Up and out early. We hop on the metro and are off to Vatican City. We weren't sure which way to exit the station when we got there. We opted to follow the crowds. And there were plenty of crowds to follow.
We stopped long enough to grab a quick bite to eat between our station and our Vatican destination. As we were leaving the cafe, we got a friendly "Gig 'em" in response to Don's Aggie shirt. After returning the greeting with a startled smile and a thumbs up, we continued to wind our way to the Vatican.
Our first stop was the Vatican Museums. The lines for people waiting for tickets were three or four across and wrapped around several corners of the city wall. We had our online voucher and headed straight for the entrance. Even so, there was still a maze of check-ins, screenings, and escalators to navigate. Finally, we made it to the Vatican Courtyard.
We began checking out one of the first exhibits. There are several rooms of antiquities, masterful paintings, and relics housed in the museums. However, we quickly realized that spending even a few minutes in each of these rooms would limit our time in the crown jewel of the museum tour - the Sistene Chapel. We decided to leap frog all the rest and go straight there.
Traveling the hallways past each of the other areas was like walking through molasses. It seemed there were thousands of visitors in front of us. Everyone was gawking and taking pictures. And no wonder. The hallways were majestic museums, all in themselves! But we were on a mission.
Traveling the hallways past each of the other areas was like walking through molasses. It seemed there were thousands of visitors in front of us. Everyone was gawking and taking pictures. And no wonder. The hallways were majestic museums, all in themselves! But we were on a mission.
At last....
Capella Sistina
We are at the entrance. Wow. We step in. WOW!
The room is full. Someone is leading a prayer. Latin? Italian? Not sure. Then English. Then one more language. Then he left. We are left to contemplate the chapel.
We had previously downloaded an audio guide for our phones and are now listening to the descriptions and history the narrator provides. The artwork is exquisite and mesmerizing. These are such feeble words to use, though. What is incredible is that the whole history of man and God - from the creation of the world, the fall of man, the story of our salvation through Christ, and the depiction of the Final Judgment at the end of the world - unfolds before your very eyes.
We usually think of the ceiling when we think of the Sistene Chapel. But there is so much more. The walls are a series of paintings several stories tall that wrap around the room. And seeming to want all of your attention is a very serious, commanding Jesus at one end presiding over The Last Judgment.
We can only point and gawk and sigh at the overwhelming grandeur of it all - the colors, the detail, the totally life-like images, the composition of each part into a living whole. We are speechless.
After about an hour, we leave the chapel only because we have tickets for another special tour elsewhere in the Vatican. Along the way, we ran into the guy from the cafe earlier. His name is Jack, Aggie Class of '98, I believe. We spoke for a bit then he left to rejoin his family and we continued to our next tour. Who would have guessed a couple of folks from Texas would be rambling around in the Vatican and find each other twice in one morning?
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