Roman Around

After arriving in Roma by train, we check into our beautiful hostel a short 15min walk from the train station (right where it said it would be). As well as fantastic shared kitchen facilities and air conditioning, we find out they are offering free dinner tonight, so rather than go out for a meal we stay in and chat to a variety of other europeans for the night.

Our big day in Rome was meant to start with a guided e-bike tour of the Appian way and aquaduct ruins, but unfortunately it was only the 2 of us booked on the tour today so they wouldn’t run it. However I have to say TopBike rentals was lovely about it and instead gave us much cheaper e-bike rental, and a phone with preloaded maps to guide us, and let us do not just that tour but another city tour by ourselves. Given Dory had little interest in the actual history of the old ruins, the “no talking more riding” approach actually suited us perfectly and we had an epic day.

After stopping for an early lunch, one of the many highlights of our 53km bike ride was discovering just how great the Roman Empire was at building infrastructure- namely the water fountains which scatter the city (Not to mention the roads… The sanitation…).

On a 37 deg C day, free flowing water which is both cold and drinkable was an absolute godsend. Half the time we were drinking it, but the other half was just to pour over our heads, or replace the now warm water in our bottles since the last stop.

The final stop on our Tour(ist) de Roma was the aqueducts themselves in Parco degli Acquedotti. These ruins were absolutely spectacular and well worth the trip out of Rome’s city centre to see.

Once back at the hostel (and after a well earned nap) we have our final antipasto, which cost us a whole 6 euros including the wine.

What better way to end our (moderately romantic) Italian adventure.