Now we knew how to get to the Vatican, having arrived there accidentally on Monday. Now that I knew the city better I also able to follow our path on the map during our bus ride. Bus lines 40 & 64 also take you right down Nazionale, which would have been a much better place to start our Forum / Coliseum day. We walked into the Vatican and followed the crowds for the 15 minute hike to the front of the Vatican museum. I had been warned that there would be a huge line to get in, but to wait for it anyway, since the line moves quickly. To our amazement we got in with no waiting at all. 

Mona Winks was a lifesaver here. First we saw the wing with the paintings – bagged our first Raphael (The Transfiguration – very impressive) and Leonardo (the unfinished St. Jerome). We then had lunch in the pizzeria – my opinion of Catholicism went up several notches when I discovered I could get a pizza and beer in the Vatican. We saw marvelous statues, including Laocoon and Belvedere Torso. Laocoon was re-discovered in 1506, having spent 1500 years or so buried in Nero’s Golden House. Laocoon warned against bringing the Trojan Horse into Troy. But the gods wanted Greece to win the Trojan War, so they sent a serpent to crush him and his sons. Laocoon made quite an impression on a young Michelangelo when it was paraded through the streets of Rome, as did the Belvedere Torso, the remnants of an ancient status of a seated Hercules.  CJ took an interest in the tapestries. He had looked at the left hand wall as we walked through the long hall of tapestries, and wanted to go back to see the tapestries on the right hand wall. Daddy told CJ that we had lots more to see, and this didn’t go over well at all. CJ saw the other wall of tapestries.

Roma - Vatican Museum - Laocoon

Roma - Vatican Museum - Round Room	Roma - Vatican Museum - Raphael's The School of Athens

Bob loved the maps. He asked if they had a book on the maps, and they did – for 780 euro! I discovered I liked the statues much better than the paintings. The huge ancient purple stone tub surrounded by statues was very cool. At the same time Michelangelo was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the pope was having Raphael paint the walls of his nearby apartment. The Raphaels were interesting, especially The School of Athens, but we were pretty burned out by this point.

Roma - cupola of St Peter's Basilica - CJ & Robby

We were quickly re-invigorated once we walked into the Sistine Chapel. Nothing can prepare you for this sight, arguably the most beautiful thing man has created. So much blue, so many paintings, so large a place. The lighting was natural light only, which was a bit of a disappointment. It was very pleasantly cool inside the Chapel. The murmur of the crowd was broken up by the guard occasionally yelling ‘No pictures!’ We exited through the ‘secret’ back door to avoid the long pointless walk back to the front of the museum. It was labeled with a sign saying this exit was for tour groups only – fortunately we were bright enough to ignore this pointless warning. 

Outside the Sistine Chapel we stopped for a drink from a fountain. The kids especially enjoyed getting their faces into the streams of cool water. Turns out we were right next to the ticket window for the lift up to the cupola. The elevator takes you to the roof of St Peter’s, and from there you walk the 305 steps inside the dome to the top. The view from the inside of the dome before the steps was stunning – we were hundreds of feet above the floor, directly above Bernini’s canopy. Kathy was more than a little scared of heights and wouldn’t go near the railing. She and Karin stayed behind while the rest of us climbed onwards.

Roma - St. Peter's Basilica - Michelangelo's Pieta Many priceless treasures are now behind bulletproof glass -  this is the only picture I took of something behind glass that turned out well.

On the way up you had stairs, switchback stairs, curving dome stairs, then a spiral staircase that was so steep there was a rope hanging down the middle to use as a handhold – that was quite unnerving. The view from the top of the cupola was unforgettable. It was a very clear day, and I was lucky enough to get several great pictures, including one of the kids that we may use for a Christmas card this year. 

Once we got back down, the elevator opened up to the inside of St. Peter’s Basilica. Robby was quite tired of sightseeing by this point, but he was interested in the statue St. Peter. People were lined up to rub St. Peter’s big toe for luck. Robby expressed an interest in rubbing it but backed out. On the way out we bought a few postcards and stamps, and saw a few of the Vatican Guards in outfits that appear to be straight out of Disney’s Fantasia.

Roma - St. Peter's Basilica St. Peter's tomb is in front of Bernini's Canopy St. Peter's statue is far right foreground (sunlit)

On the way back to the hotel we ate at Lu Cucina Nazionale again, which was a plus since we knew where it was and didn’t have to leave the hotel again.