My second day was dedicated to Museums. I honestly didn’t plan to visit the Vatican again, but being in Rome with a first time visitor I felt like seeing the Sistine Chapel was a must. Even though it really isn’t. I know… I know, Michelangelo’s work on the chapel's ceiling is regarded as a “major artistic accomplishment of human civilization”. And it truly is stunning. Unfortunately, the magic of it is somehow ruined by the experience of being should to shoulder with thousands of tourists, an imminent curse of success. But we’ll come back to that later. With all that in mind, I chose three places: The Vatican, The Capitoline and the Gallery Borghese. I’d recommend you do it in that exact order. The reason I suggest doing the Vatican first is so you don’t end your museum day on a relatively exhausting visit, due to the high number of people jammed into the museum all at once. Which is only worsen by unusually large backpacks and many large groups of various nationalities rushing towards the exit - the exit in question being the Sistine Chapel. Do notice how large backpacks are often wore by people who have no sense of space. From the moment you enter the Vatican you feel like you just embarked on one of those rapid river rides at Disneyland. The flow of visitors will carry you from room to room. Keep in mind that there are a few galleries that luckily aren’t walk-through spaces; therefore will be avoided by the excursion leaders holding their flag up in the air. These are spaces where you will be able to breathe and actually be able to look at the art. Then you will have no choice but to join the tide once again. Hopefully you’ll have good instincts that will help you chose a wave that will have the most survival chances.
visit. Even though the access lacks glamour or history, the first impression is WOW. A moment immediately ruined by the very loud and unfortunate yells of “KEEP MOVING” by the staff. At this point I felt like grabbing one of them by the collar so I could them how I really feel about the famous Vatican magic. So just follow their order and "keep moving" while looking at the ceiling - and watch your step. Was it a kid I stepped on? I can’t tell. Everything was a blur. In case you’ve missed the multiple signs, the Sistine Chapel is a sacred place where you must obey the signs for “silence” and “no-photos”. Of course it doesn’t count if you’re a staff member that just keeps yelling for “SILENZIO”. Thats a hell of a way to respect the sacred silence . Less than a minute later I found myself being part of a human herd led to the exit-shop by guard-dogs. To say the least, the Vatican was my least favorite part of the entire trip. It’s only worth doing to say that you’ve seen Michelangelo’s famous fresco with your own eyes! If that is something you wish to say in the first place. After being propelled onto the outside world, I felt stunned. Maybe it was Michelangelo’s work catching up to me or the energy draining vibe of the Vatican. I just needed to sit down and have a drink! After The Vatican, the visit of the Capitoline felt like a breath of fresh air, I even caught myself looking around empty rooms and thinking: “is this place open yet”? I mostly just came here to see the bronze statue of the she-wolf. There is some beautiful frescos as well as well as some pretty incredible sculptures. It was first open to the public in 1734 and is considered to be the first museum in the world. It holds many beauties such as Bernini’s Medusa and the head of the colossal statue of Constantine in the courtyard (seen on the cover of the article).
The Chapelle is the "bouquet final" of the
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