I started my day at 6am today. Yikes! That's early, even for me. Why did I start so early, you ask? Because the Vatican also starts this early. Seriously, the Basilica San Pietro opens at 7am. I was right on time too, arriving at the basilica around 7:05am. Unfortunately, a church is still a church, which means you can't possibly spend more than 40-45 minutes in there unless there is some kind of attraction or tour.
When I got out, I hung around the plaza a bit to take some photos, but otherwise headed over to the Vatican museums, which open at 9am. There was a lineup too...tomorrow is actually a holiday, so I think most people planned their visit for today or the day after. Luckily, getting there early means you're at the front of the line. When I got to the ticket office, I was surprised to see that there was a discount for ISIC cardholders.
Having tour guides around can be a bit of a mixed bag. Their groups are usually very big, which can make it extremely annoying to take pictures or admire the decor and artwork properly. At the same time, if you stand somewhat close to the tour guide, you can get a sense of the history that they are talking about. I did, however, find it very unpleasant to be pushed through several halls just due to the sheer number of people in the hall who trying to move through it.
Despite being a centre for Catholicism, the Vatican museums are very diverse in their exhibitions, with exhibits ranging from Egyptian artifacts to Syria-Palastine history. There are also several halls full of sculptures and head busts. The second half of the museum, though, is where it really starts getting interesting. The above mentioned exhibits, while worthwhile, is not really the main attraction at the Vatican. I will admit that their are excellent from getting away from the tour groups and crowds so you can hear yourself think.
The museum is divided into "sub-museums", so to speak, named after the Pope who started the initiative of that particular collection. There was even an entire hall full of maps and another full of tapestries. My God, the church is rich. At the centre of it all is the Sistine Chapel, which is overcrowded beyond belief. The place is absolutely worth the trouble of squeezing around people, as I stayed for probably around 45 minutes to admire the ceiling and The Last Judgement. I didn't have a guide or an audioguide, so I bought two small booklets at the end with pictures to do some supplementary reading. Pictures were not allowed and won't do the place justice anyways. The postcards and booklets were a much better choice.
The rooms immediately beforehand were reigned by Raffael, and since pictures were allowed, I took plenty of all the frescoes in the rooms. My favourite has to be the one with all the philosophers and mathematicians/astronomers in it. I bought a postcard of this piece in addition to my pictures. After the Sistine Chapel was a collection of contemporary art, which I skimmed. Surprisingly, some of it was actually good to me, as I was able to pick out the religious motifs fairly quickly, instead of having absolutely no idea what is going on.
There was also a Pinacoteca, or an art gallery housing all of the Vatican's old art. Some of the altarpieces were from the churches immediately nearby until they were replaced by new ones. I liked this gallery because it wasn't all old Gothic art, instead, a healthy dose of more modern art was included. There were other museums too, but most of them were closed for renovations.
Needless to say, lunch was late for me, at around 2:15pm. I couldn't justify having street vendor food, already being very tired and needing some real food in my stomach, so I sat down at a nearby restaurant. Unfortunately, the prices were very jacked up despite being a few blocks outside the Vatican. The gnocchi pasta I had was also disgusting compared to Giovanni's, so I did not leave a happy camper.
After doing a bit of touristy shopping, I moved onto the Castel Sant'Angelo, a national museum in a castle featuring the Papal apartments, an museum exhibit of some past Popes' possessions and artifacts, and art. There was also a separate armoury exhibit. The great things about this museum is that, unlike the Castel Nuovo in Naples, you actually get a feel for the castle structure by entering through the dungeon and making your way to a terrace at the top. Along the way are several floors looking outwards to great scenery. I stayed until about 5pm and walked past a fairly nice building on my way to the metro station, although I don't know what it is for. It was very heavily police-guarded.
When I got home, I found out that due to the embarrassment of not having Wi-Fi available for the past few days, the Wi-Fi will be free today! I'll still have to buy Wi-Fi for my last two days, however. I decided t go back to Mama Angela's for dinner because I had a crappy pasta for lunch and needed somewhere safe to try a new pasta to make up for it. I had a seafood pasta with clams, mussels, squid and prawn in it with a glass of white wine. See pictures below for my meals from today and yesterday. When I paid, the manager gave me a small shot that was yellow. At first, I thought it was some kind of pineapple juice dessert. I quickly caught on and downed it. I'm not sure what I did to earn it, maybe because I've come to their restaurant twice in two nights. Who knows!
Off to the Colosseum tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment