Vatican City Travel Guide

First, be aware that to enter St Peters Basillica, men must have thier legs covered so no shorts or mid lenght pants. Ladies, it is respectfull to cover your head and shoulders with a scarf. You will notice that when you view the Cistine Chapel that a.) you cannot speak in there. b.) no flash when taking pictures in fact I'm not sure you can even take pics in there. Notice that Michealangelos frescos on the ceiling were not planned out properly. He starts with large robust figures at one end and finds himself cramped for space towards the other end. He did however do an incredible job. The large painting on the wall which i believe depicts pergatory was something that the great painter was apposed to doing. So angry that he painted the face of he who forced him to paint onto one of the charaters dying bodies. After the chaple you will enter the Basillica. There are riches beyond your wildest imagination to see. The floor alone is made up of many beautful marbles and so much symbolism. I believe that there are symbols embedded in the floor that indicate distances of other places from the basillica. You will notice that even though there are huge paintings inside that you are allowed to take flash pictures. Why? Because the originals were removed and replicas were painstakingly created with micro mosaics. I am an artist and didn't figure this out until I read about it after leaving:(

If you want to see the Sistine ceiling alone, in the most awe-inspired way, you need to do things: 1) get in line one hour before opening; then jog past all the amazing Raphael Stanze etc. and follow the signs to the Sistine Chapel. As a result, you will be the first there and will have the place all to yourself, an amazing experience! Then you have to fight against the flow of traffic to see the Raphael rooms, but it is worth the hassle. When you go to the Vatican museum, the last painting by Raphael, which shows an epileptic boy in a grand mall, is amazing. All the "normal" humans can't see up to heaven. But in his frenzy, the boy has one eye towards heaven, and the other towards hell. It is an amazing piece. It actually works that Guilio Romano finished the work, because he depicted heaven, and has a lighter touch vs the very bold work of his teacher, so it does seem other-worldly and of a different reality.