Arrived in Rome

Miles from Home - 5612.4 miles
Firsts / Highlights - First time to Rome
Miles Ridden - 0 miles
Vertical Feet - 0 ft
Route - No route today.
People - Marina - owner of the apartment. Brad arrives tomorrow.


Visualizza Roma in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori

This post is from May 30, 2009.

Traveling without a bike is a piece of cake. I walked 25 minutes from my hotel in Siena to the train station with my backpack, got through the station easily, changed trains in Chiusi, made my way through the Metro in Rome and walked to the apartment I will be sharing with Brad for the next three nights. I now see why traveling light is the accepted standard. If it weren't for the fact that being without my bike would completely change my reason for being here, I would be all in favor of it. Until I am reunited with my bike next week, I will just enjoy being light.

When I arrived, I met Marina who owns the apartment where I will stay for the next few nights. I am renting (with help from Paula Sears) through VRBO.com. Vacation Rentals by Owner are a bit unpredictable, but this one looks like it will work well. The location is good (3 or 4 blocks from the Colloseum), and Marina spent a full hour with me prioritizing sights in Rome, showing me where to find food shops, restaurants, coffee shops and even a mozzarella shop. Turns out that buffalo mozzarella is the real thing, and you need to go to a shop that sells nothing else to get the best (needless to say, I've already been there). They have a vat of Mozzarella balls soaking in milky water. You ask for a large or small ball and she fishes one out and puts it in a plastic bag with about a liter of the water. I have a pretty good stockpile of breads, pastries, meats, cheeses and olive oil in the apartment. The cheese bread was a real find. To buy the best bread, meat, cheese, tomatoes and pastries took visits to 5 different shops.


Visualizza Possible Destinations in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori

Rome is as far south as I am likely to get on this trip. If you go back to the "possible destinations" map, every pin is a recommended destination (remember that you can zoom and pan the map to see more detail). The blue pins are not yet visited, and the green are either already visited or on the itinerary. The Amalfi Coast south of Rome is probably going to have to wait for another trip. The biggest concentration of blue pins is now in the far north of Italy and Switzerland. I will probably be working north in June. I am actually a little surprised that I have visited as many of these places already as I have.

Tomorrow is the Giro finish and is within walking distance of the apartment. Brad will probably be badly jet-lagged when he gets here in the morning, so I may just prop him up and tell him to watch the fast bicycles go by.