Rome - Day 10

* Pardon the low resolution images, these were salvaged from one my FB albums.  

Day 10 - Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica Tour and Spanish Steps 

Booked our Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel/St. Peter's Basilica tour online and got Ravi to print out the tickets in one of the neighborhood computer shop.  The Vatican Museum and adjacent St. Peter's Basilica was a good 15 minute walk from our rental apartment.  We stopped for breakfast first in a cute outdoor cafe to fuel the day ahead.  

​Our 10:30am tour group consists of 15pax.  Tour groups are batched in 30-minute intervals, which we initially thought to be well paced until we got inside and saw the crowd.  There were so many external tour groups vying for the same space! 

We were mostly shoulders to shoulders with other tourists, it was difficult to take photos and appreciate the vast treasures of the Vatican. The tour was too rushed for our liking, which was disappointing as there were so much to see.  Oh well, blame it on the peak summer crowd.

No pictures allowed inside the Sistine Chapel. Our group had about 15minutes to soak in the stunning Michelangelo artworks on the ceiling.  Police were all over the place to ensure the no photo policy, to make sure the crowd is silent and to keep people moving. 

Had lunch along the way back to the apartment.  Ravi and Sarah both took a short nap before we went out late afternoon.  Took a short cab ride to the Spanish Steps and wore our tourist hats on. Strolled around, had some more gelato and enjoyed our last night in Rome.

Start of the Vatican Museum tour with around 15pax for our group

Passed by vast amount of Vatican treasures.  Crowd inside was too much, it was suffocating at times.

Amazing ceiling artworks. 

Inside St. Peter's Basilica, the grandest Church I've been to.

The tour ended at the Square; with the Vatican Guards behind; Ravi in front of the Basilica; rest stop for my aching back!

Me and sleeping Sarah at St. Peter's Square.

Tourist mode at the Spanish Steps.

Climbing up the steps and looking down.

Breakfast; gelato breaks; metro ride

OJ for breakfast; real Italian pizza; Sarah singing during the metro ride; gelato queue; walk back to the apartment.