Living out my biking dream in Roma

I've come to Rome to see the tennis. It’s the reason I’m in Italy to be honest. Being able to travel around Europe following the tennis is one of the things I really wanted to do while here, so here I am.

It is the Rome Masters 1000 and all of the big names will be here, including Federer. I think this may be the final tournament before the French Open. this will be my first real tournament outside of a Grand Slam. So I’m of course very excited! And today is tennis day.

As Federer is playing tonight, I’ve decided to participate in a free (tips requested) bike tour of Rome. The Americans from last night raved about it, they had done the night bike tour on Monday. The night tour sounds awesome, but today I do the day one. Biking through Europe also interests my a lot, so here we go.

It turns out that I am the only person today interested in the free bike tour, I suppose everyone else is at the Papal mass. But the guide takes me anyway, a private tour for me. As I told him I had already seen the big sights, he takes me on a different journey through Rome. We pass sites not well-known, go into free museums and pedal along the quieter streets of Rome.

It was great fun. He showed me of local places to eat and drink at, explain the Roman water system in great detail and took me to see a giant pyramid tombstone. For lunch we stopped in the Jewish quarter and enjoyed a pizza base of sorts. He tells me that this is a local spot and it’s a meal that locals often enjoy.

It was great and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see a lot of Rome in a short period of time. Biking in Rome is an experience in it’s self. But as in Naples, you just need to push out and people generally stop for you. You can keep the bike for 24 hours once the tour is over and pedal around yourself.

After the tennis (see other post) my time in Rome ends, and I’m kind of glad. Rome is full of tourists, and tourists attract people trying to sell you everything under the sun, it’s hard to find good meals and the overpriced tasteless ones are coming at you from every corner. Or maybe this just me.

What I do love about Rome, and Italy in general, are the water fountains that are all through the city. They have free (woohoo) and have fresh cold water streaming out of them all the time. It’s lovely and just what you need.Read more