Yesterdays tour in Rome was a mammoth of a ride. The city was pratically encircled by the metal barriers used to keep the runners of Romes marathon going in the right direction!
At one point, we actually we forced to ride on the inside of the barrier just because their was no space to move otherwise, bikes are cumbersome when you have to puch them in amongst the crowd. We had managed to avoid most of the marathon by the time we reached the spanish steps but here we were forced to ride along side the runners till we got to the Trevi. It was here that I had to explain our situation to the slightly irate policeman who hgave us the green light to continue- how nice of him 
THe next stop, the big white monument in Piazza Venezia saw us having to get off the bikes yet again. This time however it wasn’t because of the marathon but the police had cordoned off the road to allow the President of the Italian Repubblic through. Georgio Napolitano is highly respected and was there in person to lay a wreath at the Victorio Emanuel monument to celebrate the anniversary of the Italian Repubblic. We didnt hang aout though, as the Dan and Becky had been up all day cycling with me around Rome after having just arrived in Rome from an overnight flight from the states.
Yawwwnnnnnn