Ciao my friends! Our first two weeks in Italy have been a whirlwind of excitement, exhaustion and beauty. We arrived at the airport in Rome and assembled our bikes while being stared at by the curious local cab drivers wondering what these crazy tourists were doing.
Riding through Rome to our hotel showed us a side we weren’t expecting of Italy. The outskirts of Rome reminded us of Mexico and Romania. There was graffiti everywhere and a gritty feel to the city. We were jet lagged and hadn’t slept for over 24 hours but still exhilarated to be here, finally! After all the planning and waiting we couldn’t believe we were in Rome. Of course, my first activity was to drink espresso. It was delizioso!
A city built up around ancient ruins, Rome exceeded all of our expectations. Everywhere we walked, from the city center to the outskirts, were remnants of the Roman empire. It’s hard to digest the massive, beautiful history of this place. Every little chapel we went into was more elaborate than the next. The highlight was being inside the Sistine Chapel. Standing there, we couldn’t help but feel the artistic mad genius so we just stood with our mouths open in awe. I was able to get an illicit photo of the famous Creation of Adam. As I took the photo a guard yelled “no photo! no video!” Whoops!
After Rome, we set out riding through the Italian countryside. After over a year of basically being couch potatoes, the first few days were brutal. This area is filled with hill after hill, mountain after mountain, and temperatures reached 97 degrees. Every adorable village is set on top of a slope. I never knew so many places of my body could hurt at once. From my toes to fingers I was aching in pain. My legs looked like they’d been through war with more bruises and scrapes than actual leg showing. Sunburn, soreness and exhaustion were getting the best of us. We called it our “booty camp”. Of course, the payoff is at the end of the day reaching our destination of medieval looking castles transformed into apartments and shops where we eat pizza and marvel over the beauty that’s been kept in tact for centuries.
We’re settling into a nice groove now. After a week of riding our muscles are strengthening, we’re pros at finding wild camping sites, and we now know where to find protein in Italy as vegans (hint: lots of good options in grocery stores)! Our speed is increasing and we’re enjoying the rides more and more. As we’ve said from the beginning, it’s all part of the adventure – the pain, the hardship, the beauty, the excitement, all of it. We’ve now been to two other major cities: Siena and Florence. Our favorite stop so far has been Montalcino, known for the best wine in Italy. We agree! Not only is there incredible vino but the village itself is absolutely breathtaking. Definitely our top recommendation if you feel like taking a trip.
And of course, we wouldn’t be sharing with you the whole story if we didn’t give you a glimpse into real bike touring life, perfectly captured by Virgil.
