Day three was due to see an absolute ton of rain so we decided that today was as good a day as any to venture over to the Vatican. We arrived at around 10 and were lucky as we only had to queue for around 30 minutes before venturing into the Vatican Museums.
The Museums themselves were incredibly vast and you need to ensure you've donned some of your comfiest shoes before embarking on this mission. Naturally we wanted to head straight for the Sistine Chapel which takes you past some gorgeous art pieces.
This particular walkway really stuck with me as despite looking three dimensional, it's actually just incredibly clever shading, namely chiaroscuro playing with light and shadow. Whilst you can't take pictures inside the Sistine Chapel, I did make a point of finding all of the key features without lingering for too long, that place was BUSY!
After we left the Vatican Museums, it was time to head over St Peter's Square where I'd hoped to have a peek around the Basilica.
Sadly the queue was enormous, it was from entrance to the Basilica and pretty much circled around the entire square and that thing ain't small by any stretch. We were looking at around a three hour wait and we took the tough decision that as there were so many other bits and pieces to do, we simply didn't have the time to hang around and moved on.
We indulged in a slight bit of shopping with Ad grabbing himself possibly the biggest Stitch toy I've ever seen and me hitting up Kiko Cosmetics and Brandy Melville before having a nose at some more ruins. However, the weather was really closing in so we were conscious of finding some shelter.
Just look at that sky! I can assure you, the heavens really did open, it rained so much, my coat was soaked, my tops underneath my coat were drenched and my umbrella actually started leaking. I've not seen rain like this in a long time, it was literally bouncing off the floor!
Given the downpour, it was time to finally head into the Santa Maria Maggiore which you might recall is the Basilica which we can see from our room. I have to say, it was impressive and certainly lived up to it's reputation as the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome. It was tough to get some good photos as it was fairly dimly lit but this simply added to the atmosphere.
Tonight we opted for a night in snuggled under the covers watching the thunderstorm and munching on a platter of cured meats and crunchy bread.
Only one more day to go before we had to head home!
Gorgeous! That sky is incredible. I'm sure you were soaked and miserable, but it's still so appropriate, you know? Just beautiful. And your night in sounds exactly like how we'd spend the evening. In Scotland, we ordered in Indian twice, cuddled up in bed, and watched movies on our phones.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the queue was nearly 3 hours long. I wouldn't have waited that long either. It's insane. I think you had the right attitude: with so much else to see, why waste the time? It was probably for fun to discover lesser-known attractions anyways.
The architecture and design is so incredible. I'm such a sucker for opulence, and that chiaroscuro ceiling is just unreal. Aren't those artistic tricks so fascinating? We experienced some of that in Scotland and how they'd create the illusion of domed ceilings.
You took some truly gorgeous photos, which is so important. They're the next best thing to your memories! I'll have to show Kyle tonight!
<3 Liz
www.withwonderandwhimsy.com
Perhaps the sky was just reflecting how I was feeling about the whole fountain situation? The weather was just so grim that evening that neither of us fancied venturing out to find somewhere nice to eat. Plus, we had an awesome view of the storms from our room, despite the clouds you could see the flashes and the lightning was so pretty.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you for ordering take away, I certainly would! Heck the last time I was in Scotland I'm pretty sure we ordered a dominos to munch on from the comfort of our room. Sometimes getting away is about having that quality time together, and what better time than being snuggled up in a hotel room away from the temptations and distractions of home.
Thank you for your comments on the photos, most of these were my doing so I'm pretty chuffed. The one of the stormy sky especially came out so much better than I'd hoped, the camera really caught the moodiness of it all. It was awesome going back through the photos when we got home as the little screen on the camera clearly didn't do them justice!
Laura xx