VATICAN CITY / ROME (ITALY)
11 April - 12 April 2017
11 April - 12 April 2017
Back in Rome after spending a few days in Amalfi and I must say, we were quite satisfied with our decision to have our wedding location set as Amalfi on the Sorrentine Peninsula. Now it was going to be all about the logistics and doing wedding fine tuning, getting into all that small stuff that binds the big day together.
Before our flight back to Belgrade was had a full day available to us and decided to visit another country so that we could add it to our list, so we took a step onto the territory of the Vatican City. The idea that we had was that we'd take a guided tour through the grounds of the Vatican, take in the museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica.
Rome - Italy
On the border of Rome (Italy) and the Vatican City
Vatican museum - Vatican City
Vatican museum - Vatican City
....And what a freakin' circus that turned out to be !! The crowds were just insane. There didn't appear be any rhyme or reason as to the manner of entry, no restrictions on numbers, tourists groups absolutely everywhere. I recognise that as a tourist I contributed directly to the lunacy and the uncomfortable position that we were all place in, but hell, there needs to be some sort of regulation about access the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel. Crowds, stuffy rooms, lack of access to bathrooms, its truly awful.
The Sistine Chapel of course is impressive. It's an absolute highlight and without the throngs of people overcrowding the one room and being farmed into the equivalent of a viewing pen and then shoved, aggressively corralled and addressed in a demeaning fashion, not only diminished the experience but left more than a bitter taste in our mouths.
Access to the top of St.Peters Basicalla was far more pleasurable that few hours we spent i the depths of the Vatican torture chambers. The building is unquestionably grand but when you peer to the vast space below from viewing points at the top of the dome you can't help but marvel in awe at the engineering feet to create such a structure. As a human dedication to an unworldly God, I'd say that it would probably impress the deity more than enough knowing the capacity it imbued us with. From that perspective, we could say that 'maybe' our hearts and minds were in the right place. That's not me showing you my hand at what I think of the Vatican and the Catholic brainwash mechanism, it's just an observation that the driving force to create can also come from a righteous place (although yes, there are arguments against that too).
Rome is an interesting city. I think over rated in some ways and under rated in others. There's certainly a link to a behemoth past that is undeniable and for a modern Rome very much build on the foundation of that past is impressive to see.
Vatican museum - Vatican City
Vatican museum - Vatican City
Vatican museum - Vatican City
Vatican museum - Vatican City
Vatican museum - Vatican City
The Sistine Chapel of course is impressive. It's an absolute highlight and without the throngs of people overcrowding the one room and being farmed into the equivalent of a viewing pen and then shoved, aggressively corralled and addressed in a demeaning fashion, not only diminished the experience but left more than a bitter taste in our mouths.
Sistine Chapel - Vatican museum - Vatican City
Sistine Chapel - Vatican museum - Vatican City
Sistine Chapel - Vatican museum - Vatican City
Sistine Chapel - Vatican museum - Vatican City
St. Peters Basilica - Vatican City
St. Peters Basilica - Vatican City
Access to the top of St.Peters Basicalla was far more pleasurable that few hours we spent i the depths of the Vatican torture chambers. The building is unquestionably grand but when you peer to the vast space below from viewing points at the top of the dome you can't help but marvel in awe at the engineering feet to create such a structure. As a human dedication to an unworldly God, I'd say that it would probably impress the deity more than enough knowing the capacity it imbued us with. From that perspective, we could say that 'maybe' our hearts and minds were in the right place. That's not me showing you my hand at what I think of the Vatican and the Catholic brainwash mechanism, it's just an observation that the driving force to create can also come from a righteous place (although yes, there are arguments against that too).
View of Rome from St. Peters Basilica - Vatican City
St. Peters Basilica - Vatican City
St. Peters Basilica - Vatican City
St. Peters Basilica - Vatican City
View of Rome from St. Peters Basilica - Vatican City
St. Peters Basilica - Vatican City
St. Peters Basilica - Vatican City
St. Peters Basilica - Vatican City
The Tibris - Rome - Italy
Spanish steps - Rome - Italy
Rome - Italy
Rome - Italy
Rome - Italy
Rome is an interesting city. I think over rated in some ways and under rated in others. There's certainly a link to a behemoth past that is undeniable and for a modern Rome very much build on the foundation of that past is impressive to see.
