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Published: January 2nd 2017
Buffet breakfast at the hotel. It is an overcast, windy day. As mentioned, we have booked a tour of the Vatican for the afternoon. Our reasoning, after research on the subject, is that the tour will get us past the lines and will guide us through what sounds like a very difficult trajectory. It turns out to be a sound decision, as we shall see. In the interim, we have the morning free. We decide to return to the nearby Piazza Della Republica and visit at least part of the Museo Nazionale Romana, Rome's largest museum outside of the Vatican itself.
The museum is another institution that utilizes the space and some of the walls and foundations of the ancient Diocletian Bath. We buy a two-day pass, realizing that we can only see some of the museum today and hoping we can come back tomorrow.
The first part we visit is devoted to Latin inscriptions through the ages as preserved in marble and stone. It's fun that in many cases, one can still read and understand the inscriptions without reference to the notes. Another room houses tombstones and crypts, which bear inscriptions and in some cases remarkable carving.
We move outside to an inner courtyard known as the Michelangelo Cloister after its famous designer. It is a large square with covered walkways on all four sides. Dozens and dozens of statues line the outside perimeter of the walkways. In the centre of the courtyard is an attractive fountain surrounded by sculptured bushes and plants. Statuary heads of beasts, real and mythological, rear up out of the topiaries.
We head back inside and explore several other rooms filled with statuary from Roman times. The anatomical realism is extraordinary. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, many have lost heads and limbs, and the male statues tend to lose their privates. It is the parts that don't stick out that tend to make it through the centuries.
We have to leave in order to connect with our Vatican tour. For that, we return to the Termini area near our hotel. Our group fills an entire coach and we head off for our Vatican adventure.
We descend from our bus into pandemonium. Lines of people snake in a variety of directions. There are temporary fences and barriers set up in attempt to bring some structure to the mayhem. Guides and men in
uniform are yelling and gesticulating incomprehensibly. Our guide Maria has equipped us with wireless receivers and ear pieces. She plunges into the morass waving her red flag, urging us to keep up and to not get lost. We do our best to comply.
We reach the main ticket area where we have a chance to use the facilities while our guide collects our tickets. We are warned that there will be no further washroom stops. Then it's up a long, circling ramp and into what's known as the Vatican Museums.
We push through a corridor filled with masterpieces that we do not have time to see and find ourselves in an inner courtyard. This is the Cortile della Pigna, so named for the bronze sculpture of an enormous pine cone that stands at one end. Another interesting item is an equally enormous mirrored sphere in the very centre of the courtyard. Maria leads us to one corner of the courtyard where there are placards showing the famous paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo. She explains that no photos are allowed there, so it's best to discuss the significance of the paintings in advance.
We then plunge back into the Vatican museums. There are eye-arresting masterpieces everywhere: statues, paintings, mosaics, tapestries. Every surface of every room is decorated in stunning style. The crowds are horrific; we are elbow-to-elbow with flowing torrents of visitors, most trying their best to keep up with their guide somewhere in the distance. The wireless system breaks down in these conditions and we hear Maria's explanations of what we are passing by in largely incomprehensible dribs and drabs. My height gives me a viewing advantage relative to most, but Violet is finding the situation frustrating.
It is hard in retrospective to make sense of all that we saw. One thing that stays with me is the fascinating mix between Roman and Greek mythology on the one hand, and Christian imagery on the other. The mythological figures are generally naked and the Christian saints and such fully clothed, but there are many exceptions to this rule (notably Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel paintings). One room that had me in awe was the Gallery of Maps. It wasn't the maps on the walls but rather the incredible ceiling that held me spellbound. There was also a series of paintings in that room
Laocoon
Vatican City, Romewith a remarkable three-dimensional effect. I also remember the Round Room, which featured busts of Roman emperors, the famous Laocoon statue of a father and his sons being attacked by sea serpents, and the iconic La Pietà by Michelangelo.
The latter statue stands at the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica. We now enter one of the world's largest and most famous cathedrals. Despite the ever-present crowds, there is a stillness and coolness and reverence to the atmosphere that immediately strikes you. The cathedral is immense, with many different enclaves off the main area. Again, incredible masterpieces of painting and sculpture are everywhere. And suddenly, the pipe organ springs to life, a huge magnificent sound that sends chills down my spine and brings tears to my eyes. I don't recognize the piece, but it sounds like Widor. We continue to wander around awestruck until we are summoned to leave.
The highlight of the Vatican tour awaits. We slip through a narrow exit from the Basilica into the world-famous Sistine Chapel. It's a long rectangular hall, not round as I had assumed. There are beautiful paintings and statues by legendary artists on all sides, but no one looks at them,
Random ceiling
Vatican City, Italy because all eyes are riveted on the ceiling, where Michelangelo painstaking painted 19 pivotal scenes from the Bible between 1508 and 1512. In the centre, of course, is the iconic image of God passing the spark of life to Adam. The ceiling is high and so we on the floor can only see these glorious masterpieces from afar. There are some smart people with binoculars, but we are not among them. The predominant colour throughout is a peaceful sky blue. Guards forcefully urge the throngs, all with their heads back and eyes upward, to keep moving. The result is that everyone moves through the chapel in a series of stumbles against their neighbours.
The Sistine Chapel, by the way, is the traditional location for a Papal Enclave, convened when it is necessary to choose a new pope. At that time, the Sistine Chapel is sealed off from the outside world until the selection has been made.
Our gang reconnects at the far end. We are one person short, and Maria is growing increasingly impatient. We are about to leave when the hapless woman appears; she had a bathroom emergency. We then exit through another bottleneck of a narrow
Detail of tapestry
Vatican City, Rome doorway, one at a time. It's clear that when the chapel was designed, no one ever imagined the hoards of people who would visit it daily.
We now stand at the front entrance to St. Peter's Basilica, with the whole of St. Peter's Square spread out below us. The weather has turned drizzly, but the view is still magnificent. Seating is being set up in the immense round rotunda immediately in front of the basilica, in preparation for tomorrow's Sunday mass. As we slowly descend the staircase, we can see the square proper open up before us. But time is fleeting and we have to push on to the obligatory gift shop. From there, back on the bus and a return to Termini.
We had thought about striking out to find an exciting restaurant, but we are dog-tired and the weather is miserable, so we opt for supper at the hotel once again. We find the price and food quality there reasonable. We strike up a conversation with our server Marco, who has served us on each visit. He has explicitly carved out a career for himself in the hospitality business through formal studies and travel abroad to
Gallery of Maps
Vatican City, Italy learn about a half-dozen languages. His English is excellent, by the way. He judges his profession to be a noble one and laments the fact that young people often regard the service industry as a stop-gap job on the way to something better. A very pleasant fellow, and an excellent server.
One day remains to us in Rome before we finally head home.
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