After breakfast this morning we headed for the railway station at Valmantone. All the parking was taken at the station car park so we ended up parking up on top of the hill and walking down (a bit of a walk). At the station, we found that we had a 1hr 20min wait for the next train to Roma Terminal. Some lovely Italian ladies explained (in Italian) that if we took the next train the other way for one station we would be able to get a train into Roma sooner. In the end, they just said “Come with us!” which we did.
When we got to the next station there was an announcement to say because of track work there was a slight delay and that the train wasn’t going to Roma Terminal after all (we had heard that Italian Trains were unreliable). The three women were discussing the situation and apparently how to convey to us the problem when a young woman (university student studying political science) spoke to us in English explaining that we would have to take the Metro B train to get to Roma Terminal and if we followed her she could take us there. But for her assistance, we might still be lost in the Italian train system. Even though there are a lot more signs in English than there were in France, somehow it doesn’t seem to be as clear. Our guide showed us where the information centre was at the railway station and off she went. Very nice of her.
The information Centre couldn’t provide a map (or tell us in English where we could buy tickets for the Sistine Chapel without queuing) and as our plan was to do the HoHo bus circuit we bought tickets knowing that we would get to the Sistine Chapel eventually.
We travelled past the Piazza Squilino and the Basilica Di Santa Maria Maggiore and on to the Foro Romano (the Roman Forum – once the showpiece centre of the Roman Republic) the Colosseo (The Colosseum – built between 72 and 80 AD) and the Circo Massimo (where they had chariot races) on to Vatican city and San Pietro (Saint Peter’s Basilica) where we got off.
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| The Colosseum |
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| The Tiber (Fume Tevere) |
Had a look at St Peters which is often described as the largest church in the world. It’s certainly pretty impressive. The current building was constructed from 1506 to 1626 and the accompanying St Peter’s square was completed in 1667. We went to the information centre where we found for an additional €4 we could buy tickets for the Vatican Museum (including the Sistine Chapel) for 2:00.
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| Saint Peter's Square & Basilica |
Off we went and had some lunch then fronted up to the museum at 2:00. We went straight in and followed the arrows (with lots of other people) through various rooms and corridors full of impressive statues and artworks. The walls and ceilings of all these rooms were richly decorated with paintings and relief works.
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| The Vatican Museum |
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| The Vatican Museum |
When we finally got to the Sistine Chapel it was almost an anti-climax. The light was subdued and the chapel was packed with people talking and taking photos (after being asked to treat it with respect and not take photos – it’s amazing how rude some tourists are) – and the guards telling everyone to be quiet and stop taking photos did nothing for the ambience. The artwork was beautiful but so was the artwork elsewhere in the museum. I guess what makes it famous is the fact that it was done by Michelangelo. The chapel was originally built in 1484 and Michelangelo was commissioned to decorate it in 1508. The most identifiable piece, Genesis (1508-12) is just one of the hundreds of scenes over the ceilings. You certainly do wonder just how he managed to do it.
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| Inside the Vatican Gardens |
From there it was back on the HoHo and back to the station where, after visiting the railway information person to find out what platform we needed, we were on the train back to Valmontone. We walked downtown to buy a few things for dinner and then climbed the hill back to the car.
No chats tonight. Mario was in Rome and Stephania and Sebastiano were late home (had to sit outside their gate and wait for them for a while, while we ate our tea) and had things to do when they got home. Jill wasn’t 100% so she went straight to bed. I caught up a little on the blog.
