{"id":13414,"date":"2022-08-20T16:35:39","date_gmt":"2022-08-20T16:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=13414"},"modified":"2022-10-11T01:06:08","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T01:06:08","slug":"one-week-away-from-a-roman-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=13414","title":{"rendered":"One week away from a “Roman Holiday”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I don’t think I’ll be seeing Audrey Hepburn or<\/strong> Gregory Peck on my “Roman Holiday…”<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Saturday, August 20, 2022 – A week from today I’ll be flying over to Rome. (The one in Italy.)<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I previewed this adventure back on April 17, 2022, in Getting ready for Rome \u2013 and \u201cthe Way of St. Francis<\/a>.” That post told of a new adventure, starting on September 1. It will be the fourth of three hikes on the Camino de Santiago<\/a>. The three earlier ones came in Spain, Portugal and a short section in France. (For details type “camino” or “paris” in the search box above right.)<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this upcoming September adventure three of us – me, my brother Tom and his wife Carol \u2013 will hike the 154 miles from Assisi<\/a> to Rome. Specifically, we’ll be hiking from Assisi<\/a> to St. Peter\u2019s Basilica<\/a> in Rome. (In Italian it’s the Via de Francesco<\/strong><\/a><\/em>.) <\/em>The April post noted that because of its \u201cchallenging topography, the Way of St. Francis is a challenging walk.\u201d The first few days are – it has been said – as challenging as a “walk over the Route [de] Napole\u00f3n<\/a> that crosses the Pyrenees. A daily climb of 500 to 1000 meters is not unusual.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is a hike we did back in September 2021. (See Hiking over the Pyrenees, in 2021 \u2013 finally<\/a>!)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The April post noted that in preparing for the hike, I first had to find an affordable flight to Rome, then figure the best way to get to Assisi from<\/em><\/strong> Rome. At the time I thought the best way to Assisi was by bus, leaving Rome at 8:30 in the morning. But since then I found the Trenitalia<\/a> website, and got a later train – leaving Rome at noon – to Assisi. And the place we’ll be staying in Assisi is a short walk from the station. (Whereas it’s a two-mile hike from the Assisi bus station.) <\/em>And I got an affordable flight to Rome and back, mostly because I could pay for it in installments. (Thanks to my American Express – Delta – Sky Miles credit card.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile I’ve been making plans for my first day or two in Rome. Once settled in my B&B by Roma Termini station, I hope to visit a place called “LET IT BEER,<\/a>” about two miles northeast. (I just like the name.) <\/em>Later, or maybe the next day (Monday, August 29)<\/em> I figure on hiking down to the Isola Tiberina<\/a>. (Tiber Island.)<\/em> That’s an island in the middle of the Tiber River, kind of like the \u00cele de la Cit\u00e9<\/a> in Paris. (Which we visited last September. We got our required COVID shots at a tent set-up by the Pont Neuf<\/a>. We had to get them to take a train down to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port<\/a><\/em>.) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, based on a recent video I saw on Rome, I may try a fried artichoke in the Jewish Ghetto. (Highly recommended, for the adventurous anyway.)<\/em> Google Maps shows “La Taverna del Ghetto<\/a>” that may have it. “La Taverna” is a mile and a half southwest of my B&B, and Tiber Island is just beyond it. The Colosseum and Palatine Hill are pretty much on the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll see how those plans work out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also this past week, I got 250 Euros from my local bank. Last Tuesday I did a four hour hike – figuring six miles at 24 minutes a mile actual hiking time – at a local Nature Center. (We”Il average ten miles a day.) <\/em>I carried 17.4 pounds* including a pack and camp chair for an occasional break in the woods, without getting chiggers. (Always a problem in the Southeastern woodlands.) <\/em>I covered up pretty good but still got a couple bites, one on my right tricep that still itches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next<\/em><\/strong> Tuesday I hope to get in a 7-mile hike along some local golf cart paths, with a full pack but no camp chair. And I plan to take a break for lunch, at a local sports bar, with a prophylactic<\/a> beer, just to get into the Camino rhythm. And by the way, I have a hard and fast rule for those Camino hikes: I never<\/strong><\/em> have a lunch-beer before noon. (Well, “Hardly Ever<\/a>!”)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally – and BTW – I’ll have 48 hours in Rome before heading up to Assisi. (Between getting settled in my B&B and taking the train.) <\/em>But once we finish the hike we’ll have three full <\/strong><\/em>days for touristy stuff in the Vatican City area. (Across the Tiber and three miles from Roma Termini.) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned for updates!<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\"Isola
The Isola Tiberina in the middle of the Tiber River in Rome…<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The upper image is courtesy of Roman Holiday Film – Image Results<\/a>. See also Roman Holiday – Wikipedia<\/a>, on the 1953 American romantic comedy<\/a> starring Audrey Hepburn<\/a> “as a princess out to see Rome on her own and Gregory Peck<\/a> as a reporter.” Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress<\/a> for her performance. The film was shot on location<\/a> around Rome<\/a> during the “Hollywood on the Tiber<\/a>” era. “In 1999, Roman Holiday was selected for preservation in the United States<\/a> National Film Registry<\/a> by the Library of Congress<\/a> as being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.'”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: The much better deal on getting from Rome to Assisi. My train leaves at noon instead of the crack of dawn, and gets to Assisi by way of Foligno a couple hours later. And a confusing note: The “Trenitalia” train ticket lists the day first, then the month, as for example “22\/09\/22,” instead of the American way, “09\/22\/22.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: The 17.4-pound backpack. The ideal for Camino hikers is ten percent of your body weight, which in my case would be about 150 pounds.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: “Hardly ever!” See H.M.S. Pinafore “What, Never? [Well,] Hardly Ever!” – eNotes.com<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lower image is courtesy of Isola Tiberina – Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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*   *   *   * Saturday, August 20, 2022 – A week from today I’ll be flying over to Rome. (The one in Italy.) I previewed this adventure back on April 17, 2022, in Getting ready for Rome \u2013 and \u201cthe Way of St. Francis.” That post told of a new adventure, starting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13414"}],"version-history":[{"count":58,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13521,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13414\/revisions\/13521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}