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| From the book I bought in the Vatican |
After our "lunch" we were ushered into the Vatican. One of the things to see were the members of the Swiss guard, which I had heard stories about when I was in Switzerland years ago.
Some places in Vatican City do not allow any photography, so I bought a book with some of the most famous artwork to use for this page. I took a picture of the Pieta which was behind glass and lit and the picture only shows the glare of the lights and glass.
This is from Nick's "fancy" camera. It is found in St Peter's Basilica (more about that later)
Before we went into the Sistine chapel, our local guide sat us down in a garden and gave us a lecture about what each of the 9 main paintings in the ceiling represent. She showed us pictures and gave us the information she felt we needed before going into the famous place. Some of the regulations were: We need to be silent, no pictures (because of copywright laws) we have 30 minutes in the room. What she failed to mention is that with 7 gazillion other people in the room, that it seems small and not at all like the pictures we have seen (of it empty). I'm sorry to say although the Sistine Chapel was at the top of my list of things to see, I was disappointed. This picture is from the book, imagine it teeming with humanity.
Before entering the Chapel we traveled along the Gallery of Maps whose walls held hand drawn maps from the earliest days of travel.
I was less impressed with the maps than I was with the ceiling.
Our last stop on the Vatican tour was to St Peter's Basilica-- the largest Christian church in the world. The decoration of the floor, walls, ceiling areas and the niches was amazing. This is a church that Michaelangelo designed (both the architecture and the inside designs)
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| A skylight |
This is where the Pope says mass and it will seat 10,000 worshipers.
We also spent some time in St. Peter's Square (which is oval, not square)
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