Part of my study abroad trip to London and Rome in September is a series of blog posts about the things we see and do while on the trip. This is the fourth of four final required posts about the experience, and is about disappointments or frustrations of the trip.
I think the worse part of the entire trip was the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. I didn’t quite understand the passage in Doerr’s “Four Seasons in Rome” where he talked about lining up to get tickets before they opened, and then running through the museum with his wife until they reached the Sistine Chapel before being there. Now, though, I can see how that is probably the only way to actually enjoy the experience of visiting the Sistine Chapel.
The Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel were what I took to calling “feedlot museums”: an experience where visitors are packed in so tight that it is unsafe and inhumane, you are forced along through the process by the pressures of the crowd as there is no space to stand and look at the art where you won’t be getting jostled or shoved by the huge crowds of the guided tours, and you quickly get overwhelmed by what you are seeing as you get force-fed piece after piece of art and sculpture again and again without being able to pause a moment and process or appreciate any of it.
The Sistine Chapel itself was one of the more worse and bizarre moments. Smaller than I expected, it was humid and hot from all the people packed into the space, the only seating was a small bench around the edge of the room but the only time I saw any seat actually open up was when a group of nuns pretty much shamed some people into letting them sit down, and the crowd it chattering away and trying to sneak photos while the museum guards constantly show, “SILENCIO! Quiet Please!” just before the sound of construction equipment echoes through the room from outside and deafening everybody again. It was about as far away from a reverent or respectful viewing experience as I can imagine, shy of actually having a death metal band playing live in there.
And we were there after, what I understand, the main tourist season had ended. I can’t imagine trying to see anything in that museum during the height of summer. As it was members of the group had to get out of the chapel and get some fresh air because the crowds and the oppressive humidity were just too much. Visiting it in July sounds like it would be a sneak peek into what the steamier more humid sections of Hell might be like.
Aside from that one museum though, I think my greatest frustration with the trip was simply that it wasn’t long enough. Everywhere else that we went had me feeling like I could spend many more hours there than we had time for, simply so much to see and to do and never enough hours in the day or days in the week to see it all.