Roma... I'll try harder not to hate you this time.

I don't really like Roma. Did I say that already? Yes, I know it's the Eternal City, history all around, beautiful churches, fountains, sculptures, monuments, winding hilly cobbled streets, the ruins... all of it so iconic. I think what intrigues people most is the juxtaposition of the ancient and the modern. People living in a place that people have lived for thousands of years. But despite all of that, Roma is a big city, and I've come to realize that I don't like any big cities. At least I haven't yet been to a big city that I really liked anyway. I don't consider Philly a big city. And for the record, I have a love/hate relationship with Philly anyhow.
But this time, I am going into it a lot less fatigued, even more in love with Italy, and with an open mind. Luckily, I've already been to a lot of the big sites so I don't have to deal with all of that. Maybe not waiting on line at the Colosseum will help my mood. But I hate that things are overpriced, I hate that it is all so overwhelming, I hate having to wade through all of the tourist shops and BS. There's almost too much of everything here. It's like New York in that regard. But I'm here. I wouldn't have been here if it weren't for the Granfondo, but I've got to savor every moment and try to enjoy Roma.
I arrived here in the early afternoon. I knew exactly where I had to go, that being a major benefit of having been to this place before. What I did not take into consideration was that in addition to having to walk 700 meters from the station to my hotel, I also had to take on what must have been 500 meters of train platform. It was a real pain in the ass. I decided that packing the bike up, taking off the wheels, rear derailleur, pedals, saddle/ post and bars was way too much work to travel on a regional train for a bit over an hour. Boy, was I wrong!! Just getting to the train was a pain, carrying the gigantic bike bag, wheeling my suitcase and trying to wheel my bike. Luckily I met some nice people from Portland who helped me on and off the train, but once I got beyond that, I was on my own. It was certainly a learning experience. Now I know never to try to do that again. It must have taken me an hour to go less than a km. I was constantly switching hands, rolling positions, etc. I tried strapping the bike bag to the suitcase and wheeling it. That didn't work for long. I must have switched back and forth four times. Finally I got here somehow. If it is any consolation, the hotel is on Via Firenze. I don't think the road will take me to Firenze, but I can pretend.

Aside from eating some overpriced food, wandering a bit, finding a grocery store and some other boring stuff, the real highlight of today was visiting Cicli Lazzaretti. It must be one of Roma's olderst bike shops, in existence since 1916. The place was pretty small but they are a big-time Campagnolo center. It was a classic Italian bike shop, packed to the gills, bikes and frames hanging from everywhere, shelves up to the ceiling. It made me feel like I was back at Wheelfine Imports (if there is one thing that Michael has going for him is the true Euro bike shop experience). Highlights included a complete framed Campagnolo 50th Anniversary groupset, a set of 80th Anniversary Campy Bora wheels, a special addition Campagnolo Granfondo bike and a Colnago Ferrari "city bike" suitable for a millionaire. I can say that I was a bit disappointed in the size of the shop and the inventory, but it was a cool experience to see another legendary Italian bike shop. I think it got hyped up a little in my mind after reading about it online. Rossignoli in Milano is still the best bike shop I've been to in Italy... so far.

Once I got back to the hotel, it was too early for dinner so I went for another wander down Via Nationale. The problem with Via Natizionale is that it is dominated by clothing shops that fit into my price range. It's not the famous shopping district of big-time designers on Via del Corso, just shops with nice everyday Italian clothes made in Italy, cheap enough to be tempting, expensive enough to be quality... and run down my bank account. Like I said, I don't have the spare space or weight to bring back a lot of stuff, but some of this stuff is too good to pass up. I don't have to search for size extra small here. Hell, I shouldn't be an extra small anyhow but in America I am. My American underwear says size small/ child. WTF?! Anyway, here I'm a size medium.
Luckily I stumbled upon this place (photo below) after I bought a few shirts so I didn't have to mull over this many options. The woman in the shop said that they only have one shop in the US because people are too fat and wear their clothes too big in America. I hope one day they can open one up in New Jersey. I think they'd do really well in Jersey.

And I've definitely grown an appreciation for why my sister has so much clothing (she works in the fashion industry, and a major benefit of being short is that she is the same size as the samples, so she gets a lot of stuff really cheap or free). If you're surrounded by great clothes, you just want them all!!
Tomorrow, I hope to check out a few attractions that I didn't get to see last time, plus I have to go sign in for the Granfondo, check out the Granfondo convention, and try not to do any more shopping for the sake of my wallet and my suitcase. I think I'm already doing a better job of not hating Roma as much. I'll try to continue with that outlook tomorrow and we'll see how it goes. If only I could see Roma through the lense of "To Rome with Love" or better yet "Roman Holiday". Then we'd have something here.
P.S. Another observation is that these places are definitely more beautiful at night, at least the big cities anyway. Last time I was in Italy, we barely walked around at night. I think we really missed out.