tiny from floor level, which now seemed to fill our entire view.
Two hundered steps later, we were pouring the water in and stopping for breathers whenever we could make it. Three hundered steps later and we were at the top. What a view.
Thanks to the local law, this was the highest you could get in the city, and as a result there was plenty to see. So many other people had made the trek also, but we were lucky to get a couple of good viewing spots, making the most for some photos and just to stand staring out at the great view. We tried to pick out the Colosseum, but the haze over the city made that only just not possible, despite it being a very bright clear day.
On the other (western) side, we had a great view over the Vatican Gardens, very impressive from this height, but something to save for next trip in terms of actually visiting.
Passing back down through the strange sloping staircase around the dome, we had a quick look in the touristy shops which somehow are permitted around the building. To be honest our main interest was to get inside out of the heat, but their products weren't any less tacky than that available at street-level. At the bottom we made a much-needed refill at the ornate fountain in the courtyard where our tour had ended a couple of days earlier.
Next stop on our wander around this part of town was a trip to the Vatican Museums, and their one main attraction, the Sistine Chapel. Famous for Michelangelo's paintings completely covering the walls and ceiling, we gladly paid the extortinate entry fee, comfortable that it was our only one for a few days and we had saved a lot by walking around. Probably lost a bit of weight too :)
You wouldn't want to be old and just wanting to see the Sistine Chapel, because right from the start, we would have guessed from the signs that it was just the next room. Instead, we were lead on a not un-pleasant two or so hour wander through the amazing collection of gifts and spoils that comprises the Vatican Museums. There were octagonal rooms, circular rooms, tapestry rooms, animal sculpture rooms, a great map room/corridor, and of course countless (seriously) rooms of truly amazing painting and sculpture, all religious in nature. There's no way it can be done justice here, and to be honest it was a case of museum overload by the end.
Which was a shame, because by the time we finally made it to the Sistine Chapel, turned off our cameras and lowered our voices as per the polite signs outside, the noise and brightness of camera flashes inside the chapel was really quite terrible. Add to this the shere volume of great art we had seen thus far and it was a shame that it didn't really look all that amazing to us.
Sure, it was all wonderfully done, but perhaps it was just knowing that the reason we couldn't use cameras was because the recent restoration work had been paid for by one of the American TV networks, which now owns the copyright, or perhaps it was the rukus and people very obviously dis-obeying the requests of what at the end of the day was supposed to be a chapel. In common with some of the previous frescoes we have seen (notably in Padova), it is a shame that the room is now used for something entirely not what the original artist had intended. Its success is its own un-doing.
Once again we found ourselves in our favourite fountain courtyard, before heading out to the colenades for yet another cheap meal of bread and vegemite sitting in the shade and contemplating what a great city Roma is.
We wandered back towards the hostel across the bridge, getting the bus as by now our legs had all but written us letters of demand for rest. Seriously, in all our walking we had done, this day had really slaughtered us in terms of heat and vertical distance covered.
Cooking up another pasta and sauce storm even though we really couldn't find the energy to do so, we originally intended to go for a wander to a couple more places but instead found ourselves collapsing in a new room as our one from the previous nights was booked out. The other occupants eventually went to bed, not really their fault but we had had enough rather early.

(customised)