Today I had my first day with a tour guide. It was a very full day with a lot of information and history about Rome. We started off with the Colosseum, Forum, Campidoglio, Piazza Venezia, Circus Maximus, Keyhole of the Maltese Order, then progressed to the Appian Way where the catacombs are located outside the city walls. Had a wonderful lunch in a restaurant in that area, walked on what’s left of the original road to Appian, stopped at Basilica of St. Paul and San Giovanni in Laterani. I will be meeting with Patricia again on Thursday for the Vatican, St. Peters, Sistine Chapel, Pieta, Gallery of Maps, Raphael Rooms, and Pantheon to name a few places. Luckily we hired a driver for the second half of the day to take us to all the places outside the city walls. I took several pictures but plan to go back to San Giovanni and maybe even St. Paul’s to take some additional pictures on my own.
Rome right now has two subway lines but is in the process of building a third line. However, as they began work they realized one of the places where they planned a metro stop has significant historical remains of ancient times so work has stopped and the archeologists are excavating the site. It may be a long time before line C is completed.
This week in Rome there is a big celebration planned for the Italian Independence so temporary stadium seating is being set up along the road from the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum. I believe the parade and celebration is set for Thursday which is the day I plan to be in the Vatican. Hopefully, if everyone is at the parade the Vatican will have less tourists.
As an update on my progress to reach 400 miles during my trip, after 41 days I have recorded 377.4 miles. I’m also showing a daily average of 22 flights climbed. My average walking per day went down due to the time spent in the Tuscany region. We visited a lot of villages but transportation was with a driver so the average during that week was less than 6 miles a day.
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