When we awoke on our second morning in Rome, I was ~2 weeks out from a really good run. We couldn’t really run
in Cambodia, and when we got back, I had this awful run. Then, we were in Athens, and I was
sick/recovering/busy touring 2,000 year old ruins. But two weeks is just too long for me to go run-less, and my feet were itching for my sneakers.
Heading out for a first run in an
unfamiliar city can be amazing and invigorating, ridiculously frustrating, or (most
often) some combination of the two. We
try to reduce the frustration by doing some in-person reconnaissance, if
possible, and consulting maps and running forums for suggested routes. This is slightly more interesting when you’re
trying to do it in a foreign language, but thankfully, maps (usually) transcend
language.
In this particular case, we'd done our research and decided to head out to the Villa Borghese gardens. The Villa Borghese was constructed on the outskirts of Rome for the Cardinal Scipione Borghese, a collector and patron of the arts (including Caravaggio and Bernini), to house his art collection. In the early 1600s, the Cardinal took care to develop the vineyards around this villa into gardens. In the 1900s, the gardens were remade in an English style. Today, the Villa itself is an art museum, and other buildings on the site include: several other art museums, the British School at Rome, the French Academy in Rome, and a zoo. The gardens are open to the public, and we planned to run through them.
So we laced up, headed out…and spent the next 5 minutes hopping around on the corner, trying to stay warm while our Garmins figured out that we weren't in Asia anymore. The few passers-by stared at us curiously, so I can only assume that skinny, spandex-clad individuals tapping and talking to their wristwatches is not a common site...
In this particular case, we'd done our research and decided to head out to the Villa Borghese gardens. The Villa Borghese was constructed on the outskirts of Rome for the Cardinal Scipione Borghese, a collector and patron of the arts (including Caravaggio and Bernini), to house his art collection. In the early 1600s, the Cardinal took care to develop the vineyards around this villa into gardens. In the 1900s, the gardens were remade in an English style. Today, the Villa itself is an art museum, and other buildings on the site include: several other art museums, the British School at Rome, the French Academy in Rome, and a zoo. The gardens are open to the public, and we planned to run through them.
So we laced up, headed out…and spent the next 5 minutes hopping around on the corner, trying to stay warm while our Garmins figured out that we weren't in Asia anymore. The few passers-by stared at us curiously, so I can only assume that skinny, spandex-clad individuals tapping and talking to their wristwatches is not a common site...
Finally, we were oriented - and off we went. We found the gardens (and most of Rome's early-morning runners, it seemed) quite easily and began to explore. These "gardens" are more like what we Americans would call a "park". They consisted mostly of open, grassy areas, a few trees, and some fountains. Perhaps more flowers appear in the warmer weather, but this was not a site of extensive, intricate landscaping. Rather, it was a simple green escape in the middle of a bustling city.
Traffic was confined to one or two main roads through the gardens, and it was too early for most tourists/employees, so we had free reign of the paved paths. The space was open and the terrain relatively flat, but running free in the cool morning air felt amazing. The gardens were large enough that we had plenty to explore, but not so huge that we feared getting lost. There were also an abundance of "You Are Here" maps, so we could easily get re-oriented if necessary. [These maps are life-savers for tourists. The longer we spent on the road, the more we loved them - especially in parks/for running. We didn't have to carry anything, but we assured we could always figure out where we were.]
We finished up with about 4-5 miles, nothing amazing, but enough to feel re-energized and ready to explore Rome Underground. Stay tuned!
Traffic was confined to one or two main roads through the gardens, and it was too early for most tourists/employees, so we had free reign of the paved paths. The space was open and the terrain relatively flat, but running free in the cool morning air felt amazing. The gardens were large enough that we had plenty to explore, but not so huge that we feared getting lost. There were also an abundance of "You Are Here" maps, so we could easily get re-oriented if necessary. [These maps are life-savers for tourists. The longer we spent on the road, the more we loved them - especially in parks/for running. We didn't have to carry anything, but we assured we could always figure out where we were.]
We finished up with about 4-5 miles, nothing amazing, but enough to feel re-energized and ready to explore Rome Underground. Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment