Paris, France
Hi All,
It’s been a while since I last put up a new post so I will not be able to tell you everything I have been up to. Our ride finished in Dresden a week or so again. Dresden has an incredible history and most almost bombed and burnt into dust in WW2. Estimates are that upwards of 130,000 people died in two days. That is more than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Thee were so many casualties that the bodies were just piled in the streets and burned. What you see now in Dresden is a reconstruction of what some of the city was like.
On our final day we hired a couple of 7 seater bikes (I am not joking) and explored the city. We could not stop laughing as it was such a weird experience, especially for those travelling backwards !
After farewelling our riders to the 4 corners of Europe I flew to Dusseldorf and then onto Rome for a few days. Took the opportunity to visit Pompei and Naples. The former was amazing – much larger than I dreamed and showed incredible insight into their lives. It would have provided a much higher standard of living than many third world cities today. The latter (Naples) is a smelly dump that is best avoided.
While in Rome I visited the Coloseum (awe inspiring), Pantheon (fascinating) and also St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican (imposing but did not do a lot for me). You could spend many days exploring the extensive Roman ruins. At night the street cafes are a great way to while away the time.