Channeling the Inner Gladiator

​We arrive in Rome after on time and uneventful flights from home.  Brief delay ensued trying to find Doug and Shawn’s oversize bike bags. A little persistence helped in convincing someone to open the door where their bags were sitting on the other side.  Limo driver was in the appointed place at the appointed time ready to whisk us to Rome Central Easybox!

After minor drama trying to insert the secret codes in the right sequence, we finally break the code and the gate opens to let us into find our storage unit and our bikes just as we left them three years ago.  A couple of hours of bike reassembling for Shawn and Doug and bike maintenance for us and bike loading and packing for all of us and we are ready to roll!




Jim’s Rome in a Day by Bici is underway!  We roar out of Easybox jet lagged, confused, dripping sweat onto what appears to be a throughway and yes we are going against traffic! Soon we exit the highway onto a beat up, graffitied, garbage strewn, overgrown bike path.  Welcome to Rome Italy Doug and Shawn!   

Thankfully we were soon on normal city streets and being that it was Ferragosto (an Italian National holiday in which most Italians go on vacation to the sea or mountains)the streets were relatively traffic free. Then a pleasant lunch concluded with Jim discovering that he had a flat. Not a very auspicious start but one we know how to fix.  



Soon we are approaching the historic center of Rome. We are pedaling through a leafy park, then turn a corner and find ourselves staring into the Coliseum stopping us in our tracks!



This brings me to some pre-trip dialogue. I shared with Doug and Shawn a list of things you aren’t allowed to do in Italy.  I told Doug that he could absolutely not do #23 even though I knew how much he would want to.  #23 is don’t dress up like  a gladiator.  So of course endless weeks of bad gladiator jokes ensued.  Jim and Doug have been know to share the same thoughts and even occasionally show up wearing exactly the same clothes.  So it isn’t too surprising that Jim had a rare glimpse into Doug’s dream state and saw this.  




Tour continues seeing all of Rome’s gritty glory.  Cycling past Circus Maximus and then dropping onto the Tiber River bike path. 




Exited the bike path at Castello Saint Angelo which is Hadrian’s Mausoleum  and seeing the magnificent angel statues on the street across depicting Christ’s sorrows.  Then onward to Vatican City 



The scorching sun and our tired jet lagged  bodies tell us it is time to head to our hotel.  A short ride through Piazza Novanna and we check into our hotel near the Pantheon.   However our tribulations for the day aren’t quite over yet as we have to push our bikes up four long winding flights of stairs to our rooms.  As is normal a great effort yields a great reward and this was no exception as our rooms were beautiful with private balconies with a view of Rome rooftops and the Pantheon. 




The evening yielded some amazing night views of Rome.  Rome is so chaotic and gritty but full of overwhelming beauty both ancient and modern.   





Comments

  1. Cynthia BakerAugust 20, 2022 at 2:56 PM

    Thank you!! Beautiful writing and buena vistas!!!

    ReplyDelete

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