Easter in Roma with family and friends

We took Valerie’s parents down to Lucania to see the area where Valerie’s great-grandparents came from and made a quick visit to enchanting Matera. On our way back north we dropped off John and Judy at the Bari airport so they could catch a flight to London and visit friends in northern Europe.

They retuned last week to Ascoli Piceno and we had a couple days of good weather and they had the opportunity to see a lot of what our hometown has to offer. They enjoyed going to the places that have become so familiar to us and meeting many of the locals we know. No trip to Italy would be complete without trying out some of the great caffe’ that is available and sampling a variety of gelato flavors. We did our best to help them indulge in this as we too enjoy gelato during all seasons of the year.

Unfortunately Easter morning arrived with overcast skies and it soon turned into a wet and dreary day. We headed to Roma to spend the last few days of John and Judy’s visit with our friends Giorgio and Francesca and their family. On Monday we visited the Roman ruins at Palestrina and had lunch in Giorgio’s hometown of Zagarolo with his sister and her family.

Tuesday the skies cleared and we headed to the centro storico of Roma to see a large Renoir exhibit at the Victor Emmanuel Monument, one of those special treats that Roma so often has to offer. The views from the top of the monument give you some great photo opportunities of the Coliseum, Forum and surrounding churches.

We headed back to Ascoli Piceno Wednesday while Valerie’s parents flew back to the US early Thursday morning. Today the rain has returned but we had a great time showing John and Judy around our little corner of Italy.