2-June-04 Boise
The Bikes Are Packed!!!
The Bikes Are Packed!!!
The bikes and luggage including Bob our bike trailer, were packed up and ready to go the day before we took off. We rented these bike boxes from George's, the local bike store for $70 each (you can buy them for ~350 on the web). They work great and our bikes were in perfect shape when we got to Rome.
Boise:
We arrived at the Boise airport just at first light and towed our over-sized bike boxes and oversized duffle bag to the check in counter to get this long anticipated trip kicked off. After giving the counter attendant our ID, our pulse rates jumped from "eager anticipation" to "holy crap did we (I) screw up" as they couldn't find us in the computer. The itinerary that I had printed out didn't seem to help either so we started doubting whether we had the right air line or even the right day! Finally after a excruciating thirty seconds our names popped up on the screen and we were breathing again.
We tagged our bikes and BOB who was nestled comfortably in the large duffle bag and headed off to security. Right now we're sitting at the gate and they just called our row so I better close this up. We're off!
Detroit:
After walking around (riding the sidewalks) the Minneapolis airport for a couple of hours, we boarded our second air craft (not air plane) and skipped down to Detroit. This was also the last time we'd find a wireless network for a while. In fact, we only found one other the entire time we were in Italy. Very few people we talked to used e-mail or the internet. That was a bit of a surprise.
Mid Atlantic:
Okay, so I'm not sure where we are exactly. Maybe over Greenland. I just know the northern sky refuses to get dark and the sun set about three hours ago. I knew this would be a short night 'cause we're racing ahead of the Earth's spin, but this is ridiculous. I didn't expect us to fly so far north either. Instead of heading out over the Atlantic from Detroit, we headed north clear out to the tip of Canada. Anyway, I think we're a little over half way there. Tried getting a little sleep but we're sitting in a high traffic area and I keep expecting someone to step on my toes which are sticking a little too far into the isle. So I thought I'd just type a little.
Let's see... so far we met a pipeline guy from Missouri who use to live in Wisconsin, a hydraulic dock salesman from Minneapolis who flies every day of his life, a herd of thirteen year old "Ambassadors" from Tennessee who are visiting three countries in twenty days. Not terribly exciting to write about but fun to talk with just the same. We sat next to two nurses from Pennsylvania. The guy next to nurses was bragging about having a villa in Italy--we stopped listening after that.
At 2:30 local time the sun was shining into the cabin again. As it turned out we came within a few hundred miles of Greenland so I wasn't that far off. As we turned south we flew directly over Ireland so I had to take some pictures for Alaska Jen:
Ireland
England
Paris
Rome:
We arrived in Rome just before 10:00am and rode a shuttle bus to the customs gate which, despite a lengthy line, turned out to be no problem whatsoever. Our bikes and Bob (our trailer) were sitting beside the baggage claim before we even got there and a few minutes later our final bag popped into view. We took a taxi-van to our hotel but got there a few hours before our room was ready so we dragged our luggage into a storage room and lit off on our first adventure on foot.
This is a "Smart" car. Since gas prices are about $5 a gallon here, these little cars are everywhere darting around in traffic like little motor scooters.
We didn't get very far our first time out though. After stopping for panini's (sandwiches) we thought we'd practice riding the train around and went to the nearby train station. While waiting for the train we fell asleep on the bench and didn't bother getting up as the trains came and went. A little power nap was just what we needed. At 2:00 we went back to the hotel and dragged all our gear up to our room, rebuilt our bikes and set out on foot again (weren't quite ready to dare Rome traffic on bikes just yet).
Here's a rough map of the more interesting sections of the historic district of Rome. Our hotel was off the right side of the map pretty much even with the lower right corner. Our walking route took us through the ancient wall just to the right of "S Giov in Latern", continuing towards the Colosseo and then looping down and right on our way back to the hotel.
Walking through the ancient Roman Wall was very cool, especially after watching all those History Channel shows about all the battles around it.
San Giovanni in Laterano was the first big jaw dropper that we walked into. This place is incredible and we ended up taking about a hundred pictures here. The detail here was simply endless. This church, dedicated to the Saviour, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, has an inscription on the front that translates to "The Most Holy Lateran Church, Mother and Mistress of all churches of the city and the World". First built around 312 by Emperor Constantine on top of the army barracks of his enemies, this church has been destroyed by earthquakes and fires a couple of time and rebuild in place. The last time the basilica was rebuilt was in 1360 by Pope Clementine.
We stopped for spaghetti & pizza along this street on our way to the Colosseum which we could see for the first time clear down at the end.
You begin to get a feel for B.C. Rome before you even reach the Colosseum as excavations reveal glimpses of the ancient city. It was a little weird seeing cars driving over the top of un-excavated sections. Makes you wonder what else is down there yet to be discovered.
Construction began on the Coloseum around 80 A.D., and looking out over the interior, you can't help but let your imagination take you back in time. Built to hold 50,000 spectators, It's easy to spend time just watching and listening to what could have taken place right in front of you.
We took a guided tour but ended up splitting off from the group and exploring on our own for an hour or so. The guy taking our picture was from Vancouver and was in Rome for four days from London where he was renovating the bathroom in his sisters 300 year old house.
Just to the side of the Colosseum stands the Arco di Constantino (Arch of Constantine). This is the victory arch built to commemorate Constantine's victory against Massenzio in 315, making Constantine the absolute monarch of the Roman Empire and marks the beginning of Christianity as the official Roman religion. This was the first Roman monument that was not dedicated to Jupiter, God of the Roman Empire. See more info here.
There was much more to see, but this was turning into a very long day so we headed back to the hotel and called it a day.
