407. Colour burst

Vatican City

Took a punt and paid the online scalpers "Skip the Line" for two thirty. Downloaded the Parclick App and booked parking nearby, cheaper and a lot faster than public transport. Driving the Disco doesn't stop the locals trying to intimidate me with their Bambinas and Pandas (when they are following and want me to go faster I can only see their roof - not intimidating).

This static carving appeared before we got up. Like all campsites
this one is filling with permanent statics.

Lucky we skipped the absent queue
Paid for Audio guides, always a good move

Tapestries

Everything is dark to the naked eye
The Vatican Pinacoteca is essentially a paintings gallery
iPhone snap as one sees it

The camera really brings things up.
No flash allowed
All photos are with Fyfe's SLR

The tapestries were almost un-viewable to the naked eye

A plaster model for a bronze cast
This Pinacoteca Vaticana museum was built in the nineteen thirties and incredibly opulent,
marble everywhere 

Plaster works for Bronze

Me and Roman

Fyfe and Roman

Had forgotten that this was here - massive.
Audrey bought a jigsaw of it
The Garden of Eden

Marble everywhere 

Floor detail 

On and on forever

The removal of the penises in the fifteen hundreds
and the replacement with fig leaves, offensive.
Overdue for restoration

Ceilings and more ceilings

Carte Geografiche

Corsica

The Sistine Chapel was bigger than I expected and much more colourful.
The Last Judgement

Iris was thrilled to see this

Michael Angelo's Creation ceiling, remarkable.
Luckily it wasn't crowded so we were able to
sit back in the seats around the edge and view at our leisure

Fyfe with Venice
There were lots of old globes with NZ absent

Ceiling of the Pope's signing room

The ceilings, stunning

There was a whole gallery of modern art but I was at saturation.
I am frequently aware how wasted this opportunity is
on a pleb like me!

Henry Matisse 

Wassily Kandinsky Sunday-Old Russia 1904

Edvard Munch Old Man Praying 1902

The Vatican Gardens are tranquil 

In 1932, architect Giuseppe Momo designed this double helix staircase. 

It is composed of two staircases which theoretically allow people to go up and down

without crossing each other. 

Theoretical because this staircase is now only the exit from The Vatican Museums 

Roman and Fyfe descending.
The steps get closer so the slope gets steeper, like a sea shell.
The first step is about ten metres long.

Audrey

You can see it getting steeper.
From here onto the street

Too much to see, too much to put in blog - shattered