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Category: Building

Building

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Justice and Police Museum

De Gracy Mug Shot Justice and Police Museum Sydney

Justice and Police Museum

Located opposite the eastern end of Circular Quay the Justice and Police Museum is very easy to get to. Outside there are silhouettes of criminals, which look fantastic, and a great photo opportunity.  Unfortunately the museum is only open on weekends, so if you want to visit, keep this in mind. The building consists of the old water police office and courtroom, the old police watch house, holding cells and their old courtroom.

  • Criminal Silhouettes Justice and Police Museum Sydney
    Criminal Silhouettes

The museum would be worth visiting just for the buildings themselves as the courtroom was designed by James Barnet. The courtroom still has the prisoners’ dock present and the watch house has the front desk and interrogation dock present.

  • Prisoners' Dock Justice and Police Museum Sydney
    Prisoners’ Dock
  • Police Desk Justice and Police Museum Sydney
    Police Desk

The old holding cells have displays of old mug shots showing how they evolved with time. Some notorious criminals have their crimes and mugshots on the walls (the criminals in the 20’s got to pose how they wanted ……. just a small bit of knowledge learnt on the day) along with a display of weaponry, both police and criminal.

  • Old Mug Shots Justice and Police Museum Sydney
    Old Mug Shots
  • Weapons on Display Justice and Police Museum Sydney
    Weapons on Display

The volunteers present were fantastic and made our visit memorable. They gave us a better insight into the operation of the building, took fingerprints and explained the operation of the station and treatment of the criminals.

A great place to visit, see some mug shots, read some criminal history, see some cells and courtrooms all in an hour. This is a little museum, but very well set up and interesting! Would definitely visit her again.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

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Liechtenstein

Vaduz Castle Liechtenstein


Liechtenstein

The tiny Principality of Liechtenstein was on our agenda as part of a four-day bus trip through southern Switzerland. Our time was very limited as we had to stick to the bus trip’s timetable. The reasons for the stop seemed to be so that people could say they had been to the tiny country. With only an hour of free time, we walked down the Main Street, looked at the Cathedral, parliament building and took pictures of some sculptures.

Parliament of Liechtenstein
Parliament of Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein National Archives
Liechtenstein National Archives
Cathedral of St. Florin Liechtenstein
Cathedral of St. Florin

There was an opportunity to get your passport stamped, but we gave this a miss as once within the Shengen Zone, there was no need for border checks, so no stamps from most countries we went to.

Vaduz Castle Liechtenstein
Vaduz Castle

We did see Vaduz castle from the town centre and took some photos, but it is not open to the public, even if we could have visited it.

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Vatican City and Saint Peter’s Basilica

St Peter's Basilica Vatican City

Vatican City

While visiting Rome we wanted to go to the Vatican City to see the great artworks there as well as Saint Peter’s Basilica. Research showed that the crowds in the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel could become overwhelming, so we chose to do an early entry tour with limited participants.

St Peter's Basilica Vatican City
St Peter’s Basilica
Fontana della Pigna Vatican City
Fontana della Pigna

We met our guide and other tourists at the Vatican Museum Entrance. She
provided us with earphones so that we could hear her commentary and followed her inside and past the huge queues already waiting to enter. This was where we discovered that although this tour had limited members and we did indeed enter before the general entrants, there were dozens of other priority groups going in with us.

Vatican Museums

We slowly walked through the Vatican Museums, which are magnificent. If what we did was considered not crowded, general entry must be unbearable. We were able to see everything, from the sculptures to the ornate ceilings and the guide provided a fantastic commentary that we really enjoyed.

Bramante Staircase Vatican City
Bramante Staircase
Vatican Museum Ceiling Vatican City
Vatican Museum Ceiling
Statue of Artemis, The Fertility Goddess Vatican City
Statue of Artemis, the Fertility Goddess

Raphael Rooms

Our next stop was the Raphael Rooms which were as amazing as we expected them to be and here we were able to take time to contemplate the artworks.

Raphael Rooms Vatican City
Raphael Rooms
Raphael Rooms Vatican City
Raphael Rooms

Sistine Chapel

The highlight of the tour, as expected was Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. No photographs are permitted here, and silence is expected. There are guards that enforce these rules. We spent 15 minutes admiring this cultural marvel before we had to leave.

Saint Peter’s Basilica

Saint Peter’s Basilica is even larger than we expected. To demonstrate its size, the central aisle has the other great Cathedrals marked out for comparison. Sydney’s St Mary’s is tiny compared to Saint Peter’s. There are artworks, sculptures and tombs on display that would take days to appreciate fully. After showing us the highlights of the Basilica, our guide left us here. We spent hours looking here and down in the crypt where many past popes are interred.

St Peter's Basilica Vatican City
St Peter’s Basilica
St Peter's Basilica Vatican City
St Peter’s Basilica

As with many places, there is a gift shop and a dedicated post office to send cards from the Vatican City.

Vatican City Crypts
Vatican City Crypts

What Did We Think?

The Vatican City is an amazing place to visit, even if you are not religious. The volumes of artworks and the historical significance make it a fascinating place to visit. The guide provided an amazing insight into the history and workings of the Vatican that we would otherwise not have had. A fantastic half day that we really enjoyed.