The Hermitage is the world’s second largest museum. The museum’s collection is housed in five connected buildings, the largest being the Winter Palace. We visited the Hermitage with our guide, Anna, who was on summer break as a high school history teacher. She would show us some of the highlights of the museum as it would be impossible to see everything. I thought this quote put the magnitude of the Hermitage in perspective: With over 3 million items in its…
Tauck arranged for our group to visit the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel after hours. This had the great advantage of not needing to deal with huge crowds, estimated at 25,000 people per day. The pictures below are ones I took in the Vatican Museums. The first is the ceiling in the Gallery of Maps. The ceiling has paintings depicting the history of the Catholic Church and the lives of saints. The next two pictures are paintings found in…
Our visit to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel was certainly special. Tauck had arranged an after-hours visit. Being able to see the Museum and Sistine Chapel without large crowds was a wonderful opportunity. If you visit the Vatican Museum, be sure to take in everything – you will see incredible ceilings, mosaic floors, decorative windows and medallions on the walls. They may not seem like the featured exhibits, but you will want to appreciate them as well. In the…