A Life, Lived

Spring Continues to Elude Us

This is why I am Fat . . .

(well, one reason anyway. LOL)

Travel Tuesdays - Rome

I took about 2000 pictures while I was away. There will be plenty of Rome shots in the future for my Travel Tuesdays posts!

Here we go . . .

Beating the Crowds at the Vatican

When I was booking tours for my recent trip to Rome one that intrigued me was a tour of the Vatican museums prior to their opening. This would be my third visit to the Sistine chapel and the rest of the Vatican museums. When I had visited previously it was often so crowded that there was no room to move, let alone enjoy the art.

This is the fourth most visited museum in the world with 200,000 artworks spanning five millennia, from ancient Egypt to the present day. It is estimated that during peak time periods 25,000 people visit the museums on a given day. The crush of people can be so overwhelming that it can trigger seizures and heart attacks - our guide told us that the museum experiences an average of 7 medical emergencies a day as a result of the crush of people.

Any wonder why the idea of beating those crowds appealed?

You can do a tour which is completely after hours but it books up months in advance and can be upwards of $ 500. The tour I booked was less expensive and offered a complete hour prior to the crush of people.

Our groups met at a subway stop near the Vatican, after checking in we made our way to entrance of the museums were we stood in line until we were allowed in. Yes, even though we were there before the museums opened people were still queuing to get in.

It was a bit odd - some guides walked straight in with their groups. Others (like us) waited a bit. The guards were brusque and could have used a few lessons in how to interact with the public. Mind you, if I had to answer 'is this where I find the Vatican museums' question 1000s of times a day I might get cranky as well. Most people were relegated to the line which soon snaked far away from us in the opposite direction. Those were the people who would be in line for hours prior to being let in.

It wasn't long before we were let in and we went through the security gates to our destination. Our guide moved the group fairly quickly through the museums to the Sistine chapel. I was immediately struck by the lack of people. For example, this is the famous hall of the maps:

and here it is about 90 minutes later when we retraced our steps:

Yes, beating those crowds was so worth it!

Once we got to the Sistine Chapel we were left alone for about 30 minutes to stare in awe at the frescoes. Pictures are not allowed so I don't have any of my own pics but here are a couple that I grabbed off of the internet.

It turns out that there is a bench which runs along the walls of the chapel and you can sit on it as you peer up at the wonderful ceiling - who knew? Whenever I have been in the building before it was so crowded that this feature was never evident.

Once we left the chapel our guide took us through the museums at a more relaxed pace and even though it was still crowded it was not nearly as crowded as it would have been.

One of the things that I was not aware of was the impact Michelangelo's frescoes had on the art of the renaissance. His knowledge of anatomy and understanding of muscle groups changed the way the human form was depicted in art. You can really see this in the work of Raphael in the papal apartments.

Midway through his work, Raphael snuck into the Sistine Chapel where Michelangelo was working and studied the art. You can see the effect here:

and then here:

The difference in the human forms and the use of movement is dramatic.

You can also see the effect in this fresco which depicted God. Prior to Michelangelo no one had depicted God in human form. Michelangelo depicted him as a bearded, older white man. Here is Raphael's version . . .

I have to say that this was one of the best tours I have taken on my many journeys. It was a ton of walking (I reached my daily fit bit step goal about halfway through the tour) but although I had toured these museums two other times I learned a lot.

The tour ended up near another Michelangelo masterpiece - the Pieta - in St Peter's Basilica.

A sculpture that always moves me whenever I see it.

Our guide provided a fascinating take on the composition which made me look at it in a different way . . . and helped clear up that mystery for me of why Mary looks so young in the sculpture.

By this time I was exhausted. I had been up since 5 AM. I had now walked 14,000 steps. My feet hurt. I was hungry. I did not want to walk back to the apartment.

Of course the taxi stand had no cabs lined up - to be expected on a transit strike day.

As I trudged on my way a parked cab driver rolled down his window and asked if I would like a ride. I knew it was a scam. He told me it was a flat rate which was about 15 euro more than I had paid in the morning to get here. At that point I did not care.

I did come to care about his driving however. At one point we were in the lanes of oncoming traffic dodging cars as he raced to his destination. Porca miseria.

Eventually we made it and I was alive.

He did NOT receive a tip.

I rewarded myself with gelato on the way to the apartment.

Buona Pasqua

I hope you have a wonderful Easter and don't incur too much difficulty with April Fools Day falling on Easter - the possibilities for mayhem are endless. :-)

We are forgoing the traditional Easter Egg Hunt this year due to mom's mobility issues. We are forgoing the fake grass in the Easter Baskets due to the fact that the damn kittens get in everything and Easter grass is a huge draw for them right now.

Dinner and drinks with friends and family on tap for later today.