Let’s begin our Italy tour with the Vatican City. First up, the Sistine Chapel.
One of the things you will find, is that photos are not allowed. The reason behind this is really outdated. Back in the 90’s, Nippon TV out of Japan, paid for the restoration of the chapel, with the stipulation that they had exclusive copyrights to all photos and videos for a period of 3 years after each stage of the restoration was completed. That has all long been completed, and the legal reason is no longer valid. Today, the security guards yell at people “No Photos! Silence!” more so because they had been doing it for years. They also don’t want flash photography to ruin the restoration (but you don’t need flash if you know what you’re doing), and also to control all the idiots with selfie sticks trying to get pictures of themselves. It’s a shame that some have to ruin it for the rest of us.
Despite getting yelled at, I somehow acquired these shots 😉
Just note, it is extremely crowded, and all of the yelling and noise take away from what could be a moving experience.