What a great day. We were on our way on the high speed train right on time. I love the high speed trains. At one point we were doing 300 kph over the ground. Only about 285 kph faster than our usual mode of transportation. We were entertained throughout the ride by two of the loveliest and best behaved children you could imagine. The smallest had just turned one, but he managed a four hour train trip with aplomb.
We arrived in Rome and were close enough to the train station to walk to our hotel, which was great because we saw a little bit of Rome that way too. Our hotel room is completely unexpected, a different building from the main property and an ancient building at that. The ceiling must be almost 20 feet high says the retired real estate appraiser. Let's put it this way, the ceiling is way higher than the room is wide. We have the option to move into the main building tomorrow if we care to. We will decide in the morning. Either way the location is fantastic.
We started our exploration by simply walking down the Main Street to the Piazza del Popolo, exploring four (or five, I lost count) spectacular churches along the way. Then back down the Via del Corso we went, visiting Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. Everywhere we look there is something interesting, including break dancing boys and buskers. There are the ubiquitous souvenir salesmen as well...I had just said to Keith it felt like Mexico when one of them called out 'amigo'. That really made us laugh. We had a lovely dinner outside watching the world go by.
This beautiful old church is right next to the hotel.
These young people loaned me the bike. They are from Hamburg and having an absolutely wonderful time in Rome. They were so much fun to watch and to visit with. We thoroughly enjoyed them.
It was a very full, very wonderful day, and even, very, very briefly included some biking. What more could one ask? In short, we are loving it in Rome. We had a long chat on the train about how things are working out. We so wish we were biking...we really know now how much we prefer that method of travel. I am still so disappointed about the abrupt end to that, but we are just so lucky. I received excellent care, I have the chief caregiver (or as the doctor called him, the caring husband) and we are spending time in these iconic cities. We are making all kinds of notes for next year and I informed the CC that the instant I have the go ahead we are biking daily at home. My shoulder will heal. Best of all, Keith's pony tail skills are really coming along! As my sister said to me, suck it up and enjoy traveling like a normal person. I think she means as opposed to a crazy girl on a bike! Don't worry, we will convert her.
