Having a goal is better than achieving a goal on day 35 of the great bike tour

After getting up at 6:00 am for the past three days, I slept in today. Well, at 8:00 am it's so hot in my tent that I prefer to get up. It's humid outside and it's supposed to reach 34 degrees. I dawdle around, take my time with breakfast, chat for a long time in the restroom area.

The tension is gone, I'll manage the last 10 kilometers on this wonderful Tiber bike path. My GPS guides me to St. Peter's Square, I'm overwhelmed by its size and the number of tourists. There are thousands of people here, the line to enter St. Peter's Basilica is several hundred meters long.

I'm standing in the middle of the square, taking a few photos, and suddenly start crying. I can't say why, maybe from exhaustion. Joy doesn't really arise, it will probably come later - along with the pride of having completed this project that many consider senseless or crazy. I really cycled from Frankfurt to Rome, over 2000 kilometers and over 15,000 meters of altitude, I don't know the exact numbers.

It's clear that in this state I'm not able to deal with a potentially unfriendly person at the ticket counter at the train station about a train ticket with bicycle transport. I start cycling and happen to pass by the Spanish Steps. It's only 11:45 am, so there's still a table available outside a pizzeria in a street nearby. The waitress snaps at me first, telling me to park my bike somewhere else. Afterwards, she tells me that two bikes were stolen here last week. The dough is gluten-free, somehow sandy, so I soak it with a lot, a lot of olive oil.

https://www.komoot.de/tour/783275119?ref=itd

Afterwards, I feel strong enough to deal with the ticket, I've read many bad stories about it on the internet. Cycling alone to Rome was no problem, I met many interesting people at the campsites - in Rome itself, I would feel very lonely alone, there are simply too many people here. After waiting in line for 40 minutes, I made it and know that I can at least go to Bologna. I have to change trains there anyway, where to, I can still decide until then, I already have new ideas - I still have two weeks left.