On our second full day in Rome, and the last day before catching a plane home, we planned a visit to the Vatican. Growing up Baptist, this was not high on my list, but everybody told me it was not to be missed. So we did it.
We bought tickets to the Vatican museums online the day before. This allowed us to jump what had to be a half-mile long line. As we entered the museum, I was still not enthusiastic. That was about to change.
Click the first slide to start slideshow…
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- We arrived at the Vatican (the 5th country on our 3-week jaunt) a little early for our pre-scheduled museums tour. So we walked past St. Peter’s Basilica. We’d tour it later.
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- The Pope was to make an appearance the next day. A **FEW** chairs were set up for the occasion.
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- A few quick pictures of the outside of the Basilica before heading off to our museums tour.
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- Now it was time to tour the Vatican museums (note plural MUSEUMS). I was prepared for a boring afternoon.
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- Anticipated boredom immediately turned into amazement. There was hallway after hallway after hallway of every kind of art you can think off.
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- Sculptures
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- Don’t ask.
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- Museum hallways packed with art of all kinds appeared to reach off into infinity.
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- Now **THIS** is a bathtub.
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- This piece had to tell a story. Sorry I don’t know what it is. Boats in the foreground. Note the structure to the right of center (yes, to the right of the naked guy). It looks like the leaning tower of Pisa. Guess it could be. It was started in 1173 and began leaning almost immediately.
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- A view of Rome from a museum window. Yes, the skies were steel gray. Not good for photography.
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- Mosaics…
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- Paintings…
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- Oh, yes! The paintings on every surface.
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- The carpet museum: amazing artwork in carpet, lining the walls of this long hallway.
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- These carpets were huge…
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- … and amazingly detailed.
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- The map gallery. I didn’t know whether to look at the maps on the wall or the extravagant ceiling.
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- One of the last paintings we saw (Raphael, I believe) before passing through the Sistine Chapel, the climax of the museum tour. Unfortunately there is no photography in the Sistine, but this painting is somewhat reminiscent. Standing in the Sistine Chapel and realizing you were in the same room that Michelangelo toiled for years was an awesome feeling.
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- The Basilica dome from a museum window.
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- Museum & Sistine Chapel tour over, I thought we had seen the highlights. I was not prepared for what happened next.
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- Inside St. Peter’s … my jaw agape.
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- The word is… Opulence!!!
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- One amazed photographer.
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- A couple more routine pictures, and it’s time to head home.
