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Some offers are just too good to miss. No matter what.
And so it happens that last Monday, my fellow blogging friend Diana made me an offer I could not refuse – and it did not even involve a horse's head at the bottom of my bed – so I just decided to go with the flow and give in.
I did not have any meetings planned on Wednesday afternoon and, while I knew I really had too much work to afford taking the afternoon off, I still went ahead.
Because - REALLY - how often am I going to get invited to a VIP tour of the Vatican Museums?
This, it soon transpired, was the new three hours tour organised by Walks of Italy.
It offers privileged access to the museum – queues limited to a minimum – and while you can't see the whole place in such time (you wouldn't either on your own - the place is HUGE), most of what you get to see nobody else is seeing.
This tour first took us through the Etruscan rooms – not opened to the public right now -
No butts but this guy isn't bad...
Through all this unexploited wealth, we reached the staircase of Bramante, a true spiral beauty both seen from the top
and from the bottom (well half way through the bottom).
The view from the top also afforded us a gorgeous view as well as a peek at a gorgeous fountain below us.
A short stop through the beautiful - if crowded - octagonal courtyard and its marvellous statues
and then we were off to explore the hidden Cabinet of the Masks, a small room off the main drag where amazing mosaics lifted from Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli are displayed.
This one is just a tiny detail...
Those mosaics are a clear proof that the surrealists haven't invented much...
The room also offers some lovely statues
and I managed to sneak into the next – desert - gallery to steal a few pictures.
And then my camera batteries died.
Oh dear. Thank goodness I always have a spare on me. Except I had forgotten to charge it. Things got a little hazy.
But the view was nevertheless superb.
The tour went on regardless and – after a detailed if crowded trek through the corridors, the Tapestry Room, and the Map Room - we were whisked through the Chiaroscuri Room
into the Niccoline Chapel.
This tiny chapel, painted by Beato Angelico closed many years ago for restoration and somehow, despite the work being completed in 2006, never reopened to the public. A tiny space, it can't take that many visitors at the same time but our group of ten – including guide – was just perfect for it.
After this visual treat, we were regaled to a thorough visit of the Raphael Rooms and we finished off at Chapel Sistine before getting offered a short cut to visit Saint Pieter.
Let me commend our guide, Vincenzo,
who faithfully piloted - herded - us throughout, bringing his wealth of knowledge into the visit for a most perfect experience, pointing out the details that might have been ignored by the casual visitor, like a recurrence between certain antique statues present in the museum and the paintings of Michelangelo for instance.
I can only thank abundantly Walks of Italy for having me along (with many additional thanks to Diana for dragging me into this) and definitely recommend you take this tour as well.
Besides, why should you subject yourself to THIS?
When you can enjoy THIS instead?
And so it happens that last Monday, my fellow blogging friend Diana made me an offer I could not refuse – and it did not even involve a horse's head at the bottom of my bed – so I just decided to go with the flow and give in.
I did not have any meetings planned on Wednesday afternoon and, while I knew I really had too much work to afford taking the afternoon off, I still went ahead.
Because - REALLY - how often am I going to get invited to a VIP tour of the Vatican Museums?
This, it soon transpired, was the new three hours tour organised by Walks of Italy.
It offers privileged access to the museum – queues limited to a minimum – and while you can't see the whole place in such time (you wouldn't either on your own - the place is HUGE), most of what you get to see nobody else is seeing.
This tour first took us through the Etruscan rooms – not opened to the public right now -
No butts but this guy isn't bad...
Through all this unexploited wealth, we reached the staircase of Bramante, a true spiral beauty both seen from the top
and from the bottom (well half way through the bottom).
The view from the top also afforded us a gorgeous view as well as a peek at a gorgeous fountain below us.
A short stop through the beautiful - if crowded - octagonal courtyard and its marvellous statues
and then we were off to explore the hidden Cabinet of the Masks, a small room off the main drag where amazing mosaics lifted from Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli are displayed.
This one is just a tiny detail...
Those mosaics are a clear proof that the surrealists haven't invented much...
The room also offers some lovely statues
and I managed to sneak into the next – desert - gallery to steal a few pictures.
And then my camera batteries died.
Oh dear. Thank goodness I always have a spare on me. Except I had forgotten to charge it. Things got a little hazy.
But the view was nevertheless superb.
The tour went on regardless and – after a detailed if crowded trek through the corridors, the Tapestry Room, and the Map Room - we were whisked through the Chiaroscuri Room
into the Niccoline Chapel.
This tiny chapel, painted by Beato Angelico closed many years ago for restoration and somehow, despite the work being completed in 2006, never reopened to the public. A tiny space, it can't take that many visitors at the same time but our group of ten – including guide – was just perfect for it.
After this visual treat, we were regaled to a thorough visit of the Raphael Rooms and we finished off at Chapel Sistine before getting offered a short cut to visit Saint Pieter.
Let me commend our guide, Vincenzo,
who faithfully piloted - herded - us throughout, bringing his wealth of knowledge into the visit for a most perfect experience, pointing out the details that might have been ignored by the casual visitor, like a recurrence between certain antique statues present in the museum and the paintings of Michelangelo for instance.
I can only thank abundantly Walks of Italy for having me along (with many additional thanks to Diana for dragging me into this) and definitely recommend you take this tour as well.
Besides, why should you subject yourself to THIS?
When you can enjoy THIS instead?
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