Day 9: Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel , Colosseum and Roman ruins

Ancient and modern Rome awaits your discovery. Why not start your day with a guided tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel? In your free time explore the Forum of Imperial Rome, search for Gladiators at the Colosseum, snap up Italian fashions or just watch the world go by with a gelato (or two).

Today we start with guided tour of Vatican museums and Sistine chapel. And today was rest day for Jezza , so we took the public transport to go to Vatican from our hotel ……………………

After Rome, your biggest wish is to come back Rome

Vatican City is apparently the smallest independent nation in the world. And, considering it is a theological dictatorship thankfully doesn’t seem at all interested in developing nuclear weapons. There are a little over 900 citizens with annual revenue of about 250 million. It is very strange to see a country, which happens to sit right inside of Rome and observe that for the most part the Italians don’t seem to mind. Did you know that the Vatican has its own police force, newspaper, postal service, and even its own euro?

And on top of all that, it has one of the most impressive art collections, including the world’s biggest gilded cage.

The place is opulent and impressive and has all kinds of statues, frescoes, etc which have been obtained from all over the world. Many original works also exist within. Probably the best known is of course the Sistine Chapel.

We needed to be in line to enter the Vatican museums by 8:30am. The line went quite a ways around the Vatican's walls. We stood in line for about 1 and 1/2 hour. The only way to see the Sistine Chapel is by entering the Vatican Museums.

The Vatican Museum was filled with phenomenal art. Marizzio was our tour guide again for the morning. Marizzio pointed out different items to us. At the Sistine Chapel, everyone was to be silent. Marizzio pointed out some of the details to look for and then gave us a time to meet at the exit for the chapel.

You could spend hours inside the Sistine Chapel. We only got 20 minutes, but our necks still hurt when we were finished. The funny part about being in the Sistine Chapel was that they demanded silence, but to get everyone to be silent the guards were clapping their hands and then played a recording very loudly about being silent. I'm sure there is some other method of quieting people, say kicking them out!

After we visited the Sistine Chapel, we went to St. Peter's Basilica. Unfortunately, Marizzio didn't tell us anything else about the Basilica.

Once we were finished, it was shortly after noon and we got the rest of the day to ourselves.

After we finished our Vatican tour we took Bus No. 40 and we were intended to get down at the middle of Roman shopping district (Via del Corso) and we were also looking for Time Elevator. But the bus was quite crowded and we couldn't get down where we were supposed to. So we end up in Republican, but Rome underground (I mean Metro not the catacombs or the Churches), is quite convenient and since we had the day card it was not a trouble. We took metro to Spagna as it seemed to be the closest destination. There was lots of Bangladeshi people hawking fake products on the streets, once of them actually helped us with the directions.

We soon found ourselves at the world-famous Spanish Steps. Different versions of stories from different tour guides seem to confuse me rather than clarify why Spanish Steps is called “Spanish” and why there’s a French church behind it – as to the Egypt obelisk, it just seems to be one of the popular kind of streets-decoration across the Western World.

Only after finishing all the steps, one came to the realization that the Spanish Steps consists of several flights of steps with three balconies to separate but also connect them. Instead of running all the way straight from head to heel, the steps have to run sideway from the two sides of the balconies then come to meet again above another balcony. This intricate design, plus the narrow straight sky-reaching obelisk running through the two lower balconies and the French church behind the first balcony, gives the Spanish Steps a compelling feeling of a stage, a marvelous theatric setting.

But most tourists do not care about the design or the architecture. They’re enjoying themselves and make themselves part of the show on this unparalleled stage. One cannot help thinking that the Spanish Steps was indeed designed for nothing but this, not for memorizing, not for honor or achievement, but for a gathering, a random assembly of different people, a show, or a party. If not for the youth and joys brought about by the un-ending stream of tourists from across the world, the Spanish Steps would not be what it is: a joyous party of life that never ends. In modern times the Spanish Steps have included a small cut-flower market, a favorite place for eating lunch (now officially frowned upon and rewarded with fines) or picking up a gigolo.

After roaming around for a while we did found Via del Corso and spend some time doing window shopping. We also bought few t-shirts as souvenir to our visit to Rome. After a long walk we took a break, it was time to refuel and also relax with few gelatos.

Then we started our journey towards Forum or Ancient Rome. Our first visit was Mamertine Prison, Located in the Forum near the Campidoglio. Entry is free but donations to the church (located above the prison) are requested. Two levels are visible. The first is a small chapel and then you descend a narrow winding staircase into the cell that St. Peter and St. Paul were supposedly imprisoned in. A spring runs under the prison and you can dip your hand into the hole in the floor and touch the water.

After Mamertine Prison we started our journey through The Roman Forum (Forum Romanum) ...

This was the downtown area of the ancient city, where you could cross paths with Cicero or Caesar himself on their way to the political, religious, and commercial buildings, which are still visible here today, 2000 years later, in various states of preservation.

You all know the history anyway. No need to repeat it. A jumble of thoughts the first time I see it. I walk down into it, down the Via Sacra toward the Rostrum. As I touch the stone and the marble around me: Julius Caesar might have leaned against this. Cicero's hand might have touched this spot. Marcus Aurelius, Augustus, Scipio, Nero...... Suddenly these people seem very real to me, no longer comic book characters. I've touched what they touched. (Free, open every day, from 9 to an hour before sunset)

Since our time in Rome was very short, we only had a couple of hours, but I would definitely recommend taking at least 1/2 day since the grounds are very large, and there is much to see.

I would definitely suggest reading about Roman Forum before visiting the place and you would also need a good map. You have to read a little bit about Rome, then you will be able to bring to life the ruins and will get a real understanding of life in this area, during those ancient time. We noticed few archeologists still working on the ruins quite actively. Lot more to be discovered ….

At the end of the ruins there stands the Colosseum with all its beauty.

It was also fascinating seeing the Gladiators plying their trade outside the Colosseum. They would offer to take peoples’ photos and then charge you for a photo with them. Being a gladiator in Roma is actually a profession – you must be licensed.

We hanged around quite a while around the Colosseum. The Forum and the Colosseum were absolutely magnificent. It was around 7.30 pm in the evening and we were thinking what next to do. It’s simply impossible to enjoy the city in day and experience all great architecture, which dates back 2000 years. We just managed to catch a glimpse …

It was a very very tiring day and we just realized that our day started with 7.30 a.m standing in the queue to get in to Vatican museums. And we never took rest after that, we have been all the day on our feet and it was really paining after 12 hours of exhausting exploration. So we choose to go back to our hotel and join the rest of the group for our included dinner that night.

So, that was Roma – we really only scratched the surface of the city, but in some ways that was enough. Our guidebook tells us that if you decided to visit all the churches in Rome and saw one a day it would take 900 days to see them all. Ouch...

If you have few days to spend in Rome, I would definitely suggest you to take the following tours.

Walking Tour of St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel

Classical Rome Private Walking Tour

Angels and Demons Walking Tour in Rome

Rome Segway Tour

Ghosts in Rome Walking Tour

On a retrospect, I found few stories to tell about Rome. We have done most of the things we could manage in one and half days. We had thrown coins at the crowded Fountain Trevi, giving wishes to come back to Rome. We had been to the Piazza Navona . We had also been to the Vatican, hardly had time to admire the St. Peters, but hurried to Chapel Sistina in order to watch “The Last Judgment” for 30 minutes (we could have watched it longer if not for so many other admirers there).

Rome is not a collection of all of the above; it’s an overwhelming experience.

Rome is undoubtedly a love affair. It’s real; it’s so unbelievably real after two thousand years .The magic of Rome is to rub all of the times together, seamlessly, and to live them all at the same time. One didn’t come here to worship the Colosseum or the Pantheon; one didn’t come here to admire the Renaissance or Baroque palaces and churches; one didn’t come here to learn about Bernini or Boromini through their marvelous piazzas or fountains. Although you may have all this kind of “objectives” before you came, once arrived here, you’re only to be overwhelmed, to be surprised, to hold your breath. It’s the kind of encounter that you could never make yourself prepared for.

The experience of Rome is not to be analyzed or explained. It’s intoxication, an addiction. All you have experienced here only calls out to you: it’s only a beginning, it’s just a beginning, there’s so much more waiting for you. You have to come back here.

After Rome, your biggest wish is to come back Rome.