Rome, Day 2 (June 27, 2013)

Did a bit of research in the morning (humble though our lodgings were, they did have Wifi), and found that it was best to buy tickets for the Musei Vaticani in advance.  I got tickets for 12:30, and we headed out to the Vatican.  Another country, supposedly, but it's just a stop on the Rome metro line (Ottaviano).

There was a huge crowd of people headed to the Vatican, so it was impossible to miss.  Besides, we were all set upon by unpleasantly insistent tour guides.  Of course, looking like we do, we received solicitations in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.  Lighter-skinned folks were accosted in Russian, Spanish ... you name it.  It reminded me a bit of the पंड़ा gang in Varanasi -- not that I've encountered them myself.

As we entered the compound of the Basilica di San Pietro, we saw this.

Can't actually see the Basilica from this angle, but it's there.

The think the word edifice was coined for this particular building.

The line to get into the Basilica seemed miles long, so we decided to walk back to the Museum (which is quite a trek) and wait for our time-slot.  We got there at 11:30 or so, but they just let us in anyway.  So much for reserving a slot.

The museum is large, and quite interesting, with the usual variety of exhibits, ranging from early Egyptian mummies and artifacts to Renaissance art.  The piece de resistance is the Sistine Chapel, and the one thing that I personally wanted to see.  They make you traipse all over the museum before they finally let you in, but you can't take pictures in there. 

Honestly, I was somewhat underwhelmed, and experienced much the same sentiment as I did when I beheld the Mona Lisa in the Louvre -- this is it?  Besides, if they don't let me take pictures, it doesn't exist! ("Nekulturniy!", I hear you Russian readers thinking). 

... and the Holy Dove was moving too ... (is that a dove?)

Those ancient Egyptians were tiny

The kids weren't willing to brave the lines at the Basilica again, and we were all hungry, so we decided that we'd return to the Vatican the following day.  We ate at an Indian restaurant near the Ottaviano metro called Shanti. It was not very good, not least because of a sullen proprietor.

We had bought tickets to a music performance that evening called "Music In Bernini's Rome"  in Sant'Agnese in Agone, primarily because Shashank is a classical music enthusiast.  We took the bus to Roma Termini, and then took a taxi to Piazza Navona.

The church and the piazza were beautiful.  The performance was in a smallish hall in the church, and there were about thirty people in the audience.  There was a lead female vocalist, a secondary vocalist (also a woman), and two guys playing various baroque instruments.

To my untrained ear, the music was pleasant enough, and one of the tunes they sang was very catchy.  I couldn't say how good they really were, and I don't think Shashank could either.  I think he was hoping for more of a symphony, anyway.

We spent some time in the piazza after the performance, eating (you guessed it!) gelato, and taking in the sights.

Gelato in front of a dude who seems to be spearing his horses

Obelisk!

I have a weakness for painted walls.

There was some kind of marketplace set up in the piazza.  We looked around, but didn't buy anything.  I can't remember where we ate, and the photographic record is incomplete, but it's a safe bet that we ate some kind of pasta.