St. Francis' Way - Page 11

Rome

Today we gave ourselves the full blast of Rome. A pilgrim from Switzerland joined our tour. I knew the historical places through my studies, 14 days we turned every stone twice here with our professor. We started in good weather with the Forum Boarium, the Circus Maximus and the Colloseum. Via the Capitol our further tour led past the Piazza Venezia and Trajan's Column to the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore. After a strengthening Capuccino we stopped by Roma Termini, a kind of central station, to see when our airport shuttle would leave tomorrow. The historical part was followed by the tourist attractions.

Via the Piazza della Repubblica we went on to the Trevi Fountain, then to the Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. Huge numbers of people were on the move here. In between we ate a pizza to strengthen, mass feeding, hardly one has eaten up, comes the bill. Which means: Free up space for the next guests 🙂. At the end, the highlight was waiting - the Vatican Basilica San Pietro in Vaticano. After the again strict control - constantly Manu must try to smuggle water somewhere grrr - we entered this incredibly magnificent testimony of Christian power and wealth. For the 4th time I stand here again full of humility and admiration, what humans can create so.

Manu sent some postcards with the Vatican mail before we went back to Trastevere. Here we visited another bar and took our time to look back on the last weeks full of impressions. After a few beers we went to dinner at the hostel, I was asked to read the English text for the foot washing of newly arrived pilgrims. Manu had to laugh because it must not have sounded so tingly with my beer consumption 🙂. Dinner lasted longer, two Belgian women had much to tell about the Via francigena. Is also a wonderful way, I would put it on a par with the St. Francis Way that we have now walked, in terms of the beauty of the landscape and places. But the Way of St. Francis is much quieter, but also more difficult to walk. Yes, I know, every path is unique 🙂.

Today, after the 2nd day, we had to leave the pilgrim hostel, but we were still allowed to leave our backpacks here until the afternoon. First we wanted to complete the Way of St. Francis by visiting the statue of St. Francis in front of the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. Again passing the Colloseum and an excavation of an ancient gladiator school, we moved out of the city center. Once there, we thanked Francis for this journey and for his protective hand over us. Manu then went to the Lateran Basilica again before we made our way through the suburbs towards the Via appia, which was a bit nerve-wracking. The last part, past the catacombs was extremely dangerous, lots of traffic on narrow streets, we were glad when we eventually stood on the old pavement of the Via appia.

Here it was suddenly quiet and after a visit to a cafe we tackled the eternally long and dead straight famous street. Long we wandered, past villas, ancient tombs and beautiful greenery. Cyclists, hikers, riders and joggers came to meet us, it is a relaxing place for the Romans here. But at some point we had to turn back. From the beginning of the Via appia to the center we took the bus, the dangerous road we did not have to walk again. As always unclear, where we should buy the bus ticket, we drove this time without paying 🙂. We got our backpacks from the hostel and walked in the late afternoon down on the Tiber bank towards the center.

We had plenty of time, because for today we had no accommodation, we wanted to spend the night at the airport. Because we did not like to rely on the only shuttle in the morning. The flight left at 8:55. It was a beautiful final scenery, sunset on the Tiber. Passed the Mausoleum of Augustus and the evening visit to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, we finally arrived at Stazione Termini, picked up 2 more farewell Moretti and waited. They tried to sell us some fake tickets sell, a common scam here.

When the bus arrived, the salesman had disappeared as if swallowed by the ground. Arriving at the airport, we looked for a bench to sleep and when we lay down, they said the terminal would close. Great, so off into the open arrival terminal, here are hardly any free sleeping places on the ground. Finally, we rested but a few hours. One were careful in the airport, if we left our backpacks alone, we were immediately alerted by the security personnel. Our flight to Schönefeld went on time and the Flixbus brought us safely to the land of the Saxons 🙂. That's it, good times fly by.