Welcome to the Vatican.....but not the pizza

As you can tell from the post title we have gone to another country today. The Vatican is an independent state within the city of Rome and is referred to as the Holy See.

Its a bit like the rest of Rome. Full of tourists, wonderful buildings and nuns as far as the eye could see.

The one thing it doesnt have in common is the PIZZA!!!!!! DO NOT EAT THE PIZZA AT THE VATICAN MUSEUM......IT STINKS.

All part of my service to those of you who may be thinking of giving Papa Franky a visit in the near future.

I dont want you to think that all we did was go to the Vatican for Pizza, we went to visit the wonderful Vatican Museums including The Sistine Chapel and St Peters Basilica, I just wanted to warn you about the pizza, Pizza is very important so don't  buy any there.

Any way our tour started with a queue, as we approached the queue some hawker numpty told us we would be queueing for hours to get in unless we paid him a shitload of cash. within 30 minutes we were in. DO NOT BELIEVE THE HAWKER CRAP!!!!!!

The museum is huge and takes in artefacts from before the Roman Empire all the way up to the present day. There was a large amount of Egyptian stuff too. My favourite room was the room with all the ancient maps of Italy. These maps are huge and cover the walls of a long corridor. There are also amazing tapestries that are around 500 years old but look like they were made last week and like the maps, they are massive.

The Sistine chapel is probably the reason most people go to the Vatican museum tour and as a spectacle it was somewhat ruined by a security gaurd shouting Silencio almost the whole time we were there. The paintings on the walls are incredible and the ceiling is impressive but somehow what I had imagined and what I saw didn't mesh.

Now read the next bit carefully.....IT IS IMPORTANT

If you are in the Vatican Museum and are just away to leave the Sistine Chapel.... STOP!!!!
At the back right hand side of the chapel is a small inocuous looking door with no signs on it. Go through this door and you will get access to St Peter's Basilica without queueing. This means if you are planning to do both. DO THE MUSEUM FIRST.

DO NOT BELIEVE TOUR GUIDES/HAWKERS WHO TELL YOU YOU CAN ONLY GET ACCESS TO ST. PETERS IF YOU ARE IN A GROUP.

The Basilica itself is wondrous. Immense in scale and decorated with Bernini statues and Michaelangelo paintings, it is truly the church of churches. I am not a religious person at all but even I was moved by the grandure and genuine holiness of the place.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Rome and it will be full. Stay tuned gentle reader.....the best is yet to come.