I was indeed energetic enough to visit Castel Sant'Angelo yesterday, but my camera batteries were not. They died on me right in the middle of St. Peter's, and my spares--which I thought were ready to go--were dead as well, so I had to go back to the hostel & charge up a set before finishing my explorations.
The day started at 06:30, when I got up & showered to make sure I'd be at the Vatican in time for my 08:30 reservation. Turns out I could have slept in a bit (I actually made it there close to 07:45), but it actually ended up working out well. The first reserved groups got in at 08:00, and since I was on my own I got waved through early. Hooray!
The Vatican Museum was not quite what I expected it to be. The first few sections were Egyptian; some of the artifacts were related to early Christians there, but a lot of them were just random mummies, statues, or sections of hieroglyphs. Cool, definitely... but why does the Vatican have them? Most of the rest of the collection was marble busts/carvings/statues that had been part of various papal collections over the years. Again, some of it was related to the church, but a lot were based on Greek & Roman mythology (I saw several of Athena, Perseus & Hercules), and there were quite a few of animals (including a crab & a lbster) too. Towards the end there were a few rooms that had been painted by Raphael & his students and those were neat to see, and then the grand finale: the Sistine Chapel. It was a bit smaller than I imagined, but that might have been due to the hundreds of people crammed into it. Here was a place that's a key point in any class that covers the Renaissance, and I was standing in the middle of it. Amazing. It was €15 to get in, and another €4 for reserving a time, but that last bit is well worth it. By the time I got out of there a bit after 10:00 the line was 2-3 hours long, and as cool as it was I didn't think it'd be worth that much time... I'd much rather be using it to explore more of Rome.
From there I walked along the outside walls of the Vatican down to St. Peter's Basilica, which is a ridiculously large & impressive church. Entry into the building itself is free (hooray!), but the first thing I did was stand in another line & pay €5 to climb to the top of the dome. For an extra €2 you can take an elevator, but since it only gets you about 40% of the way up & you can't legitimately claim to have climbed to the top, I didn't bother with it. There are only two stopping points on the way up, both in pretty much the same area: one on the roof area near the base of the dome, and once more just inside the dome where you can look back into the church. The view from the top is incredible, and despite the crowd I was able to get a few good pictures. Back down inside the church is no less impressive. There are dozens of side chapels, each with its own statue or painting. In the middle towards the rear is an area where you can see the grave of St. Peter, and in the far back is (I believe) Michaelangelo's "Pieta," one of my favorite sculptures. My batteries died on me at this point, so I went down to the papal tombs where they won't let you take pictures anyways. My papal knowledge is not what it once was, so the only ones I recognized were Peter & John Paul II, which had a big group of people gathered around it. That's one thing that really bugs me about Catholicism: the veneration of saints & dead people. Yeah, I'm sure he was a great guy. But as far as I'm concerned, the only person who should be venerated by Christians is Christ. /rant
Next was supposed to be Castel Sant'Angelo, but with no way to take pictures I decided to grab some lunch before heading back for a recharge. I ended up getting a combo plate of spaghetti, ravioli & lasagne; they were all pretty good, but I've had better at home. Thank goodness Italian pizza is awesome, or I'd be tempted to write them off. I also had fresh squeezed orange juice (which was a ripoff... €3.30 or so) that came with a packet of sugar. I guess they're pansies over there? I don't even add sugar to grapefruit.
Castel Sant'Angelo was fairly impressive & also had some great views from the top, but a lot of it was closed off, and the only exhibitions they had inside were of art from the 18th & 19th centuries. It was only the second site on my Roma Pass though, so I don't feel like I wasted any money.
I don't know if you can ever really "finish" Rome, but I'm happy with what I got to see. If I ever come back it'll be for the catacombs, the rest of the original Seven Hills, and more time at St. Peter's with a functional camera.
Random: one of the interesting things about being in a city where everybody & their dog smokes is how many things you can do at a tobacco shop. Bus/metro tickets, the Roma Pass, and stamps can all be purchased there, and I even heard somebody being told to go to one to take care of a parking ticket.
As much as I've enjoyed my time here though, I'm ready to go home. I miss my family, I miss my bed, I miss my computer & my music, and I miss everybody (almost, at least) speaking English. One more week plus a couple crappy days of travel, and I'll be there!
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