And then sometimes, you look forward to a day like today where I was hoping to show the girls Vatican City, building on my own impressions of it from twenty years ago. The impressions I then had were of art and architecture, of history and power, not so much of religion because the pomp and circumstance have never meant much to me in that respect. Then, I just walked into the Vatican on a morning, anhd was amazed at finding Michaelangelo's Pieta just there, and was intrigued and impressed and the sheer size and artistry of the Basilica and the area around it.
But then you find out that time has since moved on, the world has changed, people travel in herds, and the day turns out completely differently. Our visit to the Vatican was, and I know I write on behalf of all of us, an utter disappointment. Having learnt about Roman Circuses earlier this week at the Colloseum and Pompei, I found that the Vatican anno 2013 is nothing more than that: a huge Circus Maximus in which 'they' cram as many people as they possibly can (probably worth about 1.2 million euros a day - yes, I did say 'a day'). Hasn't the RC Church have enough money already?
First we waited outside for (free) entry to the Basilica for about 45 minutes until we calculated we probably would have to wait another hour and a half before reaching the door, by which time we would have lost our pre-paid and pre-booked place to enter the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum.
So we left the line, and walked along another line (which we could skip thanks to the pre-booked tickets) of about a kilometer long.
Having entered the Museum entrace, we shared the artistically and historically beautiful corridors and halls of the Vatican with thousands of 'pilgrims' of sorts and felt like sardines in a tin, football supporters in an arena, cows in a slaughter-house, being herded along at the slowest speed imaginable (well, you literally couldn't place one foot in front of the other without bumping into somebody) through what now are, in fact, a series of museums leading to what is being presented as the piece-de-resistance, the Sistine Chapel. The museums along the route show off the unimaginable wealth the Roman Catholic Church has gathered over the centuries: ranging from sculpture to painting to tapestry to architecture to books to ...
All museums and the Chapel, in which we had been looking forward to musing over Michaelagelo's paintings, were as much a disappointment as everything else, simply because there was no way in h**l that we were going to see anything of it, or were able to stop, look and ponder. When we finally did get to the Sistine Chapel, we were so over this whole Charade that we didn't know how fast to cross the floor of this 'pit' and to squirm our way through the people trying to stay upright, in order to reach the other side and follow the arrows for Exit. I do not exaggerate.
All four of us expressed feelings of disgust at the spectacle, as we made our way through the final chambers and shops, and sat down on some steps outside, at the money-grabbing, greedy, unholy spectacle.
Sure, millions of people want to see it; and sure, it's almost impossible even with the most advanced contemporary tourism management techniques to control entry and exit at such a scale, but I mean, did they really have to line the corridors through which we were being 'mustered' with trinket shops selling boxes of jigsaw puzzles, pencils and crap 'made in China' wares?
Really?
But then you find out that time has since moved on, the world has changed, people travel in herds, and the day turns out completely differently. Our visit to the Vatican was, and I know I write on behalf of all of us, an utter disappointment. Having learnt about Roman Circuses earlier this week at the Colloseum and Pompei, I found that the Vatican anno 2013 is nothing more than that: a huge Circus Maximus in which 'they' cram as many people as they possibly can (probably worth about 1.2 million euros a day - yes, I did say 'a day'). Hasn't the RC Church have enough money already?
First we waited outside for (free) entry to the Basilica for about 45 minutes until we calculated we probably would have to wait another hour and a half before reaching the door, by which time we would have lost our pre-paid and pre-booked place to enter the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum.
So we left the line, and walked along another line (which we could skip thanks to the pre-booked tickets) of about a kilometer long.
Having entered the Museum entrace, we shared the artistically and historically beautiful corridors and halls of the Vatican with thousands of 'pilgrims' of sorts and felt like sardines in a tin, football supporters in an arena, cows in a slaughter-house, being herded along at the slowest speed imaginable (well, you literally couldn't place one foot in front of the other without bumping into somebody) through what now are, in fact, a series of museums leading to what is being presented as the piece-de-resistance, the Sistine Chapel. The museums along the route show off the unimaginable wealth the Roman Catholic Church has gathered over the centuries: ranging from sculpture to painting to tapestry to architecture to books to ...
All museums and the Chapel, in which we had been looking forward to musing over Michaelagelo's paintings, were as much a disappointment as everything else, simply because there was no way in h**l that we were going to see anything of it, or were able to stop, look and ponder. When we finally did get to the Sistine Chapel, we were so over this whole Charade that we didn't know how fast to cross the floor of this 'pit' and to squirm our way through the people trying to stay upright, in order to reach the other side and follow the arrows for Exit. I do not exaggerate.
All four of us expressed feelings of disgust at the spectacle, as we made our way through the final chambers and shops, and sat down on some steps outside, at the money-grabbing, greedy, unholy spectacle.
Sure, millions of people want to see it; and sure, it's almost impossible even with the most advanced contemporary tourism management techniques to control entry and exit at such a scale, but I mean, did they really have to line the corridors through which we were being 'mustered' with trinket shops selling boxes of jigsaw puzzles, pencils and crap 'made in China' wares?
Really?
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