Hanging out with the Cousins in Rome

31 March – 07 April 2026

Spending time with Sabbatini cousins. We decided to hang out for a week without an agenda. A good way to go. This gave us time to do things like laundry(!) and practice our Italian conversation, but mostly we chilled at Luciana’s apartment. And Luciana already had a few excursions and restaurants planned for us. We especially enjoy being in the Montesacro neighborhood, about five miles from the center of Rome, where we know the shops and restaurants quite well. Because Luciana’s apartment was full, we found a B&B a block away.

Kitty: You remember our cousins, the sisters Adriana and Luciana Sabbatini. And now Luciana’s daughter Marta and her almost four-year-old son Liam have moved in with Luciana so things are lively. Toys everywhere. In addition, Luciana’s son Dario flew in from southern France to spend Easter with all of us.

**Monte Sacco, northeast of Rome’s historic center**

1930 aerial of Montesacro, a planned garden city in its infancy. The red circle identifies where we stayed. The area is now full of trees and vegetation and many of the original villas have been replaced with small apartment buildings.

Lodging

Our room was close to Luciana and Adriana in one of the original 1920s villas. High ceilings, balconies, and marble floors.

Euro Car

I Cugini!

**Palazzo Sabbatini. Adrianna and Gino on the second floor. Luciana and family on the third floor.**

Around Montesacro

Robert envies the size of pancetta here. The one in his hand must weigh at least four pounds.

Ascensore

Bonnie has a soft spot for Luciana and Adriana’s classic elevator. Robert remembers it packed with his family’s luggage in 1962. It can just hold three people without luggage.

Easter Brunch

For an Easter meal our family group of nine drove to the country, as many Italians do on a Sunday. Although only 15 minutes away, Oasi Kadir feels deep in Rome’s rural countryside. The restaurant is one element in this self-sustaining farm, beautifully maintained by a group of Libyan Muslims, where they raise dairy cows, goats, chickens, geese, and ducks, and they make cheese, grow vegetables, and manage olive orchards.

All of this made its way to our table, beginning with an extensive array of appetizers followed by a pasta, a meat course (our choice was lamb, of course), and dessert. Patrons bring their own wine because the Muslims do not serve alcohol. Luciana often comes here to buy cheese and olive oil and brings Liam for some exercise outdoors. After the lunch, we strolled across a field of white flowers. At the crest of the hill we could easily see the Vatican.

Many thanks to Adriana and Gino Secondo for treating us to lunch. As Robert told Adriana, Era una esperienza per la memoria.

Pasquetta

Pasquetta (Easter Monday) is a public holiday in more than fifty Christian-dominant countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, Central Europe nations, and New Zealand. Our celebratory brunch was at an excellent new Sicilian restaurant down the street from Luciana and Adriana. Gino Secondo and Adriana treated us again.

Tony Gentile, who owns the restaurant, was the press photographer who captured the iconic image of the prosecutors Falcone and Borsellino in Palermo before they were murdered by the Mafia.

Excursions beyond Montesacro

Tesori dei Faraoni

Luciana treated us to the exhibition, Treasures of the Pharaohs, at the Scuderie del Quirinale in central Rome. With excellent narration by the renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, the exhibit walked us through the reigns of many Egyptian pharaohs and those who served them. Beautifully done. Gold was a theme throughout. Dazzling.

Peonies and Monsters

Bonnie loves peonies, so we drove to a botanical park with an extensive collection. Along the way Bonnie noticed we were near the famous Bomarzo garden of monsters, so we stopped there too.

**We can now use Apple Pay at most toll booths! No more scrambling for change.**

Il GIARDINO DELLE PEONIE
On out last trip we visited the Mouton peony garden at the end of the season. This time, we were early. Scattered tree peonies were in bloom, and they were beautiful, but the herbaceous ones were a few weeks off. Some tree peonies are about two meters tall. Robert asked about their age. 50 to 70 years!

Pranzo

SACRO BOSCO DI BOMARZO
Bonnie visited this park in the 1980s when it had been neglected for decades and no other visitors were around, Today the park, also known as the Park of the Monsters, is restored with a new entrance complex and extensive parking to handle the crowds of families.

Created in the 16th century, the park’s style is Mannerist, a reaction to the ideals of the Renaissance. Instead of emphasizing beauty, refinement, proportion, balance, and nature, the park’s design exaggerates an unnatural elegance that is not in scale within itself or with its surroundings. Crudely fashioned, grotesque sculptures and small buildings populate the natural wooded vegetation along a small stream. A fun stroll.

Dali used the garden in a painting and a film. Cocteau appreciated its surrealism. Look for glimpses of it, especially the Orcus Mouth, in a surprising number of American and Italian films.