Vatican City

Our last stop on the way out of Rome, well other than the gelato shop, was the Vatican.  Actually, we visited on two separate days, but you get the point.  Smallest country in the world, and I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't border control, and I didn't get another stamp in the passport.  I was a bit confused about the size of everything there.  Can't figure out why exactly everything needed to be so BIG!  Seemed a bit boastful.  Anyway, lots of interesting things to see and stories to tell. 

This was the line to get into St. Peters.  Little did we know that this was nothing compared to what was in store for us in the morning.

View from the front door.  You can barely see the 70 foot tall altar.  The pic below is up close, where you can see to the other end of the church.

 This is the inside of one of the front doors.  I am sure there is more of a story behind it, but they only open it once every 25 years.  To keep anyone from accidentally opening it, the plaster it shut.  Come back in 2025, and you can actually walk through it.

 The foot of a statue of St. Peter, worn thin by years of touching and kissing

Probably the creepiest thing ever........The embalmed body of 'Good Pope John' the XXIII.  He is on his way to Sainthood, but wasn't expecting any bodies on display when we walked in.

 The Swiss Guard, don't seem like they could protect much with their spears and costumes. 

We moved on to the Vatican Museum and eventually the Sistine Chapel.  The last Sunday in every month is free entry day.  I anticipated that there would be a line, but if we got there right at opening it wouldn't be a big deal.  Well I was wrong, and we proceeded to wait in line for an hour and a half.  Turned out to be just an appetizer to the lines at security and border control later in the day.  I guess that is neither here nor there.  The museum is a bit of a mystery to me, they say its 4 miles worth of displays and exhibitions.  How did they get so much stuff, and such a big place?  On a sad note, there was no pictures allowed in the Sistine Chapel, so you didn't see this from me.

 Not even sure if they ever use it anymore for actual service.  Considering we were there mid-morning on a Sunday, they clearly were not hosting service that day.  Its such a big wide open space, you don't really feel for the size of the and scale of the paintings.  I guess probably high school gym size floor to ceiling/and ceiling paintings.  Hard to imagine spending years painting what is essentially one painting.  I got to give it up to Michelangelo.Its been said "Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving." and I don't really disagree



This is just one of 5 or so halls on one side of one floor of the museum.  You can almost see the door at the other end.

Maybe what I think was the coolest thing other than the Sistine Chapel.  See how it actually spirals down smaller towards the bottom?  At the top its just a slope, and then changes to steps, I tripped on the transition, and nearly fell flat on my face.

Here are some more of the pics  Vatican Pics