Tourists in Rome (Lots of them!)

We arrived to Rome at 8am to be met by our gracious host Margherita at the train station. Arriving to the buzz of Rome was both exciting, and overwhelming. Margherita gave us her keys, and directions to her nearby apartment and then hustled off to work. We made our way through 4-blocks of humanity flying by on all manner of mechanical contraptions and luxuriated in the tranquility of a nice, peaceful apartment to shower, do laundry, and re-charge for a day of site seeing. We were super appreciative of Margherita's hospitality!

We decided to visit Vatican City and see its sites and artistic wonders. As it turned out we had a very nice day, saw probably 10% of the Vatican Museums displays and were equally amazed by the sheer number of tourists and how effectively we were all ushered through the sites. The Sistine Chapel was of course incredible, as we're many of the other frescoes rooms and apartments along the route to the chapel. St. Peter's Basilica was also amazing, and along with its massive square dwarfed the crowds assembled there. Later we enjoyed a nice dinner with our host and her friend Paolo, both of whom work for the U.N.s Food and Agriculture Organization whose main offices are based in Rome.

On our second day we explored the Ancient City and saw the sites in and around the Coliseum, Forum, and Capitoline Hill. Again the sense of history was impressive, realizing that crowds, commerce, and even tourism has been going on in these very places for millennia. Later we were able to connect with friends Cliff and Sandy Deveny who were in town for a conference that cliff was attending. We met at the Trevi Fountain, and then enjoyed a dinner together -super nice to see folks from home and to visit and catch up.

Day three had us heading out of town to Ostia Antica, the former Roman port city at the once mouth of the Tiber river (time and siltation has moved the mouth further westward). The ruins were really interesting, some amazingly well preserved, vast, and fascinating to explore. It was also open and green, and peaceful. Later that afternoon we walked from the Spanish Steps, by the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori, and Trastevere neighborhood. We had a great time immersing ourselves into Rome for a few days, and although there is plenty more we could have packed in, we felt good about what we were able to see and explore and look forward to getting back into the countryside as we train to Ravenna and then ride northwards along the Adriatic coast on our way to Venice.

A final thought from Susan on Rome:

One last stop in Rome. As we rode through the city with the cars, scooters, strollers, bikes, (one even with a parrot on the handlebars), I thought to myself riding a bike in the city is a lot like trying to keep your passport and wallet safe from pickpocketers. It's all good until it is not...And no matter how much you really really try to do things right "stuff still happens". So although we had one more stop at the US embassy to replace my passport and a later than planned departure from Rome I realized I was lucky that only my passport had been stolen, and we actually enjoyed (and made it through unscathed) jockeying with all those scooters and cars.