We took our time getting out across the Tiber River back to Vatican City. We decided that we had no idea when we'd be coming back to Rome, and we HAD to do Vatican City. We entered the square and gazed with regret at the very, very, very, very long queue of pilgrims, hundreds of them waiting in the unforgiving sun to enter St. Peter's Basilica. We trekked to the end of the queue and waiting about 8 minutes till an American girl approached the people ahead of us and asked them if they were interested in joining a tour that would take alot of the queue out of the equation. They didn't, so we piped up and asked her what the catch was. She said there wasn't any; we need only pay to get into the museum, and the tour was another 20 euros on top of that. We were apprehensive about losing our place in the line, but we eventually walked away with the stranger and she took us to meet "Dan", who was to be our tour guide.
We waited quite a while whilst his assistants tried to recruit more tourists. People from all over the world, ready to take a risk so as not to wait in that god-forsaken line joined us and within about 20 minutes, we were a formidable group. "Dan" was an American as well, and his passion for the home of the popes was fascinating and contagious. He filled our minds and our imaginations as he told us about the Dome in front of us, and about the history of the place. He advised us that in order to avoid the queue, we would go to the Vatican Museum first, then head into St. Peters from there. Apparently (and we didn't know this), you can only get to one from the other with a proper tour. Otherwise you leave and have to queue up again. no thanks!
We walked out of the square on the right side along a road and joined another queue. It too was long, but all the while Dan kept telling us about the city, warning us to keep our bags closed and our pockets protected. He advised that the women would have to cover there shoulders in the museum so I, wearing a tank top, walked up the queue till I found some Philipino women selling pashmina's. It had taken me a good 10 minutes to walk up the queue to the front, which concerned me, it was that long. I bought a magnificent green silk scarf (well, silk food anyway), and rejoined the group. At this point some police were "talking" to Dan, and we in the tour started to whisper. At one point I asked him if everything was ok, and he said "No, it's not, they don't believe I am an official tour guide". By the time we got to the front of the queue, about 40 minutes from the beginning, they were speaking quite vehemently to each other in Italian, checking and rechecking his papers. Slight panic when we started to enter the museum as they began to drag him away. As the doors closed behind us, he pushed against the police and yelled "In the Sistine Chapel, take a right, whatever you do, DON'T GO LEFT", and he was gone. We never saw Dan again.
We entered the museum, checked through security, and headed in. The moment we entered it began a horrid downpour outside, and we realized we'd be out in that if we hadn't gone with Dan. As we hadn't paid him, we weren't out anything. We followed the legions of people through from room to room, coming quickly upon the greek statues. I found out later that the museum was founded upon one statue, that of Laocoon, the priest who, according to Greek mythology, tried to convince the people of ancient Troy not to accept the Greeks' "gift" of a hollow horse, was discovered 14 January 1506, in a vineyard near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. (Wikipedia). It has always been one of my favorite statues, as I studied it in college. There are many galleries within the museum, including a full Egyptian gallery, Gallery of Statues, Bust Gallery, etc. We came upon a long, magnificent corridor and realized that the hoards were converging; it became nearly impossible to pass. We headed straight down a relatively ignored passageway rather than following the crowds, and found ourselves entering the Sistine Chapel itself. A security guard immediately advised Christian to pack his camera away. We obeyed immediately but were annoyed when we saw constant flashes as others scoffed the rules. It was heaving with bodies, but still beautiful, especially in its detail and colors. We looked above and beheld the famous ceiling Michelangelo spent 4 years on his back painting. The "Pull My Finger" bit (Creation of Adam) was relatively small amongst all the other Genesis stories surrounding it, but still stood out magnificently.
As we made our way out, we passed through a wooden screen and were following the crowds to the left. That is when Christian remembered Dan's final warning, and we spun around and headed to an unassuming door on the right labled "Official tours only". We had a story prepared should we be stopped, but the guards ignored us as we walked down a long flight of stairs, completely devoid of people, and found ourselves outside again. However, we were within the structure of the complex, standing between the museum and St. Peters, and a few steps to our immediate right found us in the Crypt of the Popes, located underneath St. Peters Basillica. We passed the tombs of all the past popes, including the relatively new one of Pope John Paul II, and the magnificent St. Peters Crypt. We came upon a flight of stairs and found ourselves smack dab in the middle of St. Peter's Church. It is beyond words. So much so I will not try to describe it, but it is magnificent. Vast and spectacular.
We exited after about an hour. We had to run back to the museum to get Christian's tripod, which we had to leave with Security. The guards let us return back through the Sistine Chapel and through that left door we previously rebuffed. That's when we realized what happens to those that go to the left. We came upon miles of corridors till we exited the museum; in the square. Had we gone that way we would have had to go back to the St. Peters queue where we initially started. The way we did it, we went straight in.
Our flight was later that night, so we took our leave of Vatican City and re-entered Rome one last time. We returned to our hotel, packed our bags, and hitched a bus back to the airport.
We waited quite a while whilst his assistants tried to recruit more tourists. People from all over the world, ready to take a risk so as not to wait in that god-forsaken line joined us and within about 20 minutes, we were a formidable group. "Dan" was an American as well, and his passion for the home of the popes was fascinating and contagious. He filled our minds and our imaginations as he told us about the Dome in front of us, and about the history of the place. He advised us that in order to avoid the queue, we would go to the Vatican Museum first, then head into St. Peters from there. Apparently (and we didn't know this), you can only get to one from the other with a proper tour. Otherwise you leave and have to queue up again. no thanks!
We walked out of the square on the right side along a road and joined another queue. It too was long, but all the while Dan kept telling us about the city, warning us to keep our bags closed and our pockets protected. He advised that the women would have to cover there shoulders in the museum so I, wearing a tank top, walked up the queue till I found some Philipino women selling pashmina's. It had taken me a good 10 minutes to walk up the queue to the front, which concerned me, it was that long. I bought a magnificent green silk scarf (well, silk food anyway), and rejoined the group. At this point some police were "talking" to Dan, and we in the tour started to whisper. At one point I asked him if everything was ok, and he said "No, it's not, they don't believe I am an official tour guide". By the time we got to the front of the queue, about 40 minutes from the beginning, they were speaking quite vehemently to each other in Italian, checking and rechecking his papers. Slight panic when we started to enter the museum as they began to drag him away. As the doors closed behind us, he pushed against the police and yelled "In the Sistine Chapel, take a right, whatever you do, DON'T GO LEFT", and he was gone. We never saw Dan again.
We entered the museum, checked through security, and headed in. The moment we entered it began a horrid downpour outside, and we realized we'd be out in that if we hadn't gone with Dan. As we hadn't paid him, we weren't out anything. We followed the legions of people through from room to room, coming quickly upon the greek statues. I found out later that the museum was founded upon one statue, that of Laocoon, the priest who, according to Greek mythology, tried to convince the people of ancient Troy not to accept the Greeks' "gift" of a hollow horse, was discovered 14 January 1506, in a vineyard near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. (Wikipedia). It has always been one of my favorite statues, as I studied it in college. There are many galleries within the museum, including a full Egyptian gallery, Gallery of Statues, Bust Gallery, etc. We came upon a long, magnificent corridor and realized that the hoards were converging; it became nearly impossible to pass. We headed straight down a relatively ignored passageway rather than following the crowds, and found ourselves entering the Sistine Chapel itself. A security guard immediately advised Christian to pack his camera away. We obeyed immediately but were annoyed when we saw constant flashes as others scoffed the rules. It was heaving with bodies, but still beautiful, especially in its detail and colors. We looked above and beheld the famous ceiling Michelangelo spent 4 years on his back painting. The "Pull My Finger" bit (Creation of Adam) was relatively small amongst all the other Genesis stories surrounding it, but still stood out magnificently.
As we made our way out, we passed through a wooden screen and were following the crowds to the left. That is when Christian remembered Dan's final warning, and we spun around and headed to an unassuming door on the right labled "Official tours only". We had a story prepared should we be stopped, but the guards ignored us as we walked down a long flight of stairs, completely devoid of people, and found ourselves outside again. However, we were within the structure of the complex, standing between the museum and St. Peters, and a few steps to our immediate right found us in the Crypt of the Popes, located underneath St. Peters Basillica. We passed the tombs of all the past popes, including the relatively new one of Pope John Paul II, and the magnificent St. Peters Crypt. We came upon a flight of stairs and found ourselves smack dab in the middle of St. Peter's Church. It is beyond words. So much so I will not try to describe it, but it is magnificent. Vast and spectacular.
We exited after about an hour. We had to run back to the museum to get Christian's tripod, which we had to leave with Security. The guards let us return back through the Sistine Chapel and through that left door we previously rebuffed. That's when we realized what happens to those that go to the left. We came upon miles of corridors till we exited the museum; in the square. Had we gone that way we would have had to go back to the St. Peters queue where we initially started. The way we did it, we went straight in.
Our flight was later that night, so we took our leave of Vatican City and re-entered Rome one last time. We returned to our hotel, packed our bags, and hitched a bus back to the airport.
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