The Vatican Museums- at last!

It is not necessary to buy an exorbitantly-priced special ticket touted by agents offering to help you avoid the long queues in order to visit the Vatican Museums. We arrived at the entrance around 8am on the morning of Wednesday 24th April and we were alone. We were able to pop across the street for a quick cappuccino and were able to return and still be near the front of the queue which at that point appeared to consist solely of Germans. Within a few minutes, however, the queue behind us began to swell but once the doors opened we were soon inside and heading upwards.
Illustrated above are the sculptured figures over what is now the exit to the museums. Left and right of the papal arms are figures representing Michelangelo (short curly hair and damaged nose) and Raphael (youthful face with flowing locks).
We went first to the Picture Gallery where early treats included some musical angels by Melozzo da Forli

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