2019 Holiday to Rome -tentatively related to Saints Abdon & Sennen (Martyred in Rome)

2019 Holiday to Rome

My daughter decided that she and her boyfriend would go to Rome for her boyfriend’s birthday.  His birthday is towards the end of May and being hopeless at details, I did not remember the date she had told me she was going.  Both my husband (Paul) and I had been to Rome before but not together, and my son (Ben) who was 16 at the time and finishing his last year at school, decided it would be nice if we also went to Rome for our holiday.  We needed to wait until Ben had finished his last exam and before Paul, who by this time was rotating out of Brunei, headed back on his next shift. With the 11-day window we had, I went ahead and booked our flights and accommodation, only to discover that it overlapped by 5 days with my daughters’ holiday.

The plan was to meet a couple of times for dinner, but we ended up meeting every day, sometimes just for dinner and sometimes for almost the whole day.  It was a lovely holiday, even more so because we spent quality time all together. Our Airbnb was close to the Coliseum and we had several nice dinners together overlooking the Coliseum.  

Of course, in Saint Abdon & Sennen’s day, the Coliseum would have been a place of terror, however, nowadays, it is one of the most popular tourist sites in Rome.

We went to the Vatican on different day, my daughter is not Catholic but managed to go the day Pope Francis was there.  On my previous visit to Rome, I had visited the Vatican with a group, but somehow got split up from the group in St Peters Basilica and ended up having to make my own way back to my hotel which was near Trevi fountain on that occasion.

While in Rome, we got to see some of Saint Padre Pio’s relics (one of my favourite Saints), as well as visiting the usual tourist places including the Zoo which I can highly recommend, and the waxworks.

Of course, the wine and food are a highlight in Rome and all of Italy, I think I gained several lb that week. During the week we took part in a half day traditional Italian cookery course at a locals house - another great way to spend a few hours.