All Day in Church!! (Not really)

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Wow! We spent many hours at the Vatican today. We started our day by having coffee and juice at the little coffee shop in Piazza Moreno. Then we hopped on bus 64 to the Vatican -- what a quick trip that was! When you walk, it seems like it’s a long way, but it was only a five-minute bus ride.

It was already hot by 10:30 am. We walked around the Vatican to the Museum entrance, passing a very long line of people waiting in the bright sunlight to purchase their tickets into the museum. Fortunately, I had purchased tickets in advance and had printed out the notice with the information, so we had absolutely no line at all when we checked into the online ticketing area within the museum. (It definitely is worth the time to book the tickets in advance, even through there are slightly higher fees. We would have had to wait in the line outside for at least an hour, if not longer.)

The guides say to give yourself about 1.5 hours to quickly see the museum. We thought we were being fairly quick, but we still were there for 3 hours. While we definitely blew through some of the rooms, but girls all seemed to like the Egyptian, Greek and old Roman exhibits. We were all awed by the amazing tapestries in the Stanze di Rafael -- they depicted incredibly detailed scenes from the New Testament.

By the time we finally reached the Capella Sistina, we were all hot, tired, and hungry. The room was very crowded and hot, but the frescos were still incredibly beautiful. We looked at the frescos for about 15 minutes and then made our way out of the museum, passing large exhibition halls of modern (20th century) art, which we all enjoyed.

After lunch in Trastevere (at a not-so-good little restaurant) we went home to “do as the Romans do” (in other words, nap!). When we woke up at 5 pm we got dressed and headed once again to the Vatican, this time to see the Basilica di San Pietro. By the time we arrived, the Basilica was blissfully uncrowded and we took our time looking at the amazing works of art there. I never cease to be astounded by the beautiful Bernini dove of peace at the alter. I tried to take photos of it, but they just don’t do justice to the ethereal beauty of the golden sculpture and stained glass.

We lingered in the empty piazza in front of St Peters and then took the bus home. We had a great dinner at a restaurant called Il Drappo in Piazza Moreno.

Tomorrow, Venice!!

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Photos

The girls walking
This is the piazza in front of the Vatican