Sistine Chapel

I had been to the Sistine Chapel once before with Katie. Like the Grand Canyon, it is hard to put into words or photos.

Getting there was a bit tricky. I bought tickets online which were now on my phone. There were no directions with how to get to the entrance exactly and we saw nothing about it when we were at the Vatican. Our phones were being weird, having difficulty downloading google maps. We left with over 2 hours to wander a 4 mile walk. That gave us time for a light breakfast. (Still can’t figure out how to shrink the pictures, sorry!) The cookie was apricot filling and not too sweet, dipped in dark chocolate. Was so perfect with my latte.

The morning walk was very enjoyable. Again despite the chill day, people sat outside with their coffees. We saw a group of older men playing cards. A few days ago we ended up in a long tunnel, which was really loud. Today we thought we would try a new route.

60+ stairs later, we were near where people live. There was even a pair of tennis shoes flipped over a light fixture at the top–kids!

After a while we realized we still had a ways to go and now we had only 25 minutes. We did what all good tourist do–follow the crowd.

It is such a tourist area that indeed there are people here and there trying to sell you tickets. Soon there was an employee who spoke perfect English to guide us to the entrance.

It’s hard to explain how many rooms you walk through to see the Sistene Chapel itself, certainly hundreds. Each room is filled with beautiful art or statuary or tapestries. The halls go on and on and on…

When you finally reach the Chapel it is sudden; you turn in a small doorway and there, before you, is this huge room and every inch is painted in splendor. There is no talking and no photographs allowed.

Straight overhead are Michelangelo’s paintings depicting God creating the sun and earth, God creating Adam, then Eve. At the far end of the hall is The Last Judgment, with Christ dividing people into heaven or hell. It spans the entire wall.

We found a place to sit for a few minutes and simply look with our maybe 300 friends scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Most people had an audio cassette to their ear. I walked around the perimeter and found Michelangelo’s self portrait hidden within the painting, which I had learned from my favorite college humanities teacher.

I imagined Michelangelo laying on scaffolding month after month painting the ceiling 68 feet in the air. When he finished, or so our teacher told us, the far wall needed something very special. When he finished the Last Judgment, the Pope entered the room and fell to his knees. With no warning, this non-crier found myself with tears spilling down my cheeks.

It turns out the reason you cannot take any videos or photographs is because the Chapel was in need of renovation in the 1980’s. Nippon TV (Japan TV) sponsored the project for millions of dollars along with the rights to making all videos and photos to document the space. After the project was finished, the Vatican decided that as a sacred place people should be quiet and contemplative, rather than focusing on taking pictures. Now with cell phones and YouTubers I am sure they are so glad they stuck with that decision. As it is, it says 10-15 people a day faint from the heat or have panic attacks from the crowds–30,000 people visit every day.

A small island in the middle of the Tiber River was an interesting sight with its loud rushing water on the way home. My new coat was doing an excellent job of keeping me warm!

I had probably the best meal so far at another small restaurant with thousands of string lights inviting us in from the 40 degree evening. It was an amazing tortellini in a white sauce filled with mild cheese and mushrooms–YUM!

Behind me there was a large TV with a fireplace on the screen crackling away. Thing was, there was NO heat inside so I kept my hands on the skillet to keep warm. Several of the restaurants have had blankets available for use, so I bundled up. Perfect!

Just like this morning, people were everywhere enjoying the Monday evening! A bar had easily 50 people outside, even though it was 40 degrees. We were home by 8 pm which was good because………..we still had NO IDEA where exactly we were going in Naples. So……..fingers crossed for tomorrow!