A Roman Holiday that wasn't - by Fouad Kronfel

We were looking forward to a few days in Rome to renew with a city we both like and where we have spent great times before. Despite the wonderful film that Gianni Murzi directed (see photo) our one pleasant period was a lovely lunch with Gianni in a trattoria not far from his house. There we exchanged news about UNICEF, other colleagues and friends etc in a very congenial atmosphere. 

After that we both felt rather run down by the flu we had caught earlier in Geneva and I was having problems with my swollen left leg and so we spent the rest of our time around our hotel in the Parioli area which is one of the most upscale in Rome. The best we could do was a walk in the lovely park of the Villa Borghese which was close to our hotel. Even there we were not lucky because the Borghese museum was closed on that day.The very impressive buildings in the neighbourhood as well as some great restaurants became the focus of our short visit to the Eternal City.

PS We had both thrown coins into the Trevi Fountain many years ago to ensure that we came back to Rome, so we hope that we can do so again in the future.