Day 14: Travel Home: Maritime Museum & a Long Flight Home — 480 Miles

Our route

John and I enjoy the flexible routing approach to bike touring, the unpredictability, the sense of discovery and adventure. While I had an approximate route with planned stop-overs, we only changed one city. We adapted our route to reduce the distance, climbing, and traffic, not always successfully. Surprise detours and closures were caused by the heavy rains in Southern Italy. Days of warm dry weather shifted the week before our tour. We caught the end of a week of rain followed by 3 days of 20-25 mph headwinds. 

Stuart, a former bike touring companion, cited the Bad Angel and the Good Angel. The Good Angel usually appears after the Bad Angel. After 5 days of rain and wind, we had beautiful days of light breezes and 60-70 F temperatures. Our booking.com lodging worked out, often exceeding our expectations. And then spending 2 days lazing at the end with Marco and Isabelle, enjoying their warm hospitality was perfect. 

We had 11 days of cycling, 480 miles total, with many days where the total was 10-15 miles longer than planned. That noted, this was a hard tour for me, and think for John as well. We had no rest days scheduled, as our goal was to preserve two days at the end for John to catch up with his university friend.

As a concession to age when planning a route, I need to be more attentive to the daily terrain and distance. Our route was assembled after reviewing numerous commercial bike tours offered in the area, with particular attention to the historic cities. That can be deceptive, as many tours include vans to shuttle riders over major climbs, gear is carried to the next stop, and e-bikes are available. A day listed at 35 miles might involve a shuttle to the start, over the major climb of the day, and the total distance without the shuttle is significantly longer. 

Every major airport we went through, LA, Zurich, Rome, and San Francisco, was undergoing major expansion and renovation. Long walks, often confusing signage, moving walkways that do not move, varied security rules, odd luggage rules, and crowds. My Bike Friday in the Samsonite case, sailed through without question. John's legal but soft-sided case was treated as outsized in Rome, making him drop off and pick up at different spots.

Marco graciously drove us to Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport. Marco said that we had to both see the Mediterranean Sea and visit the boat museum. 

Expenses

We mostly used credit/debit cards, charging in euros to get a more favorable exchange rate via our banks. Only one lodging host insisted on cash. Whichever one of us pays keeps track, we share 50/50, and settle up upon return when we can see the actual charges. Our total cost other than airfare and shipping John's case to Rome was a bit over $700 each. We planned to spend more for restaurants, but often restaurants were either not open or limited to pizzerias in the smaller towns. Another factor was our choice to travel during the autumn shoulder season. Temperatures were better for cycling, lodging was more available, but some businesses were closed or had reduced their offerings. Outside the major tourist hot spots, eating delicious food in Southern Italy was not expensive.

If I had done more route research, I would have realized that the prevailing winds are from the northwest. A smarter route would have been from Rome to Brindisi, but that would have eliminated our wonderful recovery time at the end with Isabelle and Marco.

John, Isabelle, and Me. Our last morning in Rome.


Tiber River Small Boat Canal. The smaller boats dock here, the larger boats dock on a canal to the left in the photo.

Mending Nets.

Morning Chat. 

Fish Market.

Marco and John, both fisheries and fish experts, had to review the signage. Marco: It's often not accurate.

Long-pole fishing on the canal. Marco recommended NOT eating the fish caught here.


Maratime Museum



Sarcophagus


Intricate Fish Mosaic

Amphorae were the primary containers for transporting liquids like wine, olive oil, and garum (fish sauce) across long distances by land and sea. 



 

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