Adventures in the Vatican Museum

Today we visited the Vatican Museum(s), which is such a huge place. Because of the way the museum is constructed, I couldn't tell just how big it was, just that it was big and there were a lot of people there. Since there are actually several museums in the Vatican, it had an interesting combination of collections. There was an Egyptian part that we passed through on our (looooong) way to the Sistine Chapel, and I would have loved to go back and check it out more closely, but it was closed when we went back. Such is life trying to learn things in Rome. Just ask Steve about the Prima Porta. Actually, don't. He's still pretty upset about it.

Inside the Vatican Museum on the way to the Sistine Chapel. This was the map room, you can see a little bit of some of the maps on the bottom left and right.

Outside in the gardens of the Vatican Museum. It kind of sticks out in an old building made with a ton of marble.

Like I said, there were a LOT of people at the Vatican, especially in the Sistine Chapel. I looked it up, and about 25,000 people visit the chapel every day, making a total of about five million visitors per year. No wonder it was so cramped. The chapel part was almost wall to wall full of people, which was an adventure. We weren't allowed to take pictures, although that didn't stop some people. Tourists, I tell ya. I also saw (only) a few selfie sticks, which weren't supposed to be there. Seeing the painted walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in person is unreal. The sheer size of area that's painted is remarkable, no wonder it took Michelangelo four years to paint it. It would be really neat to see the painting up close, and I imagine that the people in the painting are several times larger than a human being so that they can still be seen from the floor. Since there were so many people in the chapel, it was a bit harder to enjoy the painting, and we had to be careful of pickpockets, who apparently like to frequent the Vatican. Damn pickpockets, ruining artistic appreciation.

A picture of Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel, provided by Google. Much safer than looking at it in person, although not nearly as awesome.