Day 9 - Tuesday 13 April - Rome

Got up early (relatively) this morning to head to the Vatican - started with St Peter’s Basilica - echoes of the Pantheon all around in the dome - very beautiful. Didn’t have to wait long - the line was only small at that time of the day - we walked up 521 steps and Graham had a vertigo attack at the top - the views from the top are amazing. Can’t help wondering about all that gold and graven images - very over the top and could see why Martin Luther campaigned for ‘back to basics’ - maybe it is my protestant upbringing but it all became a bit overwhelming really - dead popes buried in display cabinets probably didn’t help!


 

 
 
Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel were a walk around the Basilica away - had to run the gauntlet of the tour guides ‘there a 9 miles of rooms, you won’t know what you are looking at…’


Once we got there, again the lines were OK - got in pretty well straight away - the trip to the Sistine Chapel was another matter - it felt like we walked the whole 9 miles on our way just to see the chapel!! Meandered through the museums and looked at some of the art - glad we didn’t do a tour, as that would have meant hours and hours in the museums - we were there long enough - just like a big palace and just as ornate and over the top - there is nothing simple about this religion - the wealth and accumulation of antiquities and precious art is just so out there……… I think it rivals what we saw of Buckingham Palace and the crown jewels… certainly more of it!!!

                                 We walked on floors just like this - made from tiny tiles...

                                The corridors went for miles.... and miles......

                                 A life-like tapestry - just like a painting

                               Tapestry of Umbria - where we were headed in Week 3

                                        Detailed ceiling painting

                                        Part of the passion of Christ

                                       Finally - the Sistine Chapel!!!

Another view - not very quiet......

                                          Stained glass Madonna and child

The spiral staircase..... just gorgeous and we could see where the Guggenheim in New York got it's inspiration!

                         We have one almost identical of the inside of the Guggenheim......

By the time we had finished in the Museums, we were starving - walked back towards home and had lunch downstairs - pasta (what else) and a lovely pear and rocket salad. Headed home for the usual siesta and then Graham headed to the pub - had a few drinks and did some catching up on the internet before buying groceries and coming home to cook - tough steak, but lovely vegies.