20Apr2009: Day 329: Vatican Part II

We had already planned on going back to the Vatican today since yesterday was such a “bust” with Makenna and with a lot of the areas being closed. Our tour bus ticket from yesterday was good up until 10am today and if we could just get up and get moving, we could’ve used it to get back there. Alas, when you have a two year old and have to pack to leave the hotel, you need to add a lot more time. We just ended up doing what we did yesterday and took the metro and switched lines to get us there.

When we got off, we got barraged, as usual, by all these tour groups trying to sell you their package. This one lady was annoyingly persistent and even though we were walking away, she kept walking with us and trying to sell us on the tour. She was good at her job as she convinced Chris that maybe taking a tour was a good idea as it cuts through waiting in the long lines to get in. It was 45€ a piece and we were short of that. We gave them 10£ but we think that we still shorted them by a few Euros.

It was definitely worth the money in the end. It did bypass all the long lines and we got headsets to hear the guy and he was from the States, I believe. He also could speak Italian, and possibly Spanish. Not to mention that the lady who sold us the tour said he looked like George Clooney and I kind of see it. I just envisioned that it was George Clooney taking us on this tour. He was pretty funny and showed us some things in the museum and pointed out how it related to the Sistine Chapel, which he was going to be taking us through. See what you think...he's the one facing the camera.

He took us through the Vatican Museum and explained to us about some of the important statues and he tied his explanations of them into the Sistine Chapel and how it all related. At one place, outside of the musem,

he had to stop us outside where all the tours stop to talk about the Sistine Chapel as you’re supposed to be quiet inside. He did a good job explaining the different sections and why some of the pictures are the way they are. For instance, he said at one end, was a picture of the pope who had asked him to paint the ceiling. What was interesting about this section was that Michelangelo had a falling out with the pope so he painted two kids next to the pope, one kid with his arm around the other. No big deal, but if you see the “sign” that the one kid is giving the pope, it’s as if the kid is “flipping him off,” as the tour guide put it. He put this one other place in the painting too. The tour guide even explained to us how this was done (all in four years) and how Michelangelo almost went blind doing it. It gives you a real appreciation for it.

The only problem was, this was the only place you weren’t allowed to take pictures – all because the Japanese restored the fresco and has rights to it. Isn’t that something! The painting was a bit dark and dingy to begin with, and then the Japanese took 10 years and figured out a method to be able to clean it and brighten it up at no cost to the Vatican. So the way they make their money back is by having rights to any pictures or filming of it. You still saw people taking pictures, but if the ushers caught you, they basically yelled saying, “No photos.”

The other unfortunate thing was that Makenna needed to be changed and I took the in-opportune time to go the bathroom myself. I was able to change her in about two minutes but the line for the women’s bathroom was as usual – long. Plus, this one gutsy lady from Canada, just kept moving her way up in front of people by talking to them and was eventually in front of the line. I was pretty annoyed but she was an older lady and it reminded me of something my grandmother Rafferty would do. So by the time I was done, I only had about three minutes in the Sistine chapel whereas Chris probably had around 15 or so. These photos below are actually from inside St. Peter's Cathedral.
We finished up the tour shortly after the chapel and got one last titbit of information which was that if we looked at this one building as we left, it’s where the pope resides. If the shutters were open, it meant that the pope was “in.” We looked as we left and they were open. He also told us that the pope only speaks from the main balcony a few times – once at Christmas, once at Easter, and once if he’s just been elected pope. Otherwise, he speaks from the window from his residence.

Chris and I decided, since you still couldn’t take the carts inside St. Peter’s Basilica, to take turns going in to finish seeing what we didn’t see yesterday. So he went in first for a half-hour, then I went in. He wanted to go back in and see the treasury and then I could go up the cupola. Unfortunately, both required money to do and we were all out of Euros. So we just went into Vatican city and let Makenna run around.

She was pretty good all day today and it was the best day yet in regards to her. She fell asleep pretty quickly once the tour started and was awake only for the last half-hour to 45 minutes of it. She again relented to sitting in her pushcart until it was done. That’s why we let her run around later. Plus, while Chris was inside the basilica, I sat outside with Makenna and she was just so cute. She wanted some chips and she insisted on sharing with the pigeons. She thought it was just too funny that they would all gather around to eat what she gave them. She would clap and say “yeah” and then one time she even insisted that I clap too.

We took the metro back to the station where the Holiday Inn van would pick us up, but because it was too early for the first bus to come, we actually got on a bus and got off at the right stop and made it back to the hotel. Luckily, Chris asked just prior to the stop what one we needed to get off on. We packed the car, stopped at a grocery store for more granola bars for Makenna and off we were headed to Venice.

It wasn’t too long until we stopped at a rest stop for food as we had no lunch. The place had cafeteria like food and since Makenna wanted chicken bites, all we could do for her was baked chicken. It didn’t take to long to persuade her to try a piece and she realized that chicken without greasy fried coating was just as good. She ate it up pretty quickly. I think it was baked in butter as it seemed a bit greasy so I’m sure that had something to do with her willingness to eat it.

I wish we could say it was an easy trip but it seems that Venice has built all these new highways and closed off the ramps to some of the secondary roads. This caused quite a problem as our GPS didn’t know and against Chris’s better instincts, he didn’t get off the exit that said Venezia. This meant we had to go way out of our way another 16 miles and the “fun” didn’t stop there. Getting back on was no treat and since we didn’t already trust the GPS at this point, we decided to follow our instincts. It seemed as though we would follow the GPS at the wrong times and when we decided to try it on our own, we should’ve followed the GPS. We finally made it close to 1am to the hotel, which was about an hour later than scheduled.

Another thing I need to mention is that it’s these European countries that are keeping the tobacco industry in business. A majority of people smoke over here – no matter what age. Okay, well I’d say the youngest I’ve seen may have been fifteen but still. I go to bed and I swear I still smell it. Maybe our room used to be a smoking room or something but I think that my nose is just all gunked up with the smell. You can’t even sit outside on a nice day to eat as that’s where most of the smokers are. We went into a souvenir shop today and the guy working there was smoking inside the shop. Even yesterday, at the Vatican, I saw someone smoking then throw it on the ground and stomp it out. I was shocked. I saw a priest walking around holding an umbrella and a cigarette. It just seems like these people don’t care about cancer.

Also, as soon as it’s raining, you have four or five vendors standing around with lots of umbrellas in their hands trying to get you to buy one. They see you without one and they immediately are pressing you to buy one. Chris had this really big one that he was using yesterday to cover both him and I and we had a raincoat covering Makenna in the push cart. As soon as they saw that I didn’t have one, they were sure I needed one. I finally said to one, “how do you expect me to push and hold an umbrella?” rolled my eyes and walked on. One in fact made some comment of admiration about the big umbrella that Chris had as if they should be selling those types instead of the chincy one person umbrellas.

Today, it was very lightly sprinkling as we left the Vatican and they were out like flies holding umbrellas trying to sell them. I thought about how I didn’t see them as we walked to the Vatican. It’s as if they are just waiting for one drop to fall out of the sky and “bam” they suddenly appear. I think some of them must be the same vendors that are along the roads set up trying to sell you other things, but then as soon as it rains, they have their buddies mind the store and they run out to sell the latest “fad” to have of umbrellas.