Adventures of an Air Force Wife: Rome- final days

On day 5 of our Rome trip, Father was unable to hang out with us due to school, so we decided to head to the Villa Borghese, a beautiful, huge Garden in Rome. Small pond with paddle boats, ducks and turtles, and the toddler's favorite- pigeons. We mosied around this park, then went to the zoo in the park. This was a very expensive zoo, and not really worth it in my opinion, but we went ahead and did it anyway, as my kids hadn't been to a zoo in 3+ years. They enjoyed it, and that's what counts. Sorry for the crooked images! I edited them all, and saved them, but they loaded sideways grrr...

A daddy and his girls

We then met Father Nathan at St. Mary Major, in hopes to be able for him to say Mass here. He was able to get an alter, but we had about a 45 minute wait. Around the corner was a pillar that it is believed that Jesus was tied to when they whipped him. It was a hidden piece, and it was overwhelming seeing it and just picturing our Lord tied to it while being beaten.

We then had Mass in a beautiful side chapel within the major Basilica. It was covered in gold, and so much different than our previous Mass with Father in the Catacombs!

Family on the subway

We then headed back to the apartment, and made dinner. After we put the kids to bed, a friend Jon knew in high school came over. They had gone to the seminary together, and he was now living in Rome working on his studies to become a priest. It was great getting to know him a little bit, and found it funny that we were all in the same snow storm in Prague 2 years ago. :)

The next morning, we headed out for Ancient Rome. First we did Paletine Hill, as Jon and I did not get to see this the last time we were in Rome. We all loved it. I think I liked it better than the Colluseum. THen we headed over to the Colluseum as well. We also went to St. Mary Nova, a Church right outside of the Roman Forum, which provided yet again, a nice place for cool air and shade.

After the ancient Rome area, we headed to St. Paul outside the Wall to meet Fr. Nathan for Mass. When we showed up, the offices were closed (as many places are in the afternoon in Rome), so we went and grabbed some lunch while waiting for the office to open. At one point, I took the girls to the bathroom. A nun was in there and asked us if we were from the US. As we talked more, we found out that we were from the same town and she graduated from the local Catholic high school (BK)! I thought it was crazy and promised to pray for Sister Agnes.

Unfortunately, we were unable to say Mass at St. Paul's, so we headed back in to the city, and decided to try at St. Giovanni. Unfortunately, we got there at like 5:05, so instead joined in on a Mass that was already going on. It was in French with what looked like a high school pilgrimage group. We all got a quick out of the fact that none of the teens were really singing the Alleluia, but our toddler was, at the top of her lungs and louder than anyone else.

We headed back to the apartment, started packing up, and left for the airport early the next morning. THankfully we had learned how to get to the airport a much shorter route on the first day, and arrived in time to make our flight. We probably would have felt more comfortable if we had had a bit more time, as the line was huge when we got there, but we made it home safely.