Winters in Europe: Vatican Museum

Today we went to St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, photographing the Sistine Chapel is not allowed, though another Winter with more moral flexibility than me may have 'accidentally' gotten a few pictures.

No doubt they will appear on Facebook...

Anyway, we headed out in a taxi once again to see the sights.

This is the view across the Tiber River from right near the Vatican.

This is a memorial honoring Catherine of Siena, and you can see her wagging her finger at the Pope in the final panel. She was pretty fiery in her communications with him, and eventually she was declared a saint. What's not to love about a rebel nun not afraid to speak her mind?

This is one of the fountains in front of St. Peter's. The line to get in was amazingly long and after a while of watching the tourists slowly, sweatily, make their way to the church, we gave up and got gelato and headed to the Vatican Museum.

We reserved our tickets online, and since we were early, we got some cappuccinos and watched even more tourists wait in the ticket line to get in. Reserving online is truly awesome.

Our waiter was not super happy with us for sitting there drinking cappuccinos and not having a big, expensive lunch, but Andrew drew on his inner Mennonite and smiled us into being able to stay longer. That Mennonite thing comes in handy!

You wouldn't make this man leave your restaurant, would you? We were finally driven away by the 1980's music videos, but not until the boys were introduced to Boy George. Their reaction was priceless.

There were so many marble statues in this gallery that you could hardly focus on just one.

The floors are mosaics that you almost feel guilty walking on.

This art is on the ceiling in one of the many, many rooms we walked through. There was fantastic art everywhere but very little information.

Micro mosaic.

Very old, huge tapestry.

Close up of another tapestry.

Hall of Maps.

They also had some more modern art, and though the photo isn't the best, I really liked this one.

It's called Il Precursore, by Giulio Aristide Sartorio.

In the Vatican Museum, the art displays seem weirdly low key. You look around and notice that that thing on the ceiling has been on Christmas cards. But it's just part of the ceiling and there is nothing to tell you who painted it or why. This is definitely a museum that needs a guide.

Often you only notice that it's a famous piece because the other tourists stop suddenly and there is a hush. That is the reaction to great art. Sudden silence. (Unless you are thirteen and have a really great joke to share...)