Vatican Museum Ceilings - Rome, Italy

The Vatican Museum is definitely a 'must see' when you visit Rome. It is literally a treasure throve of riches. Artwork adorns every wall, ceiling and yes, even the floor. Every nook and cranny has an artwork on it. I took hundreds of photos while inside the museum and I wish I could've taken more. That's how beautiful it is. Picture taking is allowed in all rooms except one, the Sistine Chapel. Too bad, this is the most breathtaking of the entire museum. It is where you can see Michaelangelo's 'The Last Judgement'. The next time we visit Rome (yes, we plan to go back - it is THAT beautiful) we will definitely go to see the Vatican Museum again. I suggest that you plan your visit in the afternoon to avoid the lines that could sometimes stretch for miles in the morning.

I am featuring some of the photos I took of the Vatican museum ceilings. The photo above looks like it is 'bas relief' but is actually just a flat painted ceiling. Amazing, isn't it? There are a lot of paintings like these in the museum.

The Map Room Ceiling, my favorite. It is lighted up so beautifully. The walls in this room is full of huge map paintings, thus the name of the room.

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Vatican Museum - I

The Vatican Museum is a treasure throve of magnificent artwork. I remember that I kept saying 'WOW' at almost every room. It is just amazing and I highly recommend going if you are visiting Rome. One can easily spend the whole day in the museum and I'm sure that even is not enough to scratch the surface. It is best to be with a tour guide to give you the basic information on each room. At the end of the tour, you can go back to any part of the museum and take your time. Photography is allowed in all rooms but one. They do not allow photography in the Sistine Chapel which is too bad. The copyright is owned by the Japanese company that financed the restoration of the chapel. Was I tempted to take a photo? Of course, but my 'good girl' side prevailed or should I say the angel on my shoulder did. :)

This post is just one of many that I will write that will show some of the artwork in the Vatican Museum. I think I took tons of photos that day and wished I could've taken more. These photos show the ceiling in the Map Room which is my favorite. If ever I get the chance to go back to Rome, I would definitely visit the Vatican museum again and again and again...

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Strange Photo @ Trevi

This was just one of the photos I took of the Trevi Fountain in Rome. I noticed that there were a couple of round objects on the photo. I checked the other photos I took before and after this one and found nothing on it. That means it is not some dirt on the camera lens. If you are familiar with the term 'ORBs', then that's what I think these are. I see a couple of orbs in this photo and I highlighted the two obvious ones. Kind of creepy...

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Buon Giorno from Florence, Italy!

Hello! We are here in Florence now. Rome was beautiful! Well, actually, I'm talking about the sights and museums, not the street sights. For the ugly part, there were parts of Rome that we saw graffiti everywhere. It was during the ride from the airport to the hotel. The good part is that the historic sites and museums did not disappoint! I have to warn you though, I used a lot of adjectives in this post: amazing, beautiful, etc. LOL There are just no words to describe the beauty of what we saw. :)

We saw the Pope in his Wednesday Papal Audience. There were a lot of people from different parts of the world. I saw the pope's cap, buti na lang may big screen kaya nakita ko rin kung ano itsura nya. We got there at around 9:30AM and the Pope came in his PopeMobile around 10:00AM. You will know it since people started making noise and standing up on chairs. The whole thing lasted 2 hours since they acknowledged all the pilgrims from different parts of the world. Then at the end was the Papal Blessing. I had with me some Rosaries I bought from the day before in the Vatican Museum so that was blessed by the Pope.

St. Peter's Basilica was amazing, it is so HUGE and all the artworks and sculptures, left me speechless. The Pieta was breathtaking, too bad it was behind a glass so it is about 10-15 feet away. After seeing St. Peter's, all the other churches we saw just couldn't compare. That's how beautiful it is. I also noticed that in the more popular churches amongst the tourists like St. Peter's and the Duomo in Florence, they took out almost all of the pews. I was a little disappointed but I guess with the number of tourists that visit each day, it's a wise move.

We also went to the Vatican museum. The art collection of the Popes and also the designs of their private quarters are very lavish! That's one of the reasons why Martin Luther converted, after seeing it, I don't blame him, I might convert too! LOL We saw the Emperor Nero's bath tub, as you can see in the photo, it is HUGE! You can easily fit more than ten people in there. My favorite room is the Map Room, the ceiling is amazing!

My other favorite place was the Trevi Fountain. We went there at night and while walking closer I can hear the water flowing, we turned a corner and there it is. Beautiful! Amazing is all I can say. We stayed there for an hour just admiring the sculptures made by Salvi. I could go on and on but I don't want to bore you, if you're still reading this. :)

Anyway, we are spending three days here in Florence and will head off to Venice next. We will be seeing Michaelangelo's David and the painting 'Birth of Venus' by Boticelli. I'm excited to see it because I studied it in college. I'm overloaded with history and art that every artwork starts looking the same to me. LOL

Food is great too, I've never eaten so much pasta in my entire life. Good thing that we burn it off with all the walking we've done. Actually yesterday for lunch we had Chinese food just to break the monotony. :)

I could go on and on about everything I've seen but I don't want to bore you with details. I am enjoying this trip, can't you tell? LOL

Well, that's it for now. I don't know when I will be able to update again. I'm having problems with my laptop's charger or battery. The nice thing about this hotel in Florence we're staying at is they have a laptop and free internet access in every room. I will have to write about the hotels we've stayed in. If ever you will be visiting these cities, I highly recommend them.

I hope everyone is in great health. :)

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All Set For The Vatican - Summer Vacation Update3

Well Pope Benedict XVI, ready or not, here we come! :) Kidding aside, I booked a tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica with Presto Tours which came highly recommended in the Frommers and TripAdvisor forums.(http://www.prestotours.com/vaticantour.html)

They weren't the first tour company I've checked. I looked at Viator tours (group numbers are too large (25+), Eternity tours (more emphasis on art - so I think this will bore the kids) and others. I finally decided on Presto tours because for one, they have smaller group sizes. Their tour guides are native English language speakers compared to other tours wherein the guides are Italian who speak English. There is a big difference there because when you're in the tour, you want to hear the explanation clearly and there are no accents to distract you.

I've also asked for tickets for the Wednesday Papal Blessing at St. Peter's Square from the American Catholic Church in Rome. These tickets are free and will assure you seats during the event. They do not mail tickets since they only get them the day before so it needs to be picked up on Tuesday evening. You can also just show up there on a Wednesday but you'd have to stand with the others who don't have tickets. It's going to be crowded but it is something I really want to go to.

Being a Catholic, visiting the Vatican is one of my lifetime dreams. So you can imagine how excited I am to be able to finally do this. I am looking forward to seeing the Sistine Chapel, Michaelangelo's Pieta and Raphael's paintings among others. Sharing this experience with my husband and kids will make it extra special. Amber is also excited to go to the Vatican. She's learned about it in school during their religion class. We hope to catch a glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI and get his blessing. Two more months and I will finally see the Vaticano with my own eyes. When that time comes, I am sure I will be awestruck.

With this done, now I'm off to make reservations to see Michaelangelo's statue of David at the Accademia and Botticelli's painting the 'Birth Of Venus' in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. :)

If you and your family are planning your vacation any time of the year, there are a lot of choices to consider. Pretty much anyone can enjoy some fun Hawaii vacation packages. There are tons of adventurous vacation trips to book with family and friends like cheap ski vacations or even Hawaii vacations. Its nice to be able to take a trip in the sun or enjoy other things on a vacation and get away from everyday life. So go ahead, start planning that vacation and truly enjoy time with your family.

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