All Roads Really Do Lead to Rome

 

Now that we’ve altered our course from the mountains to the hills and valleys, we’ve found ourselves on a direct path to Rome. One path of note is the Via Francigena. It’s another pilgrimage path like Camino de Santiago, but this one starts in Canterbury and ends in Rome. It was first done by the Archbishop who walked to Rome to greet the Pope - and then walked back!  (I guess matters of the congregation weren’t that pressing.) 

We’ve met such nice people along the pilgrimage since our path often coincides with theirs. We stay in the same hotels and agriturismos. We’ve run into several groups twice, and it’s the strangest phenomenon - we all greet each other like long time friends… Jane! Andy! The Lamberts! It’s been really fun hearing all of their stories and motivation for their journeys. 

Along our own pilgrims’ path

Dennis’ routes often take detours to visit little villages, which all seem to be perched high on a hilltop. I don’t find out about the detour til afterwards because he knows I’ll complain. But they are (almost) always worth it. Who knew there were so many World Heritage UNESCO sites?

We often stay in Agroturismos, which are small inns found outside of towns. They are old farmhouses, usually have delicious farm (theirs) to table restaurants and are run by families. We learned that the regional governments incentivize landowners to create these for two reasons - to encourage more people to leave the cities to farm the land and also to increase tourist accommodations outside of the cities. For every certain amount of land you cultivate, you’re given permission to build two separate rooms. Upon completion, they refund 50% of your investment. Brilliant! 

One of the best agroturismos we’ve ever stayed in, run by a woman who was born in Kazakhstan and moved here when her mom married an Italian. She started it as a hobby!

The weather has been cooperating perfectly - nice cool days for riding with dramatic clouds. Rain often falls during the night. 

We spent a night in Orvieto, never knowing it has one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe. The Etruscan caves (pre Roman times) were also impressive. 

It was a jarring experience to go from tranquil landscapes like this into the craziness of Rome in just a matter of hours. The juxtaposition really altered our easy going mood of the past weeks. We tried to get into the tourist thing by immediately walking to the Forum, but our sore feet and glazed-eye boredom with old rocks (me) sent us back to our apartment to regroup. The next day we decided to bike the 7 Hills of Rome and skip the lines and the crowds. (We’d already been to Rome before and seen all the things we were supposed to see.) However, we had so much fun on our bikes we decided to visit all the major sites as well with a “drive-by” approach.  We did it all in 2 hours, went to a great restaurant for a long lunch far outside the tourist area, then went back and a took a nap. It was the best! 

The Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

The Coliseum 

Spanish Steps

St. Mark’s Square

St. Peter’s Cathedral

Our route on Strava, the app we use to track all of our rides. Rick Steeves would be appalled! 

Biking in Rome isn’t for inexperienced riders, but with a certain amount of assertiveness and a lot of vigilance, it was an ideal way to explore the city. Bikes can go as fast (or faster) than cars, so we can compete equally for the limited space available. Dennis loved it - rode as if he were a character in a video game! The drivers are mostly respectful and share the European attitude that the roads belong to both cars and bikes. 

Our last night in Rome we rode along the Tiber River to dinner just as a warm rain started to fall. The ride home, post rain, was also sublime - fresh air, peaceful, with the din of the city above us.