Rome, Museums, 2005
Last Updated: June 29, 2005
It's always a bit unclear of what pictures to show for a museum.
I've shown a some what random selection of pictures that might give
you some idea of what's in each museum, but of course each museum has
a lot more to show than is pictured here.
National Museum
I though this museum was excellent, and enjoyed it as much as the Vatican
Museum.
Vatican Museum
The Vatican Museum is vast. You hear horror stories about the long lines.
We showed up at 9:30 AM on a Wednesday, and there was no line. But by the
time we left (12:30?) there was a long line: The last picture below is a shot
of the line. The entrance is just off the right of the picture, and the line
extends beyond the wall you see here, which is longer than
it looks.
The Sistine Chapel is at the end of the Vatican Museum, but no pictures
are allowed in the Sistine Chapel. We found the Sistine Chapel to be the
low point of the museum, largely because we found the guards repeatedly
saying "SHH! BE QUIET" in a nasty tone to be rather oppressive. Then at
less frequent intervals, a recording would boom out "NO TALKING! NO PICTURES!"
We left after briefly scanning for God touching Adam's hand and a couple
of other things. Possibly the guards were being rude as an inducement to
have people leave sooner.
Capitol Hill Museum
A two building museum sandwiched between the Unknown Soldier Memorial and the
Roman Forum. If you check your bag, don't pick it up until after you visit
both buildings.
Borghese Gallery
No pictures allowed inside the museum. You're limited to a 2 hour visit,
and you are suppose to get a reseveration (we did). We didn't stay the
full two hours, though.
