From Rome to Bari

We are on the train to Bari right now, so it's time I caught you up.

It would be hard to find a street in Rome that we did not walk on sometime during the past few days. Wendy is wearing one of those activity monitoring watches - a vivo I think - and we clocked in at over 15 miles on Saturday, and around 10 miles on Sunday. Consequently, we felt fully justified about our gelato intake. Wendy has been experimenting with different flavors but I'm all about the cioccolato, the only decision being 'con panna' or not. Here we are talking about real cream scooped from a freshly whipped batch (not squirted from a can) so actually, it's no decision at all. Si! Con panna!

Rome is beyond amazing in many ways and at any given moment you are walking past something extraordinary. However, it is crowded with tourists and traffic and covered in graffiti. It's easy to miss things as you maneuver past other tourists, consult your map and dodge scooters and taxis (hint: they do not stop!). Thus, it is even more amazing to step into the cool and dark serenity of a chiesa (church) and be surrounded by extraordinary sculptures, paintings, statues and architecture. There are churches all over the place and there is not an unembellished surface to be found in any of them. It is truly mind-blowing to find such a range of centuries old artwork just steps away from the hustle and bustle of modern Roman life.

We visited all of the famous sites: the Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill, Spanish Steps, Quirinale, Santa Maria Maggiore, Castel Sant' Angelo, Piazza Navona (where we paid something like $12 each for beers!), Piazzo del Popolo, Borghese Gardens, Trastevere neighborhood and Pantheon. We also did plenty of window shopping and people watching.  Last night we revisted the lobster pasta restaurant but this time, ordered pizza (4 different types made into a single pizza) which was indescribably delicious.

Bari

We should arrive in Bari shortly after noon today and are hoping to get laundry done somehow. Tomorrow we meet up with the Backroads people to begin our bicycle tour -- an entirely different experience (we hope) from the chaos of Rome.