On our last full day in Europe, we wanted to see the Vatican. Our tram dropped us off on the far side, so we got to walk part of the perimeter. The Vatican is surrounded by a huge, thick wall. and the sidewalk is very meager. Many times, our stroller was too wide for it. I was hoping to bring this up with the Pope but did not get the chance.
We did not have the energy to see St Peter's Basilica, but we did see the Vatican museum. The Vatican museum was mind blowing, but I cannot say it was a good experience due to the incredible crowds. If you want to enjoy it, go in the winter when it's not tourism season. Or get lucky and find the day when the cruise ships are all out to sea.
But let me tell you about the Vatican museum. Every room had enough historical treasures to make a legitimate museum in its own right. There were real Egyptian mummies and 3,000 year old tablets and beautiful paintings that covered the ceilings. The paintings were detailed, but they stretched down endless hallways, showing Bible stories mostly.
Every room was packed, shoulder to shoulder with people. The ventilation was poor, the air was stuffy, and I had a hard time enjoying myself because I felt like a cow in a stampede. At the far side of each room was a doorway bottleneck with everyone fighting to get into the next room, over and over.
The worst ones were the Japanese tourists. Their guide had a little flag, and they would form a juggernaut freight train, hunching their shoulders forward and plowing through everyone. Little old ladies whose mission was to get through the museum even if it meant knocking my pregnant wife over. It's like they forgot everyone around them was a human, and instead we were all dogs trying to steal their museum experience. They would push through everyone into the room and then stop, listen to the guide as the rest of the crowd flowed past them, and then they would plow through us again to get to the next room. At one point, there was a narrow door way which the Asian freight train was monopolizing as hundreds of people just stood there. I got mad and cut them off with the stroller to allow some other people through. It was like we were evacuating a sinking ship.
Then we reached Sistine Chapel. Totally not what I expected. It was cool, dark, and quiet (except for the guy shouting over the PA for everyone to be quiet every couple of minutes). I could tell they wanted it to be a worshipful experience for anyone who wanted to have a worshipful experience, but there were guards everywhere correcting you if you stood still or moved in the wrong area, the constant reminders to be quiet, and the stress of the melee we just came from. It was a strange mix of high stress and peaceful calm.
While I did have a strong sense of awe and wonder, it was coupled with the feeling that I would enjoy the Vatican museum much more if I came back in the winter.
I forgot to mention lunch, before we went into the museum. We sat near a family with a little boy Daniel's age named Giuseppe. They had fun running around the ramps. The mother nursed her baby with no covering at all, in full view of the crowded cafeteria, including us as we acknowledged each other because our boys were playing. It didn't bother me, and in fact I was happy that this wasn't a big deal to her, but we were certainly surprised and remarked that Emily feels more negative pressure nursing in public under a blanket back in Tucson.
Daniel slept through the whole museum until we went out of the Vatican to get some gelato. We took trams back, still relying on kind Romites (Romans?) to tell us when our stop was. Near our apartment we found a place for supper called Ali Baba's Pizza Hut. The man who ran it really loved Daniel and gave him a free pizza ball. We took our dinner home and packed for the next day's flight.
In the morning before we left for the Vatican, we met Giulia and her handsome dog. They were playing fetch, and Daniel was a bit ball deprived, so he joined the game of fetch. He shed some tears when he had to leave the ball behind.
It looks like a relief, but it's a flat painting.
And there is more.
The Bible for those who can't read and with strong necks.
And this is just the ceilings.
This looks like it would be fun to take a strong down, right? No. Those white strips are steps.
St Peter's Basilica
Teaching Daniel how to lick.
I know no Latin. I just thought it would be funny to put Latin in a post about the Vatican. Here are translations:
Sola lingua bona est lingua mortua - The only good language is a dead language.
Amoto quaeramus seria ludo - Joking aside, let us turn to serious matters.
Amoto quaeramus seria ludo - Joking aside, let us turn to serious matters.
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