The Vatican was a must-do on our list however
the dates didn’t work completely in our favor. We arrived too late Saturday to
visit and it was closed Sunday, which only left Monday for us to visit. As we
were leaving for Florence that day I planned the Vatican tickets for the first
entrance (9:00am) and the train for later in the afternoon (4:00pm). It made
for a long day but definitely worth it. After getting up and dressed, we
finished packing and left our bags locked at the hotel. I was a little
apprehensive about this remembering how our camera had been stolen from a hotel
back in 1997, but luckily we had no problems.
The plan was to visit the museums and Sistine
chapel first, and then St. Peter’s Basilica afterward. In hindsight that was a
bad plan as by the time we finished the museums and made our way to the square
the lines were massive- likely more then five thousand people waiting to get
inside the Basilica which was free and didn’t involve any sort of tickets. This
meant for the second time in my life I didn’t get to see St. Peter’s Basilica.
When I was here as a teenager I was the only one dressed appropriately as Mom,
Dad and Adam were all wearing shorts. It was the one thing I am most
disappointed about not seeing on this trip, as I had waited 15 years to come
back and visit! For anyone making a similar trip, St. Peters opens at 7:30am –
do that first and book Vatican Museum tickets for later in the morning like
around 10:30-12:00.
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| Inside the Vatican Grounds |
Because we had Vatican tickets we had no
problems getting inside and through security. The lines were already wrapping
around the building but there was a separate line for pre-bought tickets – that
is a crucial planning tip on any trip – pre-buy whatever you can! We picked up
our audio guides and began visiting the museums which were in one word - remarkable.
It’s impossible to fully describe everything we
saw, but it was amazing. The museums are separated into various
rooms/galleries. The first one we entered was this long hallway full of marble
statues and busts called The
Chiaramonti Museum. The museum is arranged to not only include the sculpture on
display, but also highlight the architecture of the room and paintings through
the frescoes. What I liked was how it was arranged – with both large and small
pieces displayed together. This museum has over one thousand sculptures on
display and was incredible to walk though.
We then
walked into the Octagonal Court which had a bunch of large classical sculptures
some of which that have been in the same places since the 1500’s. This area was somewhat covered with netting, but was still outside and really interesting to walk though. There were pieces that were clearly art, but others that I couldn't figure out the purpose for.
This area
led into the Hall of Animals which was full of pieces linked to nature and
animals. I didn’t spend too much time in here as a large tour group was right
behind me but the purpose of this room was to create a “stone zoo” type place
that highlighted the animals and hunting. According the Vatican Museum site “Coloured
marbles were used to allude to the colours of the coat or plumage of various
animals or, by contrast, to confer a particular colouristic effect on a work of
art” (
The Hall of
Muses opened in 1784 and includes many statues of the Greek muses and Gods;
including Apollo and Athena. It was a interesting room, and the paintings at the top of the walls which directed the muses and various areas of art were quite beautiful.
The Round
Hall was stunning as it is imitates the inside of the Pantheon and it’s red
walls have areas that display statues with columns surrounding the room. In the
middle is a large basin which is believed to have once stood in a public area
of Rome.
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| The ceiling |
The Greek
Cross hall was built in the late 1700’s and is the entrance of the Pio
Clementino Museum. There are pillar-statues on each side and in the center of
the floor is a mosaic of Athena. This was one of my favorite areas of the museums
as I loved the architecture and the mosaic. Just off to the side was The Hall
of the Chariot which was roped off. Surrounding
the large marble stature of a chariot are smaller works which depict scenes
from athletics events and games.
Two of my
other favorite rooms were the Gallery of Tapestries and the Gallery of Maps.
Both of these are long rectangular rooms that have high ceilings and the walls
showcase these works of art. The tapestry one is full of rich colors and
beautiful hand woven scenes of people and places. The Map Gallery actually has
the maps painted directly on the walls. It took the artist three years to pain
the 40 panels as the gallery is 120m long. The maps are mostly of Italy and are
painted to represent the various regions and the main cities. The ceiling in
this room was amazing as they were painted by a group of artists in the 1500’s.
The rest of the rooms were just as amazing at the next, and
were full of beautiful art both on the walls, and in the décor and ceilings of
the rooms. The Raphael rooms were phenomenal but due to jam-packed tours I didn’t
get any decent photos. The Sistine Chapel was by far the most beautiful
chapel/church I have ever been in but sadly photos weren’t allowed to be taken.
Still, I am so glad I had the chance to sit in there and admire the walls and
ceiling. The Sistine Chapel was restored between 1477-1480 and is where the
papal conclave (how a new pope is selected) takes place. It is most famous for
the painted ceiling and “The Last Judgment” which were both painted by
Michelangelo.
Once we finished with the Vatican Museums we walked past the
crowds waiting to get in (which continued along the entire wall and must have
been in the thousands) and toward St. Peter’s Basilica. Sadly as I mentioned
these lines were also into the thousands and there was no way we would be able
to line up, see it and make our train. Brian wanted to get some stamps from the
Vatican post office so he braved the crowds and crossed the square with dad and
I agreeing to meet him a nearby restaurant that had been recommended to us. One
the way dad went off and bought purses (souvenirs for mom, Amanda and I) and I
went into an Italian post office to get some stamps. This was an adventure, as
I had no idea how their system worked and the staff weren’t too helpful.
Finally a gentlemen in broken English showed me the machine I needed to use to
get a number… however this wasn’t helpful as when my number was called and I
went to the desk I was told it wasn’t the right line. I was in there for about
35 minutes before I was finally able to get my stamps – stamps which were
insanely priced! I’ll keep this in mind next time I want to complain at the inevitable
Canada Post price increase.
We all met at the restaurant which was La Soffitta Renovatio
and had one of the best pizzas/meals of the Italian part of our trip – it had
been recommended by Sergio the guide from the night before, and was a great
recommendation. I had some of the best tasting white wine there – and Italian
wine is not something I usually like. It
is a must visit if in the Vatican area. Once lunch was finished – it was a long
lunch since we had a little extra time from not seeing St. Peters – we walked
back to the hotel and gathered up our suitcases. We got to the train station
early and again there were hardly any seats in the station (what’s up with this
Europe?) so we stood for most of the time. The train started in Rome, so we had
no trouble getting on. The suitcases we had proved to be a bit of a challenge
but with a bit of force we got them all on board and situated throughout the carriage.
It took just under two hours to get to Florence and I
instantly fell in love with the city! We had visited it for a day when I was
here last but it was a place I didn’t remember – likely because it was crammed
into a day with Pisa and a few other villages. Florence is officially my favorite
place in Italy (okay it’s actually tied with Portofino which is a place I loved
from my last trip!). It is such a beautiful town, and much less busy/crazy then
Rome and Venice. Our hotel was close to the train station but we couldn’t
figure out the map and took a cab. Thankfully we did as the cobbled streets
would have been tough to wheel everything on.
The hotel was amazing – the Best Western Grand Hotel
Adriatico is a wonderful place to stay. The rooms were large and comfortable
(even dad’s single room!) and the staff were helpful and friendly – well save
for one person we encountered the next day.
It was also a great location, as it only took about 15-20 minutes to
walk to the main sights from where we were. We took an hour to get settled
before heading out into the city. We opted to walk along the Arno River and
toward the Ponte Vecchio “Old Bridge” which is a medieval stone bridge that has
section enclosed with shops built along it. The bridge is built at the narrow
part of the river and was built before 996. It was destroyed in 1117 and 1345
but both times rebuilt. The shops along it used to be butchers, but now consist
of high end jewelry stores, art shops and the typical souvenir places. When we
got to the Ponte Vecchio all the shops were closed so it was easy to walk
across and get some great views of the water without crazy crowds. We also
stopped and saw the other two popular bridges of Florence – Ponte Santa Trinta
and Ponte alle Grazie where people were sitting on the edges, drinking wine and
eating sandwiches. It was a really nice environment – very laid back with
people just being and taking it all in, rather then rushing around from place
to place.
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| The closed shops on the bridge |
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