Yep. Those words flew out of my mouth so many times this past week I lost count. The phrase started off as a joke with my training buddy but we quickly realized that it really just is a half marathon. 13.1 miles. Va bene. Nothing like the mileage we've been logging along our path to the Rome Marathon now in just under 3 weeks.
Le Piume Nere headed north in our bus where we laughed about previous trips, other races, and ate fabulously appropriate pre-race day food like Thin Mints, M&Ms, and chips. Once entering the city our first stop was in the EUR district which was just outside the city walls "way back when." Our destination was San Paolo alle Tre Fontane which is the location that Paul was martyred.
The chapel was beautifully decorated from what we could see since mass was occurring. The three fountains inside supposedly sprung up in each place Paul's head landed after being decapitated. Turns out the fountains were actually closed up in more recent years due to pollution. The Abbey area was also gorgeous: tree lined walk ways, birds flying through the air chirping happy songs, statues scattered. No real reminder that just on the other side of the wall was the busy city.
After milling around until
almost sunset we loaded back up for the dinner location. I still have no idea where we actually were. I should have turned the GPS on because after a while it was a game of "where are they taking us?" Finally the bus stopped and we were told it was time to get out for a "short walk." No problem right? Well, you'd think that considering 90% of those getting off the bus were running a half marathon the next day. Yeah, you'd think. Not really the case but it was getting late and I for one was ready to eat. We walked through a neighborhood to get to the place and found our typical 2 huge tables waiting for us. Food starting pouring out of the kitchen and then it was "pizza no stop" time. Pizza no stop is the glorious pizza meal where they keep bringing out different pizzas. I think we got through 5 or 6 types before turning over the peg from the green to the red saying "basta!"
All the pizza brought out was similar to ones I've tried before, with the exception of the one with red lentils. Yep, lentils. It was absolutely yummy because the pizza dough in Rome is much more like a fried flat bread or tortilla. So if you can imagine this type of crust with lentils and cheese, it almost tasted like something Mexican or in the least, not something too Italian. The final pizza was con nutella ma, it wasn't the best one I've had so it was onto the café and lemoncello. This of course was dopo i litri di vino, birra, e acqua.Looking around the table seeing all the seats full while hearing the laughter, chatter, and clatter of dishes is a crazy experience. It's like a huge reception but not because we're all at the same table! I'm telling you dinning with fellow LPN members makes me really feel like an authentic Italian family. Of course this family consists of a whole lot of Americans, British, Italians, Spanish, Germans, Romanians, French, Canadians, and others but when we're all together we're a regular United Nations!
While we waited for the bus back on the street we were entertained by the radar speed sign. When a car passed by at a certain speed higher than the posted limit a -5 would appear. Who knows what this meant but we figured it wasn't good and were very amused when we saw it several times...including as our bus pulled up!
We had one last stop before the hotel....a drive by of the Colosseo at night. It was beautiful. So beautiful. Even more so than this awesome picture Lori captured from the bus driver's window.
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