Day 371 – EU – Italy [Bracciano to Rome]


10/04/24

39km

  From Bracciano (Italu) to Rome (Italy)

Europe


A beautiful start at sunrise out of Bracciano followed by an abrupt landing into a very urban landscape

Sunrise over Bracciano lake

It was super cool to have breakfast in Bracciano this morning whilst watching the sun rise above the lake and the distant mountains. Vittoria, my host, appeared in the living room just as I was hoisting BoB the stroller down the stairs. She wrote me a very kind note and also helped me get my gear down the alley and onto the road. I was ready to leave, looking forward to another peaceful and beautiful day on the road.

Countryside out of Bracciano

The first part of the road went really well. Secondary road, stunning landscapes, the air was warm, I took a few breaks which were always in nice countryside places – one of them where a local dog adopted me straight away, coming to my side, sitting down next to me placing its paws on my shoes! Then, as I approached km30, things started to get real bad!

Traffic got really heavy. A lot of honking, cars getting mad at each other, windows rolling down to allow for flow of raging insults to come out of said car. I was suddenly very unwelcomed on the road, having to squeeze on the side and on broken down pavements. Oh, I really don’t like running into big cities as it is often so hard. Especially with a stroller.

Into Rome via the Piazza del Popolo

I have a lot of sympathy for people in wheelchairs as I often wonder (wheelchairs being roughly as wide as BoB) how they cope. People place bins in the middle of pavements, some dog’s poops are not picked up, some up and downs are not materialised, and how are you supposed to go down a high pavement onto the road and back up 50cm or more higher up to the next sidewalk. It baffles me. I often end up on the road and cars today made sure I would get an earful of the expression of their discontent at my sharing that precious road with them. Damn.

It was a very stressful 10km getting into Rome. By the time I reached my accommodation, in the early afternoon, I was extremely tensed and grumpy. Not the best version of me let me tell you that! I will rest and relax today and prepare my program for tomorrow. I really want to see Rome and I am hoping Sunday in Rome will be a little less intense than Saturday lunchtime was!



Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: