Roma by Dutch Bike

So today Lorraine wanted to see the Pope delivering the midday Angelus in St Peters Square.  Figuring that driving there was probably a lesson in futility I had to come up with options.  Considering we also wanted to see the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon,  driving a car within Roma's city centre is hellish.  Now I know from last years experience that cycling on cobblestones is hard on the back and arse but at least its quicker than walking.  Also cyclists are permitted a lot more liberties and parking is a breeze but Lorraine wasn't having a bar of it.  I had to come up with an alternative.
Last year just near our hotel a new cycle hire place was opening up so I went and checked it out.

They had a Dutch Family E-assist (electric) bike.  For those who do not know what that is, it is a trike (2 front, 1 rear wheel), steering at the front with a large seated area where you can fit 4 small children or in our case, one wife with gear.  Being E-assist means you have some back up power to help up the hills so it really is quite effortless to ride. Lorraine described it as a bicycle with a wheel barrow attached to the front.

So off we went Sunday morning in our Dutch bike (it was made in Holland, so a real Dutch bike).  It was awesome, and the really refreshing thing was the absolute respect afforded us by cars, scooters, buses, even pedestrians.  No one passed close or extended any aggro towards us.  In the narrow vias, cars, delivery vans, trucks, scooters all just waited patiently until it was safe to pass.  It was awesome, even on the large roundabouts, fast roads and everything in between, we just signaled and moved where we needed to and other road users treated us with respect.  Initially Lorraine was a bit nervous but once she saw that the traffic actually gave us room, she enjoyed the ride.

So back to the activities, we eventually made it to the Pantheon after being a little geographically displaced (see below).  Only to find that mass was being held and it was closed until midday, so that got struck off the list after one photo from a distance of the inside.  Then it was off to the Vatican.

Lorraine did not want to go as she had heard the horror stories of the crowds, and difficulties of parking, that being one of the reasons we chose to ride a bike there.  As it turns out it was not as busy as we had expected, we could have driven the car, and there were plenty of available parking spaces.  But of course that means not riding a Dutch bike.  Lorraine went though fairly easy, I stayed outside as this is not my thing.  Lorraine reckons she took a photo for every time the Pope moved, she's edited the near 50 photos down to at least 10 I think.  She was out fairly quickly and we were on our way to Piazza del Popolo for lunch.  But not before seeing a collection of vintage and veteran Italian cars as we passed through.

We settled on a place for lunch, I got my 1 litre birre (see the pics for before and after), we ordered a pizza and then the power went out.  Luckily our pizza was finished (well near enough) so it came out and we had a romantic dimly lit meal.  Just as we finished the power came back.  Off to the Spanish Steps.  This is where the E-assist came into its own, up some switchbacks on full power assist and I made light work of it.  And then we saw a lookout we hadn't seen before.  Some obligatory photos and off to the steps.  Hey Kevin, bet you cannot work out which photo I shopped to remove the crane from the skyline.

At this point I might say we drew a lot of attention, its not often you see two adults using a Dutch Cargo bike to get round Roma.  Many photos were taken of us, lots of giggling, and possibly envious wives, so around the world there is going to be goofy pictures of us in peoples holiday snaps.

On arrival at the Spanish Steps we took better photos than last year when it had scaffolding all over it.  Both feeling a little 2nd hand by this stage we decided to head home via the Colosseum.  Some more photos and then it was back to Easy Bike Rent to return the bike. 

Back to the room and as I finish this the final riders are departing the start of the Giro ITT final stage, the Maglia Rosa is up for grabs, so its time for me to leave and watch that and let Lorraine finish editing her photos before the upload.

Dinner tonight just around the corner and off tomorrow to a little place an hour outside Rome called Tivoli for our last day trip.

Enjoy the pictures and Ciao.

Sean & Lorraine

Geographical Displacement and Lorraine
Now I will admit negotiating Roma and any Italian town for that matter is problematic with winding twisting streets that turn on themselves.  But Lorraine is still getting lost inside the Velabro from the elevators.  By the time we leave we will have spent around 11 days and nights and she still cannot find her way around the corridors.

Photos

Google Compositions

2017-05-26 San Marino + Road Trip
2017-05-27 Back to Roma (plus some pictures of San Marino) 
2015-05-28 Roma by Dutch Bike