Yesterday (31st January) I went to the Vatican Museums because they have free entry on the last Sunday of the month.

Waking up at what felt like the crack of dawn (it was really 7am but STILL), I met up with my friends and travelled on the metro to Ottaviano, the stop closest to the Vatican. By the time we all got there and met up (Italians usually consider 40 minutes late as ‘still on time’) it was 9am and we were panicking at the length of the queue. The queue stretched all the way around the walls of the Museum and down towards the arches to St. Peter’s Square! All in all, it took us the best part of 2 hours to get to the front of the queue, including a heated argument with a couple who tried to queue jump after we’d spend 80 minutes waiting in line.

The wait was absolutely worth it though. We spent a good few hours wandering around the Museums and finally made it to the Sistine Chapel. Photos of the ceiling were banned, as was talking and standing still. There were security guards at the front who repeated into microphones “NO PHOTO. NO STOP. SILENCE PLEASE.” over and over again.

Rather than explain the trip in great detail, I think a few beautiful pictures of the statues will suffice.

View from one of the windows in the Museums over Rome

I mean look at the detail on the cloak

Laocoon fighting a couple of snakes

Apollo in a standard, dramatic pose

The Discobolus!

ft. Digestives