[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 4 April 2015]
27 October 2014, Monday
It’s Vatican City day today! Don’t know why, but our bodies don’t seem to need as much sleep when we’re on holiday. We woke up before 7am and headed out for a spot of breakfast at the small café near our apartment, where we ordered some croissants and coffee. Ahhh, nothing like a good cuppa Italian coffee to start the day.
After breakfast, we walked past Piazza Campo de Fiori again and we were surprised to see that it had transformed into a lively market in the morning, where stallholders were busy setting up shop. There were all sorts of products, ranging from fresh vegetables, fruits and meat to kitchenware and pasta of every imaginable kind.
After that, we continued walking to Piazza Navona, less than 10 minutes away. It is one of the most famous and beautiful squares in Rome. To call it a square is a bit misleading because it is in fact, rectangular in shape. There are three fountains in the square – the one in the middle with the obelisk is Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (aka Fountain of the Four Rivers, built in 1651) while the one at the South end is called Fontana del Moro (aka Moor Fountain) and the last one at the North end is called Fountain of Neptune.
It was nice to arrive early in the morning when there were barely any other tourists around, giving it a sense of expansiveness that added to its grandeur. The square hosts a wonderful Christmas market, but it would not be another month before the market is set up. Nevertheless, Piazza Navona is still beautiful and we enjoyed it.
From Piazza Navona, we walked to Vatican City, which was 2km and about 25 minutes away. Along the way, we crossed a bridge and had a splendid view of Castel Sant’Angelo (aka Castle of the Holy Angel) across the river. It is a towering cylindrical building that was initially used as a mausoleum for the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Today, it houses a museum.
When we arrived at St. Peter’s Square (Piazza San Pietro), I wasn’t awestruck by the vastness of the place, but by the sheer number of tourists who were already there at 9am. I thought we were early, but I thought wrong. There was already a long queue to enter St. Peter’s Basilica but we did not join the queue as we had a 10:30am booking to enter Vatican Museums. I had pre-booked our admission tickets online. So we just milled around and took photos of St. Peter’s Square.
Truth be told, it was smaller than I imagined it to be. The pictures I had seen before were mostly aerial views that really emphasised the huge open space in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, surrounded by the massive columns encircling the plaza. I think it was because the plaza was not empty at the time. There were many chairs and barricades blocking access, so it made the plaza appear smaller.
After snapping some shots, we headed to the entrance of the Vatican Museums, about 1.2km away. There are many signs along the way so it was not difficult to navigate. Well before we even reached the entrance, we encountered the snaking queue. The queue was insane! It was at least 500m long. I’m so glad we booked our tickets online. We just zipped to the head of the queue and entered without fuss.
The admission ticket to the Vatican Museums includes a visit to the Sistine Chapel. It costs 20 Euros if you book online, 4 Euros more than if you purchase it on the spot, but as mentioned above, it is well worth it to book online. Here is the link. You may book your tickets up to 60 days before your visit. Note that the museum is closed on Sundays except on the last Sunday of the month, and also on special dates, so check the website when planning your trip.
The Vatican Museums (aka Musei Vaticani) are the 5th most visited art museum in the world. Established in 1506, they contain some of the most renowned classical sculptures and masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. It will probably take an entire day to browse through the massive collection, but you will also probably suffer from sculpture and painting fatigue. Best to go at your own pace and don’t over indulge.
For many, the key highlight will most likely be a visit to the Sistine Chapel. It is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which a new pope is selected. However, the real reason why most people visit the Sistine Chapel is to gaze at the famous frescoes adorning the walls and ceiling, which were painstakingly painted by the great Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512.
The ceiling frescoes depict nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, of which The Creation of Adam is the most famous; you know, the one with the near-touching hands of God and Adam. Together with Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, it is one of the most replicated religious paintings of all time. The other highlight is The Last Judgment fresco on the altar wall. It was painted by Michelangelo 25 years after he completed the ceiling frescoes.
Unfortunately, phototaking is strictly not allowed inside the Sistine Chapel, and guards are positioned at every corner, staring at you with their hawk-like eyes. Visitors are also reminded not to talk loudly, to respect the sanctity of the place. Needles to say, it was crowded inside and we lingered for about five minutes before exiting.
We browsed a bit more before deciding to call it a day. To exit the museum, you’ll need to go through the Bramante Staircase. It appears to be just one staircase, but it is really a double helix spiral staircase, where two staircases overlap each other but do not cross into each other’s paths. It allows people to ascend without meeting people who are descending. It is an amazing piece of architecture. I really loved the staircase.
After that, we headed back to St. Peter’s Square. We wanted to visit St. Peter’s Basilica but we found that the queue had grown even longer, which was simply crazy. We decided to give it a miss, even though it was a pity because St. Peter’s Basilica is one of the holiest Catholic shrines and one of the largest in the world. And of course, the view from the dome is spectacular. I will save it for next time, then.
By this time, we were real hungry, and we had lunch at one of the many restaurants in the area.
As we did not have anything planned after this, we decided to make a trip to the Castel Romano Designer Outlet. It is located 25km from the centre of Rome and there is a shuttle bus to take us there. There are three pickup points – at Termini train station, 75 Viale Vaticano (near the Vatican Museums) and 48 Via Ludovisi. As we were already at Vatican City, we opted for the pickup at 75 Viale Vaticano. There is only one departure timing from this stop – 2:30pm. The problem was, the pickup point for the shuttle bus was not very well signposted.
I had consulted Google Maps beforehand, but still found ourselves walking up and down the street without spotting any sign that bore any indication of being a pickup point. We asked some of the locals in the area, but they also didn’t seem to know where the pickup point was. We even considered taking a taxi there, but it seemed overwhelmingly prohibitive.
Finally, we spotted some other people who looked like they were heading to the same destination as us, and we joined them. So the pickup point is located in a small carpark area, opposite the house numbered 75. There was no sign anywhere at all that said it was the pickup point!
At 2:15pm, a black-coloured bus with the words “Castel Romano Designer Outlet” on its side pulled in, confirming that we were in the right place, and we heaved a sigh of relief. A return bus ticket costs 13 Euros and we paid cash to the driver. There were quite many other people going to the outlet, surprisingly.
About 45 minutes later, we arrived at Castel Romano Designer Outlet, also known as McArthur Glen Designer Outlet. Like all outlet malls, it contains the usual brands – Nike, adidas, New Balance, Coach, Burberry, CK, Lacoste, Fossil, Hugo Boss and more.
However, the prices were not fantastic and I ended up not buying anything for myself. Luckily I had tempered my expectations so I didn’t expect to walk away with bags full of shopping. Mum and dad didn’t buy much stuff too. We then caught the shuttle bus back to Rome Termini train station, and from there, we took a taxi back to our apartment, as we were so tired from all the walking.
It’s the end of Day 3, and the end of Rome. Next up, Florence!