Day 6 Rome: Appian Way and Catacomb tour

After the trip to Rome and getting settled into our very 1930's looking VRBO, we were ready to start our Roman adventures. After so many days in a row of slow museum walking, we decide to something different and what is more different than a 6.5-hour bike tour through Rome on the Appian way. We started at 9:00 am by going to TopBike Rentals to meet up with our very tall and very Dutch tour guide. The bikes were very nice Cannondales. This tour may end up costing us more than the sticker price as Bridget may want a new E mountain bike now.

We started the tour by riding through the streets of Rome on our way to the Appian way. We started out at the Santi Giovanni e Paolo & Case Romane del Celio church (where two of the other riders on the tour took a tumble), through the Aurelian Walls and onto the Appain way. The day was very hot, so we stopped for many water breaks and the awesome fountains they have throughout.

Just when the heat was getting to us, we stopped at one of the highlights of the trip, the Catacombs of San Sebastiano and not just because it was a good 25 degrees cooler inside. These catacombs were built under the church and on top of pagan necropolises. The bodies of the entombed have been reburied within the walls of the catacombs due to tourist taking souvenirs. There is even a tomb within the catacombs dedicated to San Sabastian.

We continued on the Appian way all the way out to 2,500-year-old Claudian Aqueducts build to carry water from the nearby mountains into Rome. After a lunch of some of the best Pizza we had in Rome and some well earned Gelato we made it back into the City by riding past the Circus Maximus on the way back to the shop. It was a great day.

We even stopped at a fountain that had a statue that may be of interest to Mike and Georgia.