Best Western Hotel Rivoli Rome

... same church, are drawn/called by different aspects of its life.

What I find discouraging is how easily we celebrate the different flavors and tastes of gelato and become gripped with fear and loathing about the different tastes in the Christian church.

St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican, where we spent the day, have every surface covered with art of some sort. It's, to me, completely overwhelming. But I would be loath to say that that approach to adorning a church is ...

... cobblestone hell and guess what. Yah, the cartridge from my wheel popped again and it started the wobbling banana-tango again, forcing me to undo my front brake and walk my bike to Forte. We got there before eight and met up with some wicked guys, who left the other squat we had just visited to open up another bike workshop at Forte Prenestino. After some good advices on hub maintenance, few delicious joints and good laughs we got a place to sleep, our stomachs full of delicious ...

... of its past, where people don't seem very interested in making sure the system is running in top-shape, and where the modern "barbarians" (no offense to anyone), are moving in attracted by the rich lands of our modern western empire. Rome, a place so rich in history, may just be a place where we could see signs of history repeated... Unfortunately, due to technical reasons, I wasn't able to upload pictures today (though we have tons), but I'll try to have a few up in a f

... when in Rome do as the Romans do" which she then explained that in Rome they eat their sandwiches with everything on it. I told her no, I just wanted chicken and cheese because I am allergic to a lot of different things and she got a serious attitude with me...she didn't say another word to us the rest of the dinner. The food was good but there is no way I would go back after that comment...unless I really really want another one of those amazing paninis! After dinner we were ...

... and breakfast" picked us up and drove us to our place. I can see why people don't recommend driving in Italy. There are basically no lanes and people just drive wherever they feel like it. After checking into our "apartment" we decided to grab a bite to eat. Our first authentic Italian meal was definitely less than stellar. We had pizza and caprese salad and neither one was very good. After dinner we called it a night so we could ...

... was a chef... Gem sat out on the lake admiring the view and trying to converse with an old Swiss man. Then it was off to Bern where we found the perfect campsite... too bad it was closed for the season... so we took off again to the other campsite and got settled in for the night. Next thing another motor home pulls up and we heard the accent and they saw our stickers... a family of fellow Aussies from the Sunshine Coast. We had a great time chatting out in the cold.. These guys had been ...

... the town in two hours, until our legs were screaming for mercy. We grabbed a quick lunch and headed off to Part II - Vesuvius. Again it was easy to find and I am lucky to have the BOSS as my navigator. We parked at "the top" and read the sign which said "15 minutes walk" to the crater. We dutifully paid our 6.50 euros each and started up the path. At the first turn we got a glimpse of what lay ahead. A kilometre of steep gravel path winding straight up the mountain. They ...

... museum, but then I came to the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. Wow! I had actually taken a lot of pictures of it from behind (from the Palantino) without knowing what it was. It is huge! All white marble - tons of stairs - tons of statues - several ...

... about 11:45am we decided to catch the last bus into Rome. We legged it to the bus and just got on. Where to go first? We decided we would hit the Big touristy spots today and walked to Trevi Fountine... Yep we got lost. Any ways we found it in the end and threw a coin over the shoulder, then forgot what shoulder to throw over so we did one over each shoulder. We headed off to see the Tomb of the Unknown solider after ...

... decided that maybe a pagan god had brought this upon them. In the dead of night, a number of nobles disguised themselves as peasants, smashed the statue into small pieces and snuck out and buried them in Florentine territory, hoping to pass the plague on to them. Ches had done considerable reconnoitring on the day of the Palio, and had identified an alimentari thar also sold "sandwiches". Well, its actually called an Antica Pizzicheria, which is a cross between an alimentari ...