The country within a city (29th September)

Fortunately we DO wake up early and make our way into the centre of the city by a 20min bus ride and a 20min metro ride. We were unsure of how long it would take (Italians are pretty laid back about time and timetables don't seem to exist here) so play it safe and get in early. We've become pros at working metros on our trip -but we were a little unsure when it came to Roma. Are we on the right line? Are we heading in the right direction? Turns out the reason for the lack of signage is because there are only 2 lines - so if you follow the crowds you're unlikely to go wrong. We pop out just off the street map we're supplied, but find our way to the Vatican museum pretty easily. Along the way we get our first real taste of Rome traffic. They are nuts -totally nuts! We'd been told that the trick on a pedestrian crossing is to wait for a nun and hide behind her as she crosses the road. The reason for this is that around 86% of the population is catholic - they won't stop for anyone they don't have to, except a nun! The other way to get across is just to make eye contact with the cars, hope they will stop and ignore the many many many scooters. Stopping for a scooter is a bad idea because they organise their path based on where you're about to go... so you get used to them zipping in front / behind and all around you. We have a little time to kill so we find a lovely optometrist that replaces the lost screw from Shona's sunglasses (she didn't know she had a screw loose and it fell out in Venice, the third pair of glasses to fail on this trip). We also find a call shop and call Venice as planned. Of course the woman last night had done nothing, so we have to explain the story all over again and we're told to call back in an hour so that she can check with housecleaning! Not going to work because within an hour we've met back at the Vatican museum, found our "skip the line group", bypassed the scarily big queue and been dropped off inside one of the largest museums in the world. In la Louvre in Paris is seemed like every second sign showed the way to it's most famous painting. In the Vatican it's pretty much every single sign that ushers people to it's most famous chapel, but to get there you must go through most of the other displays. We break from the flow of traffic however and spend some time checking out the courtyard and it's bizarre modern sculpture. It was gifted to Pope John Paul II and symbolises the "world within a world" that is the Vatican City... refreshing to see some art work in Rome that isn't more than 1500 years old! Also refreshing is the snack in the Vatican cafe. Even though they're really busy, the service is awesome, the food is good and the price is more than reasonable. They are hard working, so obviously the law of "it's good to do nothing" doesn't cross the Vatican border. The Raphael rooms are interesting -although it's disappointing to hear that his students actually did a lot of the paint work. This was a common occurrence at the time - it would be impossible for the most famous sculptures and fresco painters to have actually physically done all the work themselves, so instead they oversaw the work based on their designs. Eventually we make it to the Sistine Chapel and our friend Rick Steves talks through our ipods to explain the most significant features of what is regarded the greatest work of art by a single artist. This work is different to Raphael's room, the whole ceiling was done by the hand of Michelangelo. The colours have remained so bright because it is a fresco, which involves applying wet plaster, then painting over the top before it drys and locks in the colours. This meant that the assistants had to apply the right amount of plaster for the day's work - and also meant that any mistake required a section of plaster to be scrapped off. Michelangelo turned down the job a couple of times (because he considered himself a sculptor at that time) but finally relented so long as he could paint what he wanted to paint. The result is one of the most famous comic strips in the world, nine main panels depicting the steps of creationism, surrounded by angels and apostles. We spend about 15mins gazing at the ceiling and started to get symptoms of "church neck"... how many massages must Michelangelo have had during 4 years of looking up? An interesting note is that the figures at one end of the ceiling are smaller than the other end. At the midway point (the famous scene of Adam and God reaching out to each other) he took down the scaffolding and decided that the impact wasn't grand enough. For the remainder -the figures are even bolder and the result is a truly amazing space (once again - photos don't do justice). Speaking of photos -you're not allowed to take photos in here and you're meant to remain silent. It therefore sucks that there has to be several staff members who's job it is to tell people to be quiet and to stop taking photos. Luckily we saw at least one guide who didn't mind putting her hand over a rouge camera lens... even though the idiot just walked a few step and got a different angle! The end wall was also done by Michelangelo many years later and depicts the final judgement. This is the time when all souls are to be dug up from their graves and Jesus gets to pick who's been naughty and who's been nice. The most interesting thing is the contrast between the ceiling and this wall. In the years in between the world became a much less positive place so the mood of the work is much much darker than that of the ceiling. One of the 200 souls being sorted is a prudish catholic who said that it was indecent to show male genitalia in art work... his genitalia are painfully covered by a snake! The sagging bag of skin close to the center and on the dammed side has Michelangelo's face -what does this say about his mood at the time? We took the sneaky side exit, which spits us right outside the entrance to the dome of St Peter's basilica - a nifty shortcut as it means we don't need to re queue to enter the country! Walking up the 551 stairs is only 5euro and ticks off our "climb something high" policy for Rome, gives us a great view of the city as well as a wonderful view down to all the tourists inside the church. We can appreciate from this height just how massive the room below is and are amazed by the amount of detail put into it's creation. We descend and come out inside the basilica and once again Rick talks us through the main features. This place is ridiculous, talk about flashy and over the top and you aren't even close to describing it. At the age of 70 our man Michelangelo was asked to put on his architectural hat which he accepted on three conditions (1) that he wouldn't be paid (2) that he would be provided with an army of workers to complete as much as possible before he died (3) that no one would change his design of a simple even sided cross +. Guess what happened once he died? The church decided to expand this already gigantic building and extended on arm to make the traditional christian cross shape... thanks for all the free work though Mike! We see the door that's only opened every 25 years on the way out into the square (past the Swiss guards in their pajamas). St Peter's square, like the church, is ridiculously big. We check out the obelisk, see the pope's room and stand on the sweet spot where the columns line up. Given that it's only 4pm, we figure that there's still some time to check out more of Rome. However, by the time we wander around, stop for gelato, called Venice again (housekeeping claim it wasn't there when they cleaned -liar!) and make our way to Castle St d'Angelo it's 5pm, so we'll leave the inside for another day. Back at the camp ground we make it pasta night as Shona has the spinach ravioli, Mike has a generous and delicious lasagna and we share a salad for some much needed nutrients. The plan is to use the wifi and then get a good nights sleep... however this is far from what happens. The noise for the camp club keeps Mike awake till closing time at 2am and then the aussies in the next room obviously have issues with alcohol and fight till about 4am. The screams of the girl is enough to get security around, which just makes the guy yell louder -it's small comfort to know that they'll be kicked out the next day when we know that we're going to be totally shattered...