Travel Marathon

27 hours, door to door. It sounds pretty miserable, but was actually ideal. 2 hours west from Halifax to Toronto; 90 minutes southwest from Toronto to D.C.; 6 hours west by northwest (right over top of Halifax) to Amsterdam; finish up with 90 minutes south to Rome. I did, on the bright side, manage to catch up with a friend in Toronto then have breakfast with the parents in Holland.

The most recorded song of all time

After awakening from cemetery quality sleep on Friday morning, I joined a highly entertaining walkabout tour of Rome featuring stops at numerous basilicas and assorted ruins. The highlight of the tour was watching a well-clad accordionist prepare for his daily busking routine in a beautiful, wide stone stairwell (leafy photo), only to kick it off with Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” Illusions dashed.

Seriously Good Food

I thought I had figured out what pizza was all about on New Years’ 2009. I had not. Seated at an iron table in a pedestrians-only alley, I was served simply the finest rendition of margherita I could possibly have imagined. Brushed olive oil and a bit of salt on the outer crust. Do it, pizza makers. 

Compulsory Attractions

I visited the vatican strictly adhering to the adage, "when in Rome..." I'm generally disappointed by classic tourist destinations (I had no philosophical grounds to be there), but St. Peter's Basilica was absolutely amazing.

While I'm long finished with holding on to cars and running red lights, I still have a bit of the bike messenger dare-devil style in my riding. I like fast descents, but I always stay well within safe limits.

Last weekend, I built the pictured contraption out of an old stem, a fork, a few inner tubes, and some rope. Its purpose was to mount my camera to the bike, offerring an interesting perspective of riding. Somehow, having a camera mounted at my hip, the redline on my safety guage shifted a bit. The following video is the result.

The road in question is North Mountain, descending towards Pleasant Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The reported distance at the end includes the climb and descent.