Rome - Day 2

Our first full day in Rome began with a trip down to the metro to catch the underground train towards the Vatican city. The Metro station at Termini is a huge mess at the moment due to renovation, but the trains are comfortable enough. We disembarked just North of the Vatican and headed towards it. We stopped in for a coffee and a cannoli at a café where the patrons all stand at a counter as there are no seats in the place. It was amazingly cheap and one of those authentic experiences I love to collect in foreign countries.



After this, we made it to the queue for the Vatican Museum, which was a few hundred metres long and took about half an hour to get to the front of. There's airport style security there and the entry fee is 15 Euros, but this is understandable once inside the museum. I had previously thought that the London museums were the best in the world, but this one put them to shame.



The buildings are the old Papal palaces converted to contain endless corridors of paintings and statues and tapestries. Every building surface from the tiled floors to the painted ceilings is a work of art as well.

[caption id="attachment_692" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="The Last Supper tapestry"][/caption]

 



 

 

 

 

 



After the first gallery, we emerged out into a sunny courtyard.



 



 

This was followed by a section of the museum dedicated to statues from Rome, Greece and Egypt. The number of statues on display is overwhelming and include some of the most famous pieces of statuary in existence.

[caption id="attachment_697" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Laocoön"][/caption]

 



The ceilings of nearly every chamber were intricately painted and works of art in their own right.



 



 



 



 

As we made our way through the rooms, we came to a section where the walls had been painted by Raphael.





 

And then there came the Sistine Chapel, with the incredible ceiling painted by Michaelangelo. Unfortunately there was no photography allowed in this room, but we did continue on our tour after a good 20 minutes staring up at the ceiling.





 



At last we came to the exit staircase after spending a good few hours in the museum. We could have stayed longer, but had to put an end to it at some stage.



After the museum, we headed around to St Peter's Plaza in front of the basilica of the same name where the Pope appears to his people. It's the head church of the catholic religion and is therefore full of the opulence and power of over a thousand years of Catholicism.







Inside the cathedral, it's hard to comprehend the size and scale of everything. The mind rebels and starts to imagine the scale of everything is nearer. The same happens in photographs. Luckily I have some which have people in them to use as a reference point.



 



 



 



We climbed to the top of the basilica and looked out over the city after climbing the treacherous steps on the inside of the main dome.



 



 



Following this, we wandered back into town and through the old part of the city in search of a dinner befitting the crazy day we'd just experienced. We crossed over the River Tiber by bridge and looked back at the Castle of Saint Angelo.

Continuing on, we wound our way through the narrow streets until we found an alright looking little restaurant. By this point we had not eaten anything all day so we were ravenous.



 



 

[caption id="attachment_723" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Bruscetta and Deep fried courgette flower with anchovies"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_724" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Pesto spaghetti and olive oil and chilli flake spaghetti."][/caption]

Sated, we headed back to our room on foot. I opted for the scenic route and took us by the Piazza Navona, the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain, which we visted in more depth later on.