Rome and arrivederci Italia (14th - 23rd Oct 07)

We arrived in Rome on a quiet sunday afternoon and rode through suprisingly quiet roads to our campsite about 15km from the centre. Camping Flaminio was our first 4 star campsite in Europe and it was more like a village - it took about 15 mins to walk from one side to the other. After three months of sleeping in a tent we decided to get a basic cabin which was only 2 euros more than camping. This turned out to be a godsend as the next day the temperature dropped to 4 degrees and didnt get above 12 for the whole week. Winter hit and it hit quick.

Rugged up at the Roman Forum


Besides sending our bikes home (which took up lots of time) we had plenty of sights to see. We did all the usual sights, the Vatican, Roman Forum, Spanish steps, Sistine Chapel, etc. Our favourite sight was probably the map room in the Vatican, with huge maps painted on the wall of a long barrel vaulted gallery. Besides the 1000 other tourists we were rubbing shoulders with it was an amazing room. The Sistine Chapel was of course, pretty impressive.

Sistine Chapel- A photo doesnt quite do it justice


Rome overall had a great feel to it. While there were lots of tourists with maps, the local people were very welcoming. It was nice just wandering the streets and people watching. Loved Rome and will definately be back.

The Roman Forum


As it was our last week in Italy we tried to stuff ourselves with all the Italian food we could. Definately very sad saying good bye to pizza, foccaccia, cheap fantastic coffee, and all the local produce.

After our bikes went home to NZ, we brought two small backpacks and set off to the east coast of Italy via overnight train to catch a ferry to Greece. It was a teary goodbye to one of our favourite countries, which we ended up staying for 2 months all up. But exciting destinations of Greece and Turkey await...