Day 20, Anguillara Sabazia to Rome, Italy

On my way to Rome I stopped at the sea side town of Ladispoli, expecting to find a little sleepy town. But alas, being right by the sea it was extremely busy! I had fun finding a park, but my parking fairy so far has been kind to me and found me one quite quickly. I have to laugh though, quite a number of times already I have spotted small cars (like a Smart car) parked nose or bum

Turtles in a fountain in Ladispoli

first in a park, see attached picture. Who says owners of smart cars aren't smart! The other thing I noticed on my drive here  was every kilometres or two there was a woman on the side of the road, parked up with a sun umbrella, folding chair and just sitting there. The first one I saw I thought maybe she's hitch hiking, but no, not with a sun umbrella. The second one I thought, maybe she's selling something? Finally by the third one I realised what she was selling! Haha, Manchester Street, right there on the country road!

My lovely room in Rome

Vatican City

Tonight I am in Rome, staying for two nights. I found some lovely accommodation right behind the Vatican, so my car is parked up and tomorrow I explore the city. Tonight though I went for a walk into Vatican City; the pope did not come out to say hi unfortunately. I did have dinner almost on his front door step however: the first spaghetti I have had after having been in Italy for two and a half weeks!
I have to tell you about a Dutch couple I met today, we started chatting. They biked from Holland to Rome, took the month of June to do it and they were flying home tomorrow. they were interesting enough to talk to in their own right, but then they told me about a German lady they met on their travels, who had already biked 7000 k's, she started early March, and was planning to go all the way through China. The crazy thing was that her budget per day is 7.00 Euro, which is about $11.50! That' it. She has a little tent and camps on the side of the road, eats pasta and lentils and twice a weeks treats herself and stays at a camping group. Blimmen heck, I had a beer tonight that was 8.00 Euro, so blew her daily budget in one go!
And on that note I am going to sit on my balcony with a vino and watch the world go by.