Via Appia Antica

On our last day in Rome we chose to get a little out of town and find the Appian Way.

This road which was regarded as Europe’s first super highway was built in 312BC and connected Rome with Capua in the Provence of  Caserta and initially was used to move military troops.

To get there we caught a train from Roma San Pietro station and changed to the Metro at Valle Aurelia and got off at Colli Albani to walk the 750m to the start of the road - well that is what Google Maps said,  but after walking and walking for a couple of kilometres the only street we saw was the one we were walking on.

We got to an area where there was a mineral water bottling plant, Egeria, where folk were driving in with crates of empty bottles and filling them up

Even the bird enjoyed being sprayed with water 

By now we had tongues hanging out so stopped there and brought a couple of bottles to sustain ourselves and asked a gentleman how to find the Appian Way. He kindly gave us instructions and suggested we were about a 15 minute walk away, so we set off again.

Sure enough we finally got to it but by now it was lunchtime so we gladly sat down at a very rustic cafe to have a bite

Replenished we then set off along this cobblestone road (not easy walking) back in the direction of Colli Albani (or so we thought)

On the route there are various catacombs and we planned to visit one. We arrived at the first but chose to pass that one by 

So continued onto the next

and went to buy tickets but you can only enter with a guide and the next English tour was not for another hour so with another only 500 metres down the road we set off again but when we got there this one was closed for a siesta break so in the end we didn’t get to enter any catacomb.

Off we trundled to get to the metro at Colli Albini but after some further walking one started to get the feeling that the metro was some distance away as the built up area to both sides of the Appian Way were well away in the distance so when we came to a bike rental outlet the sensible thing was to ask where (t… f…) were we.

The metro we came on was the red line but we were advised that to get there we would need to get a bus, however the blue line was a 30 minute walk away so off we went again to get to Garbatella station, catch the metro which seem to run around every 7-9 minutes and after changing to the red line at Termini got back to the Vatican area and finally into the air conditioned apartment.

We can now tick off walking on Italy’s 2300 year old super highway and it was also nice to get away from the crowds and out into the country even if it was a 38 degree day.

As we reflect on our stay in Rome we think we can safely say that we have seen most of what it has to offer tourists.

We fly out of Rome at midday tomorrow (10pm Monday NZT) and arrive in Singapore 10am Tuesday NZT for a 3 day stopover before flying out close to midnight Friday night getting to Auckland just after midday on Saturday.

Kms driven to date 5389

Kms walked to date 713.2

Spent on Diesel €340.53 (estimate before trip €479)

Highest price paid for diesel €1.84/L Matera

Lowest price paid for diesel €1.479/L Freiburg

Spent on tolls €118.40 (estimate before trip €103.00)