The Final Leg

Hello! As I’m starting this post (I usually don’t write it all in one sitting) I’m standing in the longest line I’ve ever seen. It’s Sunday mass in the Vatican and I’m a quarter mile from the high security scanners most likely in response to the unfortunate events taken place in Paris the other night. The police are on high alert and are seen on nearly every street corner. 
Joe and I got here in Rome on the 12th after leaving Florence on the 9th. We only made it 40 km out from Florence on the first day which left us with 380 km over 3 days. The first night back on the road we came across a massive abandoned farmhouse and after spending north of an hour exploring every inch of it including the roof we found a perfect room with a fireplace to set up our beds. Having not made a fire the whole trip, we took the opportunity to do so and cracked out our bottle of red label whiskey we had left over from Florence. 
Next next morning we woke up at 5:30 to start another century ride and what turned out to be one of our hardest days. The hills were persistent with a gradient just steep enough to significantly slow our place. Our goal for the day was to reach a natural hot springs and the thought of it pushed us on. Long past dark at around 8 pm we eventually arrived at the the steaming springs. While finishing the whiskey we soaked for several hours and called it a day. 
I could most certainly feel the 11 hours in the saddle from the day before. Thankfully the terrain eased up on us and our sore legs the next couple days. As I rode, I could feel the powerful presence of the past and the rich history of the land we covered. Even more so here in Rome. 
We’ve been in Rome for what is now four days. Two days longer than expected. A package sent from home contained a new laptop and more importantly, a restock of Joe’s diabetes supplies. We’re anxious to get going but need to remind ourselves that being held up in Rome is hardly a negative. We’ve seen some incredible things and had a great place to stay. 
Joe’s girlfriend’s best friend is here on more unfortunate circumstances. She flew out here to see her boyfriend who was in the hospital after a serious vascular complication while traveling. We were able to crash at her rented Air B&B for 3 days. The first day in we headed straight for Vatican City with the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the world. Throughout the trip, the structures have dated back further and further. In the Basilica, I saw columns from the original building in the 4th century. The Sistine Chapel was an amazing piece of art the could easily take 30 minutes to fully enjoy it. 
The next day we saw the Pantheon Church and it’s massive dome structure. 
We then returned to the Vatican for Sunday mass. The pope gave a speech to a crowd of nearly 10,000 people packed in the the square outside the church. 
Instead of waiting for the package we’ve decided to have it rerouted to a location in Naples, a two days ride.
It’s now the morning of the 17th. Hard to believe we only have slightly over 3 weeks of biking till Istanbul and the end of Europe. In several days we’ll be on a ferry headed across the Adriatic Sea to Albania! It marks the beginning of the final leg of Europe. I’m ready for less tourists and not these massive cities every several days. Eastern Europe will be a great transition into Asia with it’s countries I know very little about. The amount of things I can say about Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Romania amount to few, leaving large amounts to explore.
Yet again my phone is unable to upload photos. Sorry for the short and some what rushed post. It isn’t the greatest typing on a small iPhone keypad. I’ll try again to get photos up in a couple of days.
It’ll be a while till my next post but it’ll have a lot of content. We’re hiking up mt. Vesuvius, leaving Western Europe, crossing Albania and into Macedonia all within 9 days or so. I’ll get back to you all then!