Bike tours, Ancient Rome & The Appian Way

Well, it's been a busy few days for us, here in Rome.  Okay, maybe not that busy.  On Sunday we didn't get going until quite late in the day.  But that's okay in Rome!  We have easily fallen into the routine of eating dinner at 9 or 10 o'clock at night.  And judging from the street noise in our neighborhood when we do eventually get to bed, we are definitely not the last ones awake!
Unfortunately, I am having issues getting my photos to load, so my apologies for the delay in posting this.  Also, Blogger will not let me change the orientation of photos, and after spending WAY too much time trying to actually post about our last few days, I am giving up!  So, you can either turn your head to see the photos, or turn your screen, but Blogger won't let me turn the photos themselves - sorry!  I'll try and keep my phone vertical for all future blog photos! :)

Anyway, I've wasted too much time on the photos, so here is a quick recap of the last two days.  On Sunday, we walked around Rome, heading first to the Castel Sant'Angelo and walking along the River.

Castel Sant'Angelo

 We then walked across to the Piazza del Popolo and visited the Leonardo Da Vinci museum.  Craftsmen have built replicas of many of the items Da Vinci drew in his notebooks, and it was pretty cool to see working models of many of his inventions and learn how they are still used today in many ways.  Not everything worked, but many of his ideas inspired things we use today, including car jacks and helicopters!  The lesson is, don't be afraid to dream big.  You never know what might develop from what seems like a wild and crazy idea!

After that interlude, we continued on to the park around the Villa Borghese.  More wedding photos were being taken everywhere we looked - it really was the weekend for them in Rome!  The photo below was taken as the sun was setting, looking out onto St Peter's in the distance.

 Then we wandered down to the Trevi Fountain, and threw a few coins in for good luck.  It is a beautiful spot but always SO crowded.  It was hard to get close enough to throw the coins in over our left shoulders, but we eventually managed it.

The pretty view of the Trevi Fountain

The crowds you have to get through in order to GET to the Trevi Fountain!

After that, we went to the Piazza Navona and found a restaurant that our Airbnb host had recommended.  Unfortunately, it was closed, so we went to another spot near by.  As we were in the heart of the tourist section now, though, we were disappointed that the waiters all spoke English to us and even had an English menu.  What was the point of all that studying if we aren't going to practice our Italian?! :)

Billy had pasta (of course) and I had grilled fish.  They served me the entire fish - I'm not sure if that was a test or not?  Needless, to say, I think I passed! :)  Snoozy the sheep (who joined us for this trip) was quite puzzled by the carcass that remained when I was done.  Sorry, Dad, I chose not to eat the eyeballs!!

We have also come to a good arrangement with regards to wine in restaurants.  We order two glasses, and share a toast.  Then Billy drinks his glass, I take a few sips of mine, and when he is done, we swap glasses.  Billy doesn't have to drink "alone" and I don't have to drink a whole glass of wine!  (Heresy, I know, Mum!)

On Monday morning, we were up bright and early, thanks to the street noises of Trastevere.  I don't know how many bottles of wine they must go through a night in the restaurants here, but there always seems to be a lot of bottle crashing and collecting in the early hours of the day!  Anyway, we then walked to Top Bike Rental tours, just past the Colosseum, where we had booked to go on a half day bike tour of Ancient Rome.  Actually, I had accidentally booked it for NEXT Monday, but luckily, they were able to fit us in.

Here we are, ready to go:

Getting ready to leave on our bike ride

 Getting out of the main part of Rome was a little hairy, with a lot of traffic, but our guide, Emanuele, was very calm and confident.  There were 9 of us on the tour, 4 of us on mountain bikes and 5 people (plus the guide) on e-bikes.  They definitely had the advantage on the few hills we DID have to climb!

 We rode through the old walls of Rome, built around 271 AD and then stopped at the Catacombs of San Callisto.  We weren't able to take photos inside, but don't worry, there were no actual bones visible on the floor we were touring.  Many of the bones of the saints buried there were removed in the 9th century and sold as relics for good luck etc.  At one point, the catacombs held the bones of 16 popes and 50 martyrs.  9 of the popes were buried in one area, called the Crypt of the Popes, but it is believed that their remains were moved to the Vatican.   In addition to the popes and martyrs, over 500,000 people were buried there.  We toured the 2nd level and apparently the 3rd and 4th levels are where all the bones are.  Creepy!

Snoozy looked after the bikes while we were in the Catacombs

We then rode along the Appian Way into the Parco della Caffarella.  We rode past the Villa di Massenzio, where one of the only remaining examples of a Roman Circus is located.

And then we rode along some of the older sections of cobblestones along the Appian Way.  Billy has some much better photos than I do, including some of us riding along the old cobblestones.  But the photo upload thing is an issue again and since I have spent hours working on this blog post already, I am giving up for now.  If they finally find their way to my folder later today, I will upload them then! :)

The thunder started to rumble in the distance, so we rode to a supermarket near by and sheltered inside while buying some snacks for the road.  The downpour lasted almost half an hour, so we were glad to be inside, and dry!  And when the rain finally eased up, I was glad I had fenders on my bikes to keep the worst of the mud off my white skort! :)

We then rode to see some of the ancient Roman Aqueducts, which were constructed over the course of many centuries.  This one was the Aqua Appia, which I believe was constructed in 312 BC.  so, no big deal, only around 2,400 years old.

We ended our evening with a visit to a sheep farm, where we drank some white wine and ate fresh pecorino and bread. Snoozy also got to say hi to his family.

 We lingered a little longer than we should have over the cheese and wine, given the rain delay earlier in the day, so we ended up leaving the farm and riding back to Rome in the dark. We had lights on our bike, but not strong enough to pierec the blackness of the Park when we left it, so our guide rode alongside the group with a spotlight pointed at any potholes etc.

The best part was riding back into Rome and  along the Colosseum at night - magical!

And so ended our second full day in Rome! :)