Vatican
Bondi Tram
Peter Colquhoun and Sandra Colquhoun
Sat 19 Jun 2010 12:52
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Our second day in Rome was spent in and around the Vatican.
We arrived by Metro at the Vatican stop and as there were lots of
different orders
and nationalities of priests and nuns on the train we just followed
them......
 and soon found ourselves at our destination, the Vatican Museum. It
was fortunate that we arrive early,
30 minutes before the gate opened at 9.00. There were already about
400 people in the queue ahead of
us and by 9 there would have been 7 or 800 behind us. This was
the original entrance to the Vatican.....
 ...with a spiral staircase designed to allow you to ride your horse to the
top.
 Inside, the grounds were beautifully manicured.
   The latest sculpture acquisition was dedicated to Pope John
Paul, the travelling Pope.
 Inside the museum were numerous religious paintings acquired over the
centuries.
 There was even a small Van Gogh in the modern picture gallery.
 The Vatican housed an enormous collection of ancient sculptues
in a series of galleries
 This is a statue of the emperor Marcus Aurelius.
 Here is a bust of Cicero, famous lawyer and orator.
 The frescoes seemed to cover every inch of walls and ceiling space.
  The map gallery was a real favorite of ours. The maps were painted on the
walls, probably about the sixteenth
century. We had fun picking out all the places we've been and plan to
go to.
 The map below is of Venice.
 There were beautiful mosaic artworks.
 and the wonderful Stanze di Raffaello frescoes, as well as...
 some exceptional tapestries.
  The Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo's famous frescoes was our last stop in
the museum. You are
supposed to but a postcard or booklet and not take photos in the Sistine
Chapel, so this hurried
shot is a little blurred.
 We next headed to St Peter's square where we had to go through
strict security to get in... and we found out
where all the priests and nuns had been heading for in
the morning.
 The Pope was giving an outdoor mass in St Peter's square.
 A visit to St Peter's Basilica would have to wait for another
time!
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