Today mum and I did what all good tourists in Rome do, and left 'Italy' to visit the Vatican City.
Us and all the other tourists in the world. Or so it seemed.
We decided to do an organised tour for our first up adventure; it just seemed sensible with such a short timeframe and not having gotten our bearings yet. So we were collected from our hotel at 7:45 and bussed into the Vatican City. Joining a group of about 25 others, our guide Fabio lead us past an enormous line of people not in a tour, to get us into the area in pretty good time. However it did seem like everyone else was already there.
This was my second time visiting the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. They are magnificent, and both Mum and I appreciated the commentary from our guide. Appeals to our sense of history and adds to the useless? facts file. Some of the artefacts provided a visual memory from my previous visit ( 17 years ago) and I found new wonderment in others.
What was markedly different however, was the sheer volume of tourists. I do not recall this at all from last time, and I do feel that the constant crowds detracted from the experience of viewing in a Museum. When we got to the Sistine Chapel, it truly was like a cattle yard, with guards yelling and ushering you on and into the centre, and not a minute to stop and really consider the wonderment of the place. (And as an aside, you dickheads who think it is clever to take photos (not allowed in the Sistine Chapel) from your iPhone as you hide it by your waist, show some respect; your photo will be crap and you can rip a better one off the internet.)
St Peters Basilica was also overrun by tourists (a fellow group member commented to me at he felt like a fish swimming with a million other fish) but because it is so enormous, it didn't feel quite as cloyingly close. What an amazing building... So much to look at and an incredible architectural and artistic example of what creative humans can achieve, and without the technology of the modern age.
I took some photos on my iPhone today to post here, (seeing as I'm shooting in RAW on my real camera and can't download) but I can't seem to connect the phone to the hotel network, so again I have borrowed some off Mum. The last ones I took were of our second meal here, caprese salad and authentic pizza... So delicious. But sadly can't show the pics just yet.
Now it's a rest at the hotel before getting sorted for our cruise embarkation tomorrow. Who've thought that after only one day suitcases would, need re organising lol. Just the small matter of ensuring our prepaid transfer gets the message that we are at a different hotel... And she'll be right.
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