Vatican City

We caught the shuttle bus from the campsite to Ii Caprio Metro station. From there we walked the short distance to the exterior wall of Vatican City. We followed the wall until we came to Saint Peter's Bascilica. On the way we passed the line for the entry into Musee Vaticani and the Sistine Chapel. It was seriously 2 to 3 hundred metres long.

We passed through the gates and under the Colonade that circles the piazza in front of St Peter's, we then has a look around to find where the entrance was - it didnt take us long as there were a couple of thousand people lining up. It was a pretty hot and unpleasant wait in line. We later found out that the temp was 37 degrees - guess that explains the heat. To make matters worse, you had to wear appropriate clothing ie no tank tops or shorts.

Once inside it is pretty awe inspiring. The size of the church is what hits you first. The height of the ceiling and that there are no pews set up which adds to the feel of the enormus space.

The detail is so intense - to me (Jay) it almost borders on being gawdy. There is no simplicity to anything. Everything is ornate - right down to the marble floor. It is really one of those places you have to experience for yourself to really appreciate it - words dont do it any justice.

We walked upto the top of the Dome in which we were rewarded with an amazing view of Rome. Rome like Paris is pretty flat so you can see a long way in all directions.

After seeing as much as we could see from the Dome we headed back down to ground level and decided to attack the Musee Vaticani lines. We walked back out through the Colonade and through the gates - we followed the wall all the way to the entrance - there was no line at all. Where were all the people? We dont really care.

The Musee Vaticani have the best scam gong - to see the Sistine Chapel you have to go through the Museum. To enter the Museum you must pay 12 euros per person.

Again it is really hard to describe the Sistine Chapel - in the simplest of terms it is a smallish rectangle room with frescos on every surface other than the floor. The ceiling has 9 main frescos that run down the centre with different frescos one each side - and that is just the roof. Dont forget the walls.....

I can totally understand why it took Michaelangelo 4 years to paint. Ther is a lot of details, but it is also really quite easy to see what each of the scenes are teling you. For example, the Creation of Adam or the Creation of the Sun and Moon.

I can remember Cam saying that he thought Michaelangelo painted people in a more realistic way than most artists of his time. I agree - the people look in proportion and lifelike.