These are my 8 things to do
….10 months away from my Pilgrimage to ROME:
Sept 22-Oct 3, 2014!
1. Find a great Catholic Tour company…like St Gemma’s Catholic Pilgrimages It’s Catholic!…and Mike and Sue are awesome hosts!
2. Consider and invite WHO you would like to travel with. I have recommended an awesome chaplain…and this week it was confirmed that Fr Scott McCaig will be the chaplain for our pilgrimage Sept 22, 2013- Oct 3, 2013! Fr Scott McCaig is the General Superior of the Companions of the Cross…and he’s a close family friend whose vocation we confirmed through his stay with us a week after our first baby was born.
Meet Fr Scott.
I think Mike and Sue will be great travel buddies too!
3. Research WHERE you want to visit and PRIORITIZE. I recommend this book that I continue to LOVE: The Pilgrim’s Guide to Rome’s Principal Churches.
4. Talk to people who have gone to ROME and glean their highlights and words of caution…
5. Figure out WHO IS GOING TO HELP MY HUSBAND look after our FIVE kids for TWELVE whole days!
6. Consider TIMING re: weather, tourist season, big Feast Days and/events. This is what Mike and Sue say about visiting Rome in the fall: “the highs are in the low 70’s and the lows near 50. Rome gets an average rainfall of about 3 inches per month in the spring and 4 inches per month in the fall. Overall, these are the best months to be walking through Rome — when it’s not too hot and not too cold.”
7. Brush up on ITALIAN!…although Mike and Sue say “…you don’t need to know Italian. A phrase book is helpful, but Italians in Rome often speak English and are very friendly and helpful”
Mike and Sue also recommend Rick Steve’s Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary
8. Get my walking shoes on! Mike and Sue say that we don’t have to be in excellent physical condition, but we do need to be able to walk up to a mile at a time on our own. I want to see a lot…so I expect to do a lot of walking!
I’m going to ROME! Do you want to come too? Check out St Gemma’s Catholic Pilgrimages to check available dates for 2014 trips to ROME including the Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII Canonization tour April 25-May 2, 2014!
Speak Your Mind