Travel
- A Case Of The Jitters!
I'm not concentrating very well this morning. I went into the bedroom and dropped something on the floor - when I picked it up I noticed quite a bit of dust, so into the kitchen I went to get my dust mop. While I was there I decided to...
- Putting My Energy To Use
I didn't want to waste all this energy I seem to have, so after two loads of laundry done I decided to clean. My house is a complete wreck, with clutter everywhere and dust that shows when the sunbeams shine in. So what do you think I...
- 3 Reasons To Visit The Largest Cathedral In The World
The nights of May in Seville are wonderfully warm and pleasant and we slept like angels. And that was fortunate, as on the second day of our trip to Seville, my husband and I had lots of sightseeing to do. We started with the much celebrated Cathedral...
- France Not So Hot Anymore
Be afraid; be very afraid. And if you see some hairy chests walking the streets of a French city, go tell the police! After Vatican's new dress code, here comes another strange law. City official across France came to the conclusion that going topless...
- Milan Monumental Cemetery. A Love Story
Just before leaving Milan we made one more stop. It might sound strange to you that we went to visit a cemetery even if we had no relatives buried there, but the truth is that Milan Monumental Cemetery is an open air museum with ravishing sculptures...
Travel
Sistine Chapel Endangered By Sweaty Tourists
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| The Creation Of Adam, Sistine Chapel, Vatican |
The priceless frescoes in the Sistine Chapel are in serious danger according to Vatican Museums chief. And tourists are to be blamed. "Sweat, breath, carbon dioxide and all sorts of dust" pose a real threat to Michelangelo's paintings.
Remember a few weeks back when I wrote how Vatican started banning visitors from St Peter's Square for showing their God given shoulders and knees? And then I said I hoped they won't introduce a rule against sweaty and smelly tourists too? Well, here we are! If they can't commend tourists to stop breathing, they can at least take into consideration the possibility of shutting down the Sistine Chapel because the now overdressed tourists sweat.
The chapel's climate control system is 20 years old and needs to be updated. To be honest, I didn't even realise they had one when I visited. With over 4 million people visiting Vatican's Sistine Chapel every year, it gets so crowded and hot that you can barely breathe the stale air inside. No wonder visitors body moisture ends up on God's hands.
In the late 1990's a significant restoration process took place. The money came from Nippon Television Network Corporation and in return the Japanese took with them the filming and photographing rights. And that's why you cannot take your own photos in the Sistine Chapel today. And that's why nobody can blame your flash for the degradation of the paintings.
One way this could go is by following Milan's example by limiting the numbers of daily visitor, passing everybody through a filtration system, like they are doing it now for Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, where only 25 visitors are admitted every 15 minutes and booking in advance is mandatory. This would considerably limit the number of people that have access to Michelangelo's masterpieces and I'm pretty sure it would limit the thickness of Vatican's pockets too, which makes me reluctant to the idea. The good news is that in this case you won't have to cue for hours under the Roman sun anymore, nor to wake up before sunrise to be the first in line.
- A Case Of The Jitters!
I'm not concentrating very well this morning. I went into the bedroom and dropped something on the floor - when I picked it up I noticed quite a bit of dust, so into the kitchen I went to get my dust mop. While I was there I decided to...
- Putting My Energy To Use
I didn't want to waste all this energy I seem to have, so after two loads of laundry done I decided to clean. My house is a complete wreck, with clutter everywhere and dust that shows when the sunbeams shine in. So what do you think I...
- 3 Reasons To Visit The Largest Cathedral In The World
The nights of May in Seville are wonderfully warm and pleasant and we slept like angels. And that was fortunate, as on the second day of our trip to Seville, my husband and I had lots of sightseeing to do. We started with the much celebrated Cathedral...
- France Not So Hot Anymore
Be afraid; be very afraid. And if you see some hairy chests walking the streets of a French city, go tell the police! After Vatican's new dress code, here comes another strange law. City official across France came to the conclusion that going topless...
- Milan Monumental Cemetery. A Love Story
Just before leaving Milan we made one more stop. It might sound strange to you that we went to visit a cemetery even if we had no relatives buried there, but the truth is that Milan Monumental Cemetery is an open air museum with ravishing sculptures...