In 2012, Deb and I took a vacation in Venice, and I ran the
Venice Marathon. Of all the trips we’ve
taken, this was Deb’s favorite. Since
then, we’ve wanted to go to Rome, but for one reason or another, it was never a
good time for us to travel there together.
This year, we were finally able to make that trip.
I always combine travel with marathons. When we started planning a Rome trip, I was thinking
of running the Rome Marathon, which is in April. As I started looking into the details of that
race, I discovered there was a legal squabble.
Roma Capitale was awarded the contract to manage the race in 2019, but Associazione
Italia Marathon Club, who managed the race previously, claimed they still owned
the rights for two more years. Associazione
Italia Marathon Club appealed to a regional administrative court. I didn’t know how long it would take for
this situation to get resolved, and in the meantime, I couldn’t enter the race.
Deb and I started considering other alternatives. One possibility was to do sightseeing in Rome
and then make a side trip to another city in Italy where I could run a
marathon. For example, I could have done
the Pisa Marathon in December. Another
possibility was to combine our Rome vacation with a side trip to a nearby
country with a marathon. Malta, for
example, has a marathon in February.
That would have made the travel arrangements more complicated, but it
would have given me a new country. I’ve
already run a marathon in Italy.
As we were considering our options, I learned that Brent
Weigner was organizing a small low-key marathon in the Vatican. That fit into our plans perfectly. The Vatican City (a.k.a. Holy See) is
completely enclosed by Rome, but it’s an independent country.
As we started pricing flights to Rome, I noticed the airfare
was less expensive if we stayed at least seven days. Eight days seemed to be the sweet spot. That gave us enough time to also spend a few
days in Florence. We could take a train
from Rome to Florence, and flying home from Florence didn’t cost any more than
flying home from Rome.
Tuesday, January 15
We arrived in Rome around noon, after an overnight flight to
Amsterdam and a late morning flight from there to Rome. We took an express train from the airport to
Rome’s central train station. Our hotel
was only a few blocks from the train station.
We stayed at Hotel Mediterraneo. This hotel was a well-located. In addition to being close to the train
station, it was also close to a transit station that was at the intersection of
Rome’s two main subway lines.
After checking in and doing a little bit of unpacking, we
started our sightseeing with a self-guided walking tour of central Rome. Rome has numerous town squares, called piazzas. Most of the piazzas have fountains, and each
fountain is a work of art. The closest
piazza to our hotel was Piazza della Repubblica, where we saw the Fountain of
the Naiads. Next we stopped by Piazza
Barberini, which is home to Tritan Fountain.
The most famous fountain in Rome is Trevi Fountain. You can’t capture all the artwork in a single
picture.
Our next stop was Piazza di Spagna, which was named for the
Spanish Embassy to the Holy See. Here we
saw Fontana della Barcaccia and the “Spanish steps.”
From Piazza di Spagna, we walked to Piazza Augusto
Imperatore, which is right on the bank of the
This piazza is named for the Emporer Augustus. It’s the site of an above-ground mausoleum,
which holds his remains. The mausoleum
was fenced off for excavation, so we had to settle for the view from behind the
fence. This piazza is also home to Fontana
della Botticella.
Piazza Navona is a long rectangular plaza that has three
fountains. At the north end is a
fountain depicting Neptune and an octopus.
The central fountain is the Fountain of Four Rivers, with different
sculptures on each side. Finally, Fontana
del Moro is located at the south end of the piazza.
Our next stop was the Pantheon. The
outside of this temple is 2000 years old.
The ornate artwork on the inside, however is only five centuries old.
In between these stops, we passed other interesting buildings,
monuments and ruins. We also stopped at
a few shops.
The last fountain we visited on Tuesday was the Fountain of
the Turtles in Piazza Mattei.
By now, we had walked more than five miles, and Deb’s feet
were getting sore from all the cobblestones.
We wanted to take a Lyft back to the hotel, but Lyft isn’t available in
Rome, and we haven’t installed the Uber app yet. Instead, we walked back. Our route, by chance, brought us by the
Vittoriano, which is a monument to Italy’s first king.
After a much needed break, we went to dinner at Ristorante
Alessio. I was able to have pizza, while
Deb had cacio e pepe, a pasta dish which is a staple of Roman cuisine. After dinner, our server gave us each a shot
of limoncello. I think I have a new
favorite drink.
Neither of us slept on our overnight flight, so we struggled
to get through the day. We held out
until 8:30, but then we had to go to bed.
Deb slept OK. I only slept for an
hour or two, so I was a wreck on Wednesday.
Wednesday, January 16
After having breakfast at the hotel, we took a guided tour
of ancient Rome. We met our guide across the street from the Colosseum.
We started outside, as our guide explained the history and
architecture of the Colosseum. After we
entered, we gradually worked our way up and around the first two levels. From the second level, we could see part of
the floor, as well as ongoing excavation of the passages underneath.
After leaving the Colosseum, we walked past other ancient
ruins. We also walked on portions of the
original cobblestone roads.
Our next stop was the Roman Forum, where we learned about
Julius Caesar.
After the Roman Forum, we walked to the top of Palatine Hill,
which used to be reserved for men of power and privilege.
When we got back to the hotel, we had to take a break. We did miles of walking, including
cobblestones and tall steps. When we
were ready to go out again, we had a late lunch at another restaurant near our
hotel. Deb tried a different pasta dish,
and I tried a different style of pizza.
After lunch, we went to the Basilica di San Giovanni in
Laterano. This was the first Christian
basilica built in Rome. From the 4th
century until the 14th century, it was the Pope’s main place of worship. The Pope still presides over this basilica as
the Bishop of Rome.
Next, we saw the Santuario della Scala Santa & Sancta
Sanctorum. The Scala Santa is said to be
the same set of stairs that Jesus climbed in the palace of Pontius Pilate in
Jerusalem. These steps were transported
to Rome in the 4th century and are considered sacred. Church doctrine says that you can only climb
them on your knees, saying a prayer on each step.
These steps lead to the Sanctum Sanctorum (Holiest of
Holies), which was once the pope’s private chapel.
We were still full from a huge lunch, so in lieu of dinner,
we stopped for gelato on our way back to the hotel. In general, our meals were so filling that we
could have lunch or dinner, but not both in the same day.
We went to bed earlier that night. I slept better than I did the first night,
but I still couldn’t sleep through the night.
Thursday, January 17
Thursday morning, we took a guided tour of the Vatican. On our way there, we noticed the subway was
unusually crowded. Transit workers were
going on strike at 8:30. Most local
residents, knowing that, made a point of leaving early enough to get to their
destinations before the trains stopped running.
Our tour started at 8:30, so we got there OK. Getting back to the hotel afterwards was
another matter.
It was a small group tour, limited to 10 people. As it happens, there were only three of us,
plus the tour guide. That made it
possible for our guide to talk to us without using headsets. It also allowed her to show us more areas than
she could with a larger group.
After a quick look at the Vatican Gardens, we toured the
Vatican Museums. There are 22 museums in
all, and we visited most of them. Our
guide was very knowledgeable about art, and the history of the Vatican.
After the museums, we saw the Sistine Chapel. The frescoes were cleaned in the 90s, and the
colors are surprisingly vivid.
After the Sistine Chapel, we toured St. Peter’s Basilica.
We saw the tombs of several popes, including John Paul II.
I was hoping to have lunch at the Vatican after our
tour. There are cafeterias inside the
Vatican Museums, and one of them is a pizzeria, so I thought I would have an
opportunity to have pizza in a new country.
Unfortunately, the museums were the first part of our tour, and we had
to leave the museums to go to St. Peter’s Basilica. Once you leave the museums, you can’t go back
without waiting in line and getting new tickets.
Outside the basilica, we saw two of the Swiss guards.
I don’t know what the occasion was, but there was some kind
of festival going on in St. Peter’s Square and the nearby streets.
Because the subway wasn’t running, we had to walk back to
our hotel. We made the most of it by
doing some shopping and sightseeing along the way. We also stopped twice for gelato. Two of the buildings we saw on our way were
Castel Sant’ Angela and the Supreme Court building.
After a rest break at the hotel, as visited Basilica Papale
di Santa Maria Maggiore, which was only a short walk from our hotel.
We finished our day with dinner at a restaurant near the
basilica. As usual, Deb had pasta and I
had pizza.
Friday night was the first night that I slept well all
night. I really needed that.
Friday, January 18
This was the first morning that we didn’t have to set an
alarm. We slept a little later and had a
leisurely breakfast at the hotel.
After breakfast, we went to Villa Borghese. This is a large park that was once the estate
of Cardinal Scipione Borghese. We entered the park near Porta Pinciata, a 5th
century arched gate through the ancient city wall.
Our first stop inside the park was Museo e Galleria Borghese,
which houses one of the world’s finest private art collections. In addition to the permanent collection of
sculptures and paintings, we saw a temporary exhibit of Picasso sculptures.
After touring the gallery, we went outside to see the
gardens.
We were just starting to explore the interior of the park
when we got caught in a brief rain shower.
After that, we returned to the hotel.
After drying off and changing into dry clothes, we went to
lunch at Santa Maria Osteria. Deb had
cacio e pepe again, and I tried a different style of pizza. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon
shopping and relaxing at the hotel.
In the evening, we went over to the Rome Marriott Grand
Flora Hotel for a pre-race meeting with the other runners who were doing the
marathon. Brent briefed us on the course
and went over the race rules.
After we got back, we stopped at a grocery store and got
some pastry. I ate some of the pastry as
a light dinner, and I saved the rest for race day.
Saturday, January 18
Saturday was race day.
I had to leave before the hotel started its breakfast service, so I ate
more of the pastry we bought the night before.
I met other runners at the Marriott, and we shared a cab
ride to the Vatican. They don’t open the
gates until 7:00, so while we waited, a few of us went to a nearby McDonald’s
for coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker,
but it was a chance to sit down indoors.
Also, they had bathrooms.
Although the main gate isn’t opened until 7:00, one of the runners
knew about another gate on the side that opened earlier.
At 7:00, we all assembled near the Vatican Obelisk for a
pre-race photos. Then we started the
race. At this hour of the morning, we
were the only people in St. Peter’s square, other than a few nuns and the
security guards.
We all started out walking.
We walked as a group to the gate on the north side of St. Peter’s
Square. As soon as we left the square,
we were outside the Vatican, but then we ran all the way around the Vatican,
staying on the sidewalk adjacent to the Vatican walls. Actually, we mostly walked. In some spots, there’s very little room
between the road and the wall. In other
spots, we had to go up or down steps.
There weren’t any aid stations, so we were each required to
carry our own hydration system. I had a
fuel belt that held a single 22 oz. bottle, and I also had a hand-held
bottle. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be
enough fluid for an entire marathon, but temperatures were in the 40s, and I
made a point of not dressing too warm.
As we were almost done running/walking around the Vatican, I
saw a fountain on the outside of the wall, so I topped off the bottle I was
drinking from. Does that mean I was
drinking holy water?
We re-entered St. Peter’s Square from a gate on the south
side, and then ran out through the main gate.
We had to go a few blocks alongside a busy street, and we crossed two
intersections. There’s a bridge over the
Tiber that’s just across from Castel Sant’ Angela. Next to the bridge, there’s a long set of
steps leading down to a bike path. This
was the end of the slow part of the course.
For the first two and a half miles, I was mostly walking. Once we were on the bike path, we had a good
running surface, and we never had to cross another street. Now we could run freely.
As we each went down the steps, Sue Weigner recorded each
runner's number, to make sure everyone made it through the first part of the
course and onto the bike path.
The rest of the course was an out-and-back on the bike path
that we ran five times. Most of the
time, we were right alongside the river.
As we got closer to the turnaround, we climbed a hill up to street
level. As we completed each lap, Sue
took down our numbers.
I started the race wearing gloves and a Tyvek jacket, but I
shed them as soon as I started to warm up.
Every now and then, I took a small sip of water, but I was rationing my
water carefully.
Where the bike path climbed up to the street, there was
another path that continued alongside the river. By the time we reached this point, we were
already getting spread out enough that you couldn’t always see the next runner
in front of you. In the first lap,
several runners went the wrong way.
Later, as I saw runners who were confused about the course, I explained
where they were supposed to turn. By the
second lap, everyone had it figured out.
In a race as small as this, I don’t expect any crowd
support, but there was a local runner who yelled out encouragement in Italian,
each time we passed each other. I think
he recognized my T-shirt from the Venice Marathon.
Toward the end of my second lap, I felt a few raindrops. I knew rain was a possibility, but I wasn’t
expecting it this soon. Early in my
third lap, I felt more drops. The
pavement was wet, and I could see rain hitting the river. I had to stop and put on my jacket again.
For the next several miles, I was cold. Thick cloud cover meant no warmth from the
sun. I was also noticing more wind. On the bright side, I wasn’t perspiring too
much, so I didn’t need to drink much.
Halfway through the race, I was still on my first water bottle.
Eventually, the rain stopped, but I was still cold, so I
kept my jacket on. By the time I
finished my third lap of the out-and-back, I was done with my first bottle, so
I dropped it off where Sue was waiting.
It was a relief to no longer have to carry a bottle. Aside from the extra weight, it made my hand
cold.
I eventually warmed up, but I kept my jacket on. I unzipped it, but I was afraid I’d get too
cold if I took it off completely. I was
beginning to perspire more, but by now, I was confident I had enough water for
the rest of the race.
With about eight miles to go, I was tiring noticeably. I wasn’t going particularly fast, but I
always tire faster when I have to carry water with me. I really notice the extra weight.
I pressed on at the best pace I could manage, but I could
tell I was slowing down. With about two
miles to go, the sun came out, and I immediately started to get hot. I had to stop again to take off my jacket.
I finished the race in 4:34:10. I ran negative splits by about 11
minutes. It’s worth noting, however,
that I walked most of the first two and a half miles.
It didn’t cost anything to enter this race, but Brent still
provided finisher medals.
I wasn’t expecting any post-race food, but one of the other
runners provided cookies for everyone.
It’s always nice to have something to eat after a race. It’s especially nice when you’ve had nothing
but water during the race.
After the race, I still had to walk almost a mile to get to
the nearest subway station, so I could get back to the hotel. I was wearing damp running clothes, and I
didn’t have any extra layers. Now that I
was no longer running, I got cold quickly.
I was about halfway to the station when I realized I forget to retrieve
my hand-held water bottle. I couldn’t
bring myself to go back, knowing how much extra time I would need to spend
outdoors in the cold.
While I was running, Deb was able to do some shopping. Her lower back was bothering her, and she had
blisters and sore muscles from all the walking we did over the previous four
days, so she stayed within a few blocks of our hotel.
When I got back to the hotel, I finished the rest of the
pastry I bought Friday night. Then Deb
got back. She hadn’t had anything to eat
since breakfast, and she was hungry for lunch.
She didn’t have to twist my arm much.
We went to another of the many Italian restaurants near our hotel. This time we both had pizza. We were both so stuffed that we didn’t need
to have dinner that night, other than a few beverages we picked up at a mini
market.
Sunday, January 20
After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and took a
train to Florence. It took about 90 minutes
to get to Florence.
We stayed at a boutique hotel called Hotel Paris. These were the views from our room.
In the afternoon, we took a free walking tour of
Florence. They have different tours in
the morning and afternoon. The afternoon
tour is focused on the art and architecture of the Renaissance. The highlight of the tour was Cattedrale di
Santa Maria del Fiore (a.k.a the Duomo).
One of the more unusual sights was a church built inside
a former grain market.
We finished our tour at the Basilica di Santa Croce di
Firenze. It has been called the Pantheon
of Florence. The tombs of many of the
greatest artists and writers of Florence are beneath this church.
After our tour, we had an early dinner at Osteria de’
Peccatori. We enjoyed our entrees, but
the desserts were even better.
Monday, January 21
On Monday, we took an all-day guided tour called The Best of
Tuscany. This tour gave us a chance to
see a few other towns in Tuscany. We
travelled by motor coach, which left from the central train station.
Our first stop was Sienna. We saw the large town square where the town’s
17 districts compete every summer in a horse race. We also saw the Sienna Duomo.
The floor of the Duomo features 56 marble images designed by 40
different artists. Staining the marble
is a painstaking process that took hundreds of years to complete.
Next we traveled to a farm in the Chianti region, where we
had lunch. They served a four
course meal made from locally grown ingredients. Each course was paired with a different local
wine.
After lunch, we continued to San Gimignano. San Gimignano is one the best preserved towns
from the medieval period.
San Gimignano is built on the top of a hill. From the town, you can see the surrounding
Tuscan countryside.
Our last stop was Pisa.
We arrived just after sunset, so we barely had time to take pictures of
the leaning tower before it got too dark.
The leaning tower, as it’s known today, was originally supposed to be
the bell tower for the Pisa Duomo.
We also barely had time to see the cathedral before it was
closed to tourists for the day.
We got back around 8:00 and still had to walk back to our
hotel from the train station. We got to
bed later than night, but we both slept well.
Tuesday, January 22
After breakfast, we went shopping at the central
market. There’s a large building next to
the market square where dozens of different vendors sell different kinds of
food. On the nearby streets, streets
vendors sell clothing, leather goods, and various souvenirs.
Later in the morning, we went on a guided tour of the
Florence Academy of Fine Arts. There are
paintings and sculptures by other artists, but the gallery is dedicated mostly
to the work of Michelangelo. The
highlight of the gallery is the original copy of his sculpture of David. I've seen pictures before, but it's much more impressive in person.
After the tour, we went back to the central market. Then we stopped for lunch on our way back to
the hotel. As we left the restaurant, we
couldn’t resist stopping next door for gelato.
We had gelato several times in Rome, Florence, and San Gimignano. This cup has Nutella, cocoa, and pistachio.
Later in the afternoon, we had a guided tour of the Uffizi
Gallery. There are works of art from
different periods, but our guide focused on important works by artists
connected to Florence, such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, Leonardo daVinci, and
Rafael.
Wednesday, January 23
We had an early flight to Amsterdam, so we had to leave the
hotel at 4:30 AM, so we could get to the airport right when the check-in counters
were opening. Because we checked out before breakfast, the
hotel gave us each a to-go breakfast. We
ate about half of it while we were waiting for our taxi and the other half
after we got to the airport.
Our flight to Amsterdam was relatively short, but then we
had a long layover and an eight hour flight to Minneapolis. It was a long travel day. I was tempted to try to nap on the flight,
but I forced myself to stay awake so I would have an easier time getting to
sleep after we got home. The jet lag
always seems to be worse coming home.
The meal on our flight home was pasta. As if we didn't get enough in Italy.
The meal on our flight home was pasta. As if we didn't get enough in Italy.
Race Statistics
Distance: 26.2 miles
Time: 4:34:10
Average Pace: 10:28
Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:
365
Countries: 33
