Chapels and Castels

 

Friday

2 August

Day 33

63 to go

Well that was a night. After trying to persevere with the heat and the aircon that was blowing hot air, Paul went in search of other accommodation. He returned with no alternative, so messaged the owners of our current hotel and they moved us into the Flora room, after Paul had made sure the room was cool enough. So I migrated from one bed to the other and tried to find some sleep. It was now after midnight. 

By morning we were feeling much better. The room had remained cool and we had both got some much needed rest. Once we were awake, Paul gathered all of our belongings from the previous room and we settled into our new room properly. 

We were off to visit the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel today. By 9.40am, we were ready to brave the elements and walk to the ticket office to collect our skip the queue tickets. It was all pretty straight forward and it wasn’t long before we were standing in line waiting to enter the Vatican Museum for 10.30am. 

The heat was already building, so we were glad to be called to enter and begin our walk through the collection of artefacts. The Catholic Church has amassed a significant collection from all over the world and from many time periods. The Egyptian pieces rival what up is held in Cairo. 

We enjoyed our wandering, making up our own commentary and thoughtful remarks about many of the items. At times, progress was slow, due to the mass of people, but we just had to be a fish and swim along. There were some though that began to annoy us. 

The museum is not just about the items on display, but also the great artworks that adorn the walls and ceilings. Your attention is drawn in all directions, the grandeur of the frescos is something to be seen. 

We continued to follow the signage which eventually leads you through to the Sistine Chapel. This is the only space you are unable to photograph. Many people stopped in the great space to take in the view, we just continued to follow the path and on to the next room. 

When we finally reached the end, we stopped at the food court for an expensive salad and then we wound our way down the corkscrew staircase and out into the heat. From here we made our way back towards the hotel, stopping for a sneaky gelato that had to be eaten quick to avoid drips. 

We spent the next couple of hours laying in the cool and watching the Boomers lose, 71-77, to Greece. Thankfully they still go through to the next round. 

At 3.30pm, we left our room in search of the Castel Sant’Angelo. It was a short walk, we located the ticket provider and then made our way into the castle that was first commissioned by Hadrian as a monumental tomb in 139bce. The structure is circular and there were 5 levels that could be accessed. Like the Vatican, there were adorned ceilings and art works on display. The best part was the view over the city. There were plenty of slopes, stairs and cobbled streets that needed to be navigated. 

At 4.50pm we were all done and keen to wander some of the lanes we had seen from above. There was plenty of interest, as we meandered our way along. We eventually stopped for a drink and chatted to a family from Sydney, or at least listened to their 6 year old.

We finished up our drinks and then went in search of food, finding a place for some pasta not much further on. It was delicious, but expensive. From here, we walked to piazza Navona. Unfortunately there was a bit covered up for restoration. 

Happy with our afternoon, we returned to our room via a supermarket and flaked out on the bed. I sorted out our navigation for tomorrow, before looking through some of the photos from today.