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On my day off the other week I decided to go to another church, as is my usual habit, to go have a look at some art. However, this wasn’t just any church, this was St. Peter’s Basilica. After being here for nine months and still not having gone inside and taking a look at the Vatican Museums too, I decided it was about time.

 

After organising a tour with Angel Tours I was told to meet at the taxi rank outside St. Peters Square at 12:30. I was met by a group of cheerfull guys and gals holding umbrellas with angels on all of them. They were really nice and asked me to wait in the corner just a few metres down as it was out of the sun and a lot cooler. At around ten to one we were given a quick introduction and then divided into smaller groups and taken off by our guides.

 

 

 My guide, Steve, was absolutely fantastic and he was a virtual walking talking encyclopoedia. He was very funny too and we weren’t bored to death about too many facts but the ones that he did give us were extremely interesting and entertaining. The queue was really long to get into the museums but Steve told us to go off and have a coffee and he would keep our place in the line. So after an espresso and two chocolate bombe I was ready to get back in the queue.

So after getting inside, going through security and then a quick toilet break we were then on our way up the escelator to the museums. At the top of the stairs we went through to the garden which had a huge pine cone in it and a globe of the earth. We were then given an explanation of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel as we weren’t allowed to talk inside. Then we went through to a small garden and had a look at some beautiful carved marble pieces.

After that it was through to another hall containing what historians believe to be a huge bird bath made out of Egyptian red marble. It has since been mined into exhaustion. We saw three more pieces made out of the same marble. The price tag for each of these pieces is unbelievable. 44 000 euros per square inch.

 After a few more rooms and quite a bit more walking we finally got to the icing on the cake, the Sistine Chapel. We weren’t allowed to take any photographs but that didn’t stop people from snapping away and filming with their video cameras. It was a bit disappointing that it wasnt lit very well but this must have something to do with preserving the restored frescos. After the chapel we exited from a door on the right hand side and then we were off to St. Peter’s. Just remember to take off your hat and the rules about the dresscode and you should be ok to get in.

The place is huge and it is full of really great pieces of art. One of the great and most well known pieces must be Michelangelo’s Pieta. It was the only piece of sculpture he ever signed. There is just too much to mention here. This place is full of Bernini, Michelangelo, Bramante, Rafaello and all the other great masters.

This place is well worth a visit even if you have to wait for a while in the queues. How often are you going to be in Rome and when will you get another chance to see this magnificent place. Thanks Angel Tours for making my day.